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08/02/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A little less than four weeks before she returns to the races, 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra had a five- furlong workout Monday morning. The four-year-old filly will make her next start in the 1 1/4-mile Personal Ensign at Saratoga on August 29.
With jockey Shaun Bridgmohan riding, the champion covered the five-furlongs in 1:02.45 on Saratoga's Oklahoma training track.
"I thought she looked really good," said trainer Steve Asmussen. "Shaun did a good job with her. She obviously was very strong away from the pole, but she looked beautiful. This morning was a little warmer than it has been the past two days. I think the cooler weather this week has had her energy level very high, and we did a little more with her first work back today than we normally do off a race [because] of how she'd been galloping the past few days."
Rachel Alexandra will have workouts the next three Monday mornings leading up to the Personal Ensign, which will be her initial attempt at 1 1/4-miles. Her previous longest race was last year's 1 3/16-miles Preakness, which she won.
"She's always been very impressive; something that everybody has noted on is how she gallops out after a race," noted Asmussen. "She shows that in her training. It is going to be her first time at 1 1/4-miles running, and it isn't galloping out."
Owned by Stonestreet Stable and Harold McCormick, Rachel is no stranger to winning at Saratoga. As a three-year-old she won the Woodward versus older males. Her regular jockey is two-time Kentucky Derby winner Calvin Borel.
"I feel very comfortable, with her being here and having had the success she had last year," added Asmussen. "Right now, you try to get her work schedule where it is and hope that Mother Nature allows you to do that."
She won the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park in her most recent start. The champion filly has won two of four races in 2010, including her last two, for $498,376.
Rachel has won 13 of 18 career starts for $3,446,730.
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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