Robby Albarado has mount for another Preakness win

Horseracing Betting Lines

05/08/2008 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robby Albarado, the leading jockey this year in earnings, will have an oppotunity to claim his second straight Preakness Stakes. Trainer Ken McPeek has informed Pimlico Race Course that his Racecar Rhapsody will be part of the field in this year's Preakness.

"The horse is training really well," McPeek said. "We kind of feel like we might be running for second money with Big Brown being as impressive as he's been but you never know."

Albarado has the ride on the colt for the middle jewel of racing's Triple Crown. In six career starts, all with Albarado in the saddle, Racecar Rhapsody has earned $148,391 with one win, a second and a third place finish.

Racecar Rhapsody has posted fourth place finishes this year in the Lexington and Lane's End Stakes.

Albarado guided Curlin to victory in last year's Preakness over 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. This year Albarado rode Curlin to a sensational win in the $6 million Dubai World Cup. Through Sunday, Albarado has just over $7.5 million in earnings.

Also confirmed for the Preakness is Illinois Derby champ Recapturetheglory. Co-owner Ronnie Lamarque said from New Orleans on Wednesday that his three- year-old will again take on Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown.

"First of all we know that we belong," said Lamarque. "Of the 33,000 horses that were foaled three years ago, twenty of them made it to the Derby and we beat fifteen of them. Big Brown is a bear but we're not going to run in it to run second. We're there to win and we believe it is a speed favoring racetrack. I'll look at all the other entrants. They don't scare me at all and I believe our horse definitely belongs and we feel like the Preakness is our kind of race."

Fifth in the Run for the Roses, Recapturetheglory is trained by co-owner Louie Roussel. Lamarque and Roussel won the Preakness Stakes in 1988 with Risen Star.

"Twenty years ago my life was centered around a horse named Risen Star. He was magnificent and he brought another meaning to us in New Orleans and especially Louie," added Lamarque. "Recapturetheglory is a different kind of horse. I'm twenty years my senior. I'm laid back somewhat now. I was a terror, now I'm a little more confined. If I get in the winners' circle you never know if you're going to hear a song from me so don't turn off the television you just never know."

The Preakness starter list now stands at nine: Big Brown, Recapturetheglory, Behindatthebar, Giant Moon, Kentucky Bear, Racecar Rhapsody, Stevil, Tres Borrachos and Yankee Bravo. Others still considering the 1 3/16 mile race are Harlem Rocker, Riley Tucker and Macho Again.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.