Drosselmeyer: Not the best horse last Saturday

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drosselmeyer won the 142nd Belmont Stakes but the most promising colt that ran at Belmont Park was not even entered in a stakes race.

The fourth race on the card gave horseplayers a glimpse of future greatness as Trappe Shot rolled to a four-length victory over Tahitian Warrior in his first trip over seven furlongs.

I've been touting this three-year-old for months now and this last performance was flat-out incredible. Not only did he get the distance in 1:22 flat, he ran three-fifths of a second faster than five-time stakes winner D'Funnybone, who won the Woody Stephens Stakes two races later in 1:22 3/5.

Furthermore, Bribon, last year's Met Mile champion, took the six-furlong True North Handicap (the eighth race on the card) in 1:09 3/5, just one tick faster than Trappe Shot, who had to run another furlong.

The win was Trappe Shot's third straight this year and his first in open company. After finishing fifth in his debut last July, the son of Tapit returned to the races in late February in a maiden special weight race for Florida breds at Gulfstream Park. He won that six-furlong event by 10 1/4- lengths in 1:09 2/5.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin moved him up a half-furlong to 6 1/2 for his next race, also against state-breds. The chestnut colt came out running once again blowing out an entry-level allowance field by 12 3/4-lengths in 1:16 1/5.

Trappe Shot was expected to make his stakes debut in the Withers at Aqueduct on April 24, but a slight injury held him back. McLaughlin decided not to rush his three-year-old star and waited more than a month to race him once again. That day finally came this past Saturday moving upward against older horses for the very first time.

Trapped on the rail for most of the first five furlongs, his natural speed allowed him to keep up with the fast pace. Then jockey Alan Garcia moved him into the three-path at the top of the stretch sitting in the third spot.

Second choice Tahitian Warrior took over the lead from pacesetter Ricoriatoa, but in a matter of seconds, Trappe Shot ran right by him en route to another easy victory. In three races this year, Garcia has yet to even take out the whip!

McLaughlin has already indicated where he'll send his prized colt next. It's off to Monmouth Park in the Long Branch Stakes on July 10. That will be a very important race around two turns at 1 1/16-miles. If he handles the distance, look for him to move forward in either the Jim Dandy or Haskell, with the Travers Stakes being the primary goal.

If Trappe Shot doesn't pass the distance test, expect him to revert back to sprinting with the Amsterdam and King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga the primary objectives.

There should be no reason two turns will have any adverse effects on this future star. His father Tapit has already sired Careless Jewel, who won last year's 1 1/4-mile Alabama Stakes. Tapit's dam, Tap Your Heels, is a half- sister to both Rubiano and Hong Kong Jade. Rubiano sired Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown, while Hong Kong Jade produced Hong Kong Squall, the dam of Summer Bird, winner of last year's Belmont and Travers Stakes as well as the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Trappe Shot's female family is also loaded with stayers. His second dam, Impish, produced Lay Down, who finished first in the 10-furlong Excelsior Handicap back in 1990. His damsire, Private Account, winner of the 1 1/4-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap 10 years earlier, sired future champions Personal Ensign and Inside Information.

Private Account's half-sister Dance Number produced Rhythm, who won the 1990 Travers, and Rhythm's full-sister. Get Lucky. is the dam of Supercharger, who produced this year's Kentucky Derby winner, Super Saver.

SECOND SLOWEST BELMONT IN 40 YEARS

Someone had to win the Belmont Stakes. It turned out to be Drosselmeyer, who prevailed by three-quarters of a length over Fly Down with First Dude finishing third. The 13-1 shot came into the third leg of the Triple Crown on a three race losing streak, including a six-length loss to the aforementioned Fly Down in the Dwyer Stakes.

With a change of jockeys from Kent Desormeaux to Mike Smith, Drosselmeyer was able to turn the tables on his rival producing a $144.50 exacta. It was Smith's first ever Belmont victory, giving him his own personal Triple Crown with previous wins in the Kentucky Derby aboard Giacomo in 2005 and the Preakness on Prairie Bayou all the way back in 1993. Drosselmeyer's win also gave WinStar Farm its second Triple Crown win this year, as the owners also had Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby.

Still, the race was a pathetic display as the final time for the 1 1/2-mile event was a pedestrian 2:31 2/5. Not since Thunder Gulch won the 1995 Belmont Stakes has there been a slower time in the Test of Champions. The next most listless race came in 1970 when High Echelon prevailed over a sloppy track in 2:34, and the slowest final time before that was all the way back in 1944!

The dawdling early pace (24, 49, 1:14 1/5) allowed First Dude to hang on for third, edging out Game On Dude, who faltered through the stretch to finish fourth. The $2 superfecta returned a solid $10,658 compared to $766 for the $2 trifecta.

Ice Box finished a dismal ninth as the 8-5 favorite, but he never had a chance due to the deliberate early fractions.

To show what kind of year it has been, six different horses finished first and second in all three Triple Crown races marking just the second time that has happened since 1962.

Eighteen years ago, Lil E. Tee and Casual Lies ran one-two in the Kentucky Derby. Pine Bluff and Alydeed crossed the wire in that order in the Preakness, and A.P. Indy and My Memoirs repeated it in the Belmont.

This year Super Saver and Ice Box completed the Derby exacta, while Lookin At Lucky and First Dude ran first and second in the middle leg, and Drosselmeyer and Fly Down finished it off in the Belmont.

Let's hope Trappe Shot becomes the next superstar of the sport because the rest of this three-year-old division is extremely weak.

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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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