Richard's Kid does it again to capture Pacific Classic

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/28/2010 - Del Mar, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard's Kid came from the back of the pack Saturday to successfully defend his crown in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar. The victory puts Richard's Kid automatically into this year's Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November.

The Usual Q.T., the 3-1 program favorite, went off as the 5-2 top pick in the evenly-matched field of 10 older horses. The defending winner was 9-2 and Hold Me Back was sent off as the 5-1 third pick.

Isle of Giant's set the pace in the 1 1/4-mile Classic. Running behind him was Temple City, Hold Me Back and The Usual Q.T. Richard's Kid and jockey Mike Smith were next to last with San Diego Handicap winner Dakota Phone bringing up the rear.

Entering the far turn, Isle of Giant's still had the lead as Temple City drew even on the outside. Richard's Kid began putting in a run around the turn for home.

At the top of the stretch, six horses were across the track. Richard's Kid, trained by Bob Baffert, surged to the lead with less than 100 yards to run.

The five-year-old registered a three-quarters length victory over Crowded House with Dakota Phone rallying for third.

Rounding out the order of finish was Battle of Hastings, The Usual Q.T., Temple City, Isle of Giant's, Hold Me Back, Unusual Suspect and Hollywood Gold Cup champ Awesome Gem.

The time for the 20th Pacific Classic was 2:03.27 on Del Mar's synthetic surface.

Owned by Zabeel Racing, Richard's Kid becomes the third horse to win the stakes in consecutive years. Tinner's Way won back-to-back Classics in 1994 and 1995, and Skimming duplicated that feat in 2000 and 2001.

The win gives Mike Smith his third Pacific Classic victory. Along with the two victories aboard Richard's Kid, the Hall of Fame jockey also won the 2002 Classic with Came Home.

The five-year-old adds $600,000 to his earnings and becomes the newest thoroughbred millionaire. Richard's Kid is the winner of eight of 26 career races for $1,566,370.

Last month he was third in the Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar and earlier in July finished behind Awesome Gem and Rail Trip in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

His only win between the two Pacific Classics was in February's San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita. Also this year, Richard's Kid was seventh in the Dubai World Cup.

Richard's Kid paid $11.60, $5.60 and $3.80. Crowded House returned $10.60 and $6.40, and Dakota Phone paid $4.80 to show.

Cbssporstline Horseracing Betting News

<< Brown, Lions rally past Browns
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Brown rushed for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns as Detroit rallied past Cleveland, 35-27, in preseason action from Ford Field. Matt Stafford played three quarters and went 13-of-17 for 141 yards

<< OU's Wilson finding new ways to make a difference
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -Corey Wilson may not be able to run out and catch a pass for Oklahoma. Walking can still be a struggle for the receiver who injured his spinal cord in a car accident last year.That doesn't mean he can't make a difference for his

<< Ambrose edges Villeneuve for Nationwide pole at Montreal
Montreal, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcos Ambrose outran Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in the closing minutes of qualifying to take the pole for Sunday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Ambrose,

<< 49ers NT Franklin signs tender
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers announced Saturday nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin has signed his franchise tender. A number of sources have placed the tender's value at close to $7 million for the eighth-year pro. Fr

<< Red Sox activate Okajima from DL
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox activated pitcher Hideki Okajima from the 15-day disabled list on Saturday. Okajima had been out since August 6 with a right hamstring strain. Before the setback, he was 4-3 with a

Stakhovsky comes back to take New Haven title >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergiy Stakhovsky bested Denis Istomin in the finale of the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event to capture his fourth career ATP Tour title. Stakhovsky, seeded ninth, rebounded from a first-set loss to take a 3-

RSL, TFC share points at BMO >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC battled to a scoreless draw in Major League Soccer action at BMO Field on Saturday night. With the draw, RSL (11-4-7) is unbeaten in six league fixtures, while improv

Bengals CB Ghee leaves game >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bengals rookie cornerback Brandon Ghee was carted off the field during Saturday's preseason tilt with the Buffalo Bills with an undisclosed injury. Ghee, the team's third-round draft choice this

Henry's first MLS goal helps N.Y. beat San Jose >>
Harrison, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thierry Henry scored his first goal in Major League Soccer and Dane Richards had a goal and an assist, leading Red Bull New York to a 2-0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday at Red Bull Arena. Rich

Fukudome hits deciding blast as Cubs clip Reds >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kosuke Fukudome hit the game-winning two- run home run and Randy Wells spun six solid frames as Chicago edged Cincinnati, 3-2, in the middle meeting of a three-game set. Fukudome finished 2-f

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.