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03/03/2010 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 73rd running of the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (Big 'Cap) at Santa Anita Park has attracted 13 males and one female. The 14 thoroughbreds will be asked to run 1 1/4-miles Saturday on Santa Anita's synthetic track.
The lone female in the field is Santa Maria Handicap winner St Trinians. The five-year-old mare would become the first female to win the Big 'Cap which was first run in 1935. In 2004, four-year-old filly Island Fashion was second behind Southern Image.
Trained by Mike Mitchell, St Trinians will start from post two with Joel Rosario again riding. The mare is undefeated in four starts since coming to the United States from England.
"It's kind of a plus, I think," Mitchell said about the failure of 41 females in their attempts to win the Big 'Cap. "We know they can do it, and she gets a little better break in the weights than if I ran against Zenyatta a week later. If there is a question, it's if she can go a mile and a quarter, and I think she can, the way she finished winning the Santa Maria."
Owned by Dan Capen and Laura Chavers, St Trinians has won seven of 11 career starts for $268,587. She won the Paseana Handicap in January at Santa Anita, where she is perfect in three tries.
"When she won going 7 -furlongs at Hollywood off a layoff (last December 3)," Mitchell continued, "she was on the lead most of the way, and that kind of surprised me. Nobody really wanted to take the lead, and she was fresh, but now, you can kind of do whatever you want with her, depending on who goes in this race. With a full field, it looks like there's a fair amount of speed."
Turf specialist Loup Breton will attempt a synthetic surface for the first time on Saturday. With jockey Garrett Gomez in the saddle, the six-year-old will break from post six for trainer Julio Canani.
"This horse probably can make the conversion," Gomez said, "because he works well on synthetic all the time, although working on it and running on it are two different things. But his style is good for this distance and he's a really nice horse."
Owned by Guy Wildenstein, Loup Breton has raced exclusively on grass in his 21 lifetime starts and has earnings of $677,614 with five wins. In January he won the San Marcos Handicap at 1 1/4-miles and in December was second to Proudinsky in the San Gabriel Handicap.
"Anabaa is the leading synthetic sire in Europe," Canani said about Loup Breton's sire. "He sired Anabaa's Creation, who was second by a head to Zenyatta in the Clement Hirsch (in August, 2008 at Del Mar), so we're taking a shot."
Here is the full field for the Big 'Cap in post position order: Pick Six, Alex Solis; St Trinians, Joel Rosario; Rendezvous, Joe Talamo; Neko Bay, Mike Smith; Eagle Poise, Tyler Baze; Loup Breton, Garrett Gomez; Mast Track, David Flores; Pool Play, Chantal Sutherland; Marsh Side, Martin Pedroza; Tiger's Rock, David Cohen; Dakota Phone, Victor Espinoza; Delightful Kiss, Juan Leyva; Misremembered, Martin Garcia and Jeranimo, Rafael Bejarano.
Also on the Saturday card is the rescheduled Sham Stakes with 10 three-year- olds entered. The 1 1/8-mile race is a prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 3.
The Santa Anita Handicap has a scheduled post-time of 7:38 p.m. (et) and the Sham is set to go off at 6:07 p.m. (et).
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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.
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