Count Fleet Stakes set for Saturday

Horseracing Betting Lines

01/02/2012 - Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seven possible Kentucky Derby contenders have been entered in Saturday's $150,000 Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct. The mile and 70 yard race is the first of New York's preps leading to the Wood Memorial in April.

Alpha, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, will carry the Godolphin Racing banner in the Count Fleet. The three-year-old colt will start from post five with Ramon Dominguez getting the mount.

Second to Union Rags in the Champagne, Alpha was 11th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile won by Hansen with Union Rags second. With one win in three starts Alpha has banked $90,000.

The front running Il Villano will break from the rail with Jose Flores riding. The colt is trained by Susan Crowell for Chuck Russo.

Il Villano won the Lord Henribee Stakes at Aqueduct in November and the following month captured the Southampton Stakes at Parx Racing. He has three wins in four starts for $125,300.

Here is the full field for the Count Fleet in post position order: Il Villano, Jose Flores; How Do I Win, Cornelio Velasquez; Whistleblower, Ariel Smith; Stephanoatsee, Junior Alvarado; Alpha, Ramon Dominguez; Speightscity, David Cohen and Shkspeare Shaliyah, Jose Valdivia Jr.

Post-time on Saturday will be 3:37 p.m. (et).

Wwsportszone Horseracing Betting News

<< Debose helps Florida top Ohio State in Gator Bowl
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Debose set a Gator Bowl record with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Florida hung on to beat Ohio State, 24-17, on Monday. Debose's return up the left sideline in the second quar

<< Report: Steelers RB Mendenhall has torn ACL
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will be placed on injured reserve, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mendenhall

<< Spurs assign Neal to rehab assignment
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs have assigned guard Gary Neal to the Austin Toros of the NBDL for a medical rehab assignment. Neal underwent an appendectomy on December 12, 2011. Neal averaged 9.8 points and 2

<< Texas Southern to introduce Asberry
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Southern University will introduce new head football coach Darrell Asberry in a news conference on campus Tuesday. Asberry was named the 15th head coach in the Southwestern Athletic Conference program's h

<< Ryan on the Jets: 'We all made mistakes'
Florham Park, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan said he was among many that made mistakes during a season in which the team finished 8-8 and failed to make the playoffs for the first time during his three-year tenure.

Colts fire execs Bill and Chris Polian >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saying he wants to move the team in a new direction, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay fired two top executives on Monday. Vice chairman Bill Polian and his son, general manager Chris Polian, bec

Conroy sends Michigan State over Georgia in Outback Bowl >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michigan State's Dan Conroy made a pair of field goals in a triple-overtime thriller, lifting the 12th-ranked Spartans to a 33-30 victory over the 18th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the Outback Bowl. Michigan

Utah's Howard fined >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah Jazz forward Josh Howard has been fined $25,000 for his Flagrant Foul Two in Utah's 104-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. The fine was announced by Stu Jackson -- NBA Execut

Nash leads Suns over Warriors >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash netted 13 of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter to go with nine assists, as the Phoenix Suns topped the Golden State Warriors, 102-91 at US Airways Center. Markieff Morris finished with

Lundqvist seals Winter Classic win for Rangers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Rangers scored three unanswered goals against backup goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky and Henrik Lundqvist stopped a penalty shot in the final minute Monday, lifting New York to a 3-2 win over Philade

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.