Rachel Alexandra goes through Monday work

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/16/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra had her next-to-last workout for her next start at Saratoga Race Course. Trainer Steve Asmussen is preparing the champion filly for Saratoga's $300,000 Personal Ensign Stakes on Sunday, August 29.

With Shaun Bridgmohan in the saddle, Rachel worked six furlongs in 1:13.20 on Saratoga's main track. She galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.80 and a mile in 1:39.

"I thought she did really well," said Asmussen. "Shaun did a great job with her away from the pole. She settled in nicely. It was a nice, solid, strong work, with a very big gallop-out, ideal for the mile-and-a-quarter that she is pointed towards.

"She was off (the first eighth) in :13, then she came off the bridle for him, very relaxed, her ears forward, stuck in a bunch of :12 and changes, came home just a tad better the last quarter, and her gallop out was strong. That rhythm, because of the 1 1/4-miles, is what we were looking for. That's where she is. I feel she is more relaxed in the middle of her works than she was last year."

The 1 1/4-miles that the four-year-old will run in the Personal Ensign will be the farthest she has ever covered in her career. Last year at Saratoga Rachel defeated older male horses in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward Stakes.

"I definitely feel the buildup to it," Asmussen said about the upcoming race. "I thought her work last week was very good, but you can tell the intensity from everybody has stepped up a notch with (co-owner) Mr. Jackson's decision to run her in the Personal Ensign. I'm very comfortable with her condition leading up to it."

Owned by Stonestreet Stable and Harold McCormick, the champion filly won the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park in her last start. This year she has won two of four starts, including her last two, for $498,376. In her career she has earned nearly $3.5 million with 13 wins in 18 starts.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.