Eclipse Award finalist Havre de Grace in Big Easy

Horseracing Betting Lines

01/05/2012 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Horse of the Year candidate Havre de Grace has made her way to Fair Grounds Race Course where she will begin her 2012 racing season. The five-year-old mare had been stabled at Vinery Racing's Florida location near Ocala.

"She's just sleeping right now," trainer Larry Jones said a few hours after the mare arrived at the track early Thursday morning. "We haven't even had her out walking. We just walked her right to her stall and let her sleep. She looks good."

Owned by Fox Hill Farms, Havre de Grace is a finalist for the 2011 Eclipse Award as champion older filly and mare and is expected to be in the running as Horse of the Year.

"She's one of the few candidates with a winning record, and we could have kept her undefeated if we'd picked some easier spots for her," Jones said on Wednesday, referring to Havre de Grace's two losses in 2011. "We could have run her in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic like we did the year before. We'd beaten Royal Delta (2011 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner) by eight- lengths in the Beldame but we thought our horse deserved the chance against male rivals (in the Breeders' Cup Classic, where she finished fourth after being bumped).

"Earlier last summer in the Delaware Handicap (when Havre de Grace was second by a nose to Blind Luck) I didn't like the weights and I thought about scratching her, but we felt we owed it to the Delaware people to go ahead and let her run."

Jones is based at Fair Grounds this winter and mentioned on Wednesday that is where his mare will open her five-year-old campaign.

"At this time, we're more than likely to point her for the New Orleans Ladies," said Jones. The $100,000 stakes is set for Saturday, March 17.

Havre de Grace won five of seven starts in 2011 for more than $1.6 million. She won the Apple Blossom and Azeri at Oaklawn Park followed by the Obeah, Woodward and Beldame.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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