Rachel Alexandra in good shape after Personal Ensign loss

Horseracing Betting Lines

08/30/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra came out of Sunday's upset loss in the Personal Ensign Stakes in good condition and will return to training on Wednesday.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said that he and majority owner Jess Jackson will talk about the filly's future following her gallop on Wednesday morning.

"How she comes back to the track is our focus now," said Asmussen. "You don't want to lose, you're not planning on losing, but you can remember what she's won and what she's done for us. My feelings for her today are the same as my feelings for her the day after the Woodward or Preakness.

"I think there's a great amount of pride in her and belief in herself. She has a tremendous amount of strength in her, and it's been called upon before and it will be called upon again."

The Personal Ensign was Rachel's first career start at 1 1/4-miles. She set the pace with Delaware Handicap champ Life At Ten right behind. The other three females were more than 10-lengths behind on the backstretch.

Sent off as the 2-5 favorite, Rachel put away Life At Ten on the final turn and had a clear lead at the top of the stretch. Persistently, 21-1 at post- time, came charging down the stretch to catch the favorite near the finish and win by a length.

Trainer Shug McGaughey said Monday that Persistently also came out of the race in good condition.

"She's doing well, I'm tired, but she seemed to come back fine," said the Hall of Fame trainer who also conditioned Personal Ensign. "A lot of times it doesn't hit them until a couple of days later, but she cooled out great. We've retooled (her schedule) to point for the Beldame ($350,000 1 1/8-miles at Belmont Park on Saturday, October 2); that's our next stop."

Life At Ten, the 9-5 second pick to Rachel, is also fine and could be entered in the Beldame versus Persistently.

"She was tired, no doubt about it," said trainer Todd Pletcher. "In that situation, if you're going to try to win, and no one else has any speed - if our objective was to be Grade 1-placed or to secure second, we would have approached it maybe a little differently. We wanted to try to win, and ultimately got tired doing that.

"I don't think we'll need to run her at 1 1/4-miles again."

Pletcher indicated that Life At Ten will be pointed toward the 1 1/8-mile Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs on November 5.

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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.