Champion colt returns in Holy Bull Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two weeks after being announced as the 2011 Eclipse Award winning two-year-old colt, Hansen makes his 2012 debut in Sunday's $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Holy Bull is part of the track's stakes series for Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

Trained by Mike Maker, Hansen has been made the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the six-horse field. The three-year-old, owned by Dr. Kendall Hansen and Sky Chai Racing, will have the services again of jockey Ramon Dominguez and start from post four.

In winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November, Hansen defeated 11-10 favorite Union Rags by a head while setting the entire pace in the 1 1/16- mile race.

Undefeated in three career starts, Hansen has gone wire-to-wire in all three races. The colt's trainer has an interesting view on that style of running.

"It's no different than a closer. You're dependant on the pace," Maker noted. "You just hope no one makes him go quicker earlier than he has to."

Hansen began his career at Turfway Park with a 12 1/4-length win and followed with a 13 1/4-length triumph at Turfway in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile. His earnings stand a $1,153,305

Another undefeated colt is the 5-2 second choice. Starlight Stable's Algorithms makes his stakes and season debut on Sunday. Regular rider Javier Castellano has the mount and the pair will break from the outside post for trainer Todd Pletcher.

"He's trained very well," Pletcher said. "His first two races have been excellent, he's bred to stretch out and we're optimistic he's a top-level colt."

Algorithms first raced last June at Belmont Park and posted a five-length win as the 7-10 favorite. His only other start was last month at Gulfstream when he registered a length victory over Holy Bull rival Consortium.

In the December race Consortium was the 4-5 favorite and had the lead down the stretch before giving way to Algorithms. Consortium has drawn post two for Sunday's rematch and will be ridden by John Velazquez.

Consortium is owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by Kiaran McLaughlin. Three weeks ago at Aqueduct, owner and trainer sent out Alpha to win the Count Fleet Stakes.

Here is the full field for the Holy Bull in post position order: Silver Max, Julien Leparoux; Consortium, John Velazquez; My Adonis, Elvis Trujillo; Hansen, Ramon Dominguez; Fort Loudon, Rajiv Maragh and Algorithms, Javier Castellano.

Post-time for the Holy Bull is 4:45 p.m. (et).

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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