Casual Trick offers encouraging runner-up effort

Horseracing Betting Lines

01/02/2012 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunday's $100,000 Gulfstream Park Derby put new names on the Kentucky Derby futures list for this year. The 1 1/16-mile race was the first stakes event of the year for Run for the Roses hopefuls.

Reveron won the race under jockey Fernando Jara after pressing the pace set by Nachas and Joy. Finishing second was Casual Trick who raced third most of the way for trainer Nick Zito.

"He ran very hard but he was fighting me a little bit to pass that horse in the stretch. The winner was more experienced than mine and my horse was still a little green today. He just broke his maiden and was going two turns for the first time," said jockey John Velazquez of Casual Trick's runner-up finish. "I think he's still learning. He actually handled the two turns really well. If he continues to mature and get better, I think he's going to be very good."

The inaugural Gulfstream Park Derby was Casual Trick's third career start. He was fifth at Saratoga back in August and came back two months later to win at Churchill Downs.

"The Gulfstream Park Derby is a two turn race, a mile and a sixteenth. I thought right off the bat to see how good he is. I think he's really, really good," Zito said prior to the running of the race. "Hopefully, his pedigree jumps up. I know it's quick. I'm asking him to do something unusual, but sometimes we do that. These are the horses that take us to the promised land, not us. Hopefully, he can do it."

Casual Trick, a son of 2006 Preakness champ Bernardini, is owned by Robert LaPenta who also owns 2011 Florida Derby winner Dialed In. The four-year-old is back in training at Palm Meadows under the guidance of Zito.

Dialed In, who underwent knee surgery last year, worked three-furlongs Monday morning. The colt was timed in 35 seconds as he prepares for this year's racing season.

Dialed In won the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park last winter along with the Florida Derby. Sent off as the 5-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, the colt finished eighth after running last in the 19-horse field. He followed with a fourth-place finish in the Preakness.

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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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