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05/05/2010 - Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Allsopp scored twice and 19-year-old goalie Bill Hamid won his first MLS start, leading D.C. United to its first win of the year, 2-1 over the Kansas City Wizards on Wednesday at RFK Stadium.
United (1-5-0) snapped its season-opening, five-match losing streak and handed new coach Curt Onalfo his first win. Onalfo coached K.C. from 2007-09.
K.C. (2-3-1), which beat D.C. 4-0 in both teams' season opener, lost for third time in its last four games. The Wizards ended a 402-minute scoring drought in stoppage time when Kei Kamara scored his third goal of the season.
Allsopp handed United its first lead of the season in the 12th minute with his first MLS goal. Defender Rodney Wallace played a long ball, and Allsopp fought off Pablo Escobar to control the pass, then slipped around Jimmy Conrad on the left side of the area to send a deflected shot past goalie Jimmy Nielsen.
Hamid made his first save five minutes later, denying Chance Myers on the edge of the six-yard box. Hamid made another save in the 26th when he pushed a shot from Roger Espinoza over the bar.
Allsopp rewarded Hamid with a two-goal lead in the 34th. Adam Cristman grabbed a bad pass from Escobar and slid a pass to an open Allsopp, who fired into the bottom-left corner from 18 yards to beat Nielsen again.
United, which had scored in only one of its first five games, matched its goal total for the entire season. D.C. scored twice in a 3-2 loss to the expansion Philadelphia Union, but had been shutout in its other four matches.
Hamid made his biggest stop in the closing seconds of the first when he lifted a low, one-hop shot from Jack Jewsbury over the bar for his third save.
Kansas City tested Hamid two more times in the opening minutes of the second, but the rookie denied substitute Kamara just 15 seconds after half, and again off a header in the 48th.
Hamid made another fine play on a cross from Ryan Smith that sailed toward the upper-right corner in the 60th. Hamid had to jump to get the ball, then extend his arms to keep the ball from crossing the line as he collided with the post.
Christian Castillo beat Nielsen on a 45-yard free kick in the 77th but drilled the left post, as D.C. sat on its lead over the final 45 minutes and failed to create many chances.
Kamara scored Kansas City's first goal since his match-winner against Colorado when he slid to reach a pass from Josh Wolff and sent the ball just inside the right post to spoil Hamid's shutout bid.
D.C. allowed a league-high 13 goals in its first five matches, but Hamid saved five shots as United allowed less than two goals for the first time. Hamid was handed the start in place of Troy Perkins, a U.S. national backup who appeared in the first five matches.
United visits FC Dallas on Saturday to wrap up a two-game week. Kansas City is off until May 15, when it hosts the Chicago Fire.
<< Marlins bring in Mientkiewicz on minor league deal
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins have signed veteran first
baseman Doug Mientkiewicz to a minor league contract.
Mientkiewicz, 35, has spent 12 seasons in the majors and played 20 games for
the Dodgers last season.
T
<< Braves' rookie Heyward leaves game
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves rookie outfielder Jason
Heyward left Wednesday's game against the Nationals with a sore right groin.
He is listed as day-to-day.
The young standout left the game in the second inning
<< Mariners put P Lowe on DL
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners put right-handed reliever
Mark Lowe on the 15-day disabled list due to inflammation of a disc in his
lower back.
Lowe has pitched in 11 games this season and is 1-3 with a 3.48
<< Braves' Jurrjens on DL
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jair
Jurrjens was put on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring.
Jurrjens left Thursday's 10-4 loss against St. Louis after control issues in
the fi
Goats embarrass Revs at Gillette Stadium >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jesus Padilla scored two goals and Justin
Braun added a goal and two assists to lead Chivas USA to a dominating 4-0 win
over the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday night.
The Revs co
Bruins on verge of sweep after Game 3 win >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Wheeler notched a goal with one
assist while Mark Recchi added a key power-play score as Boston dispatched
Philadelphia, 4-1, in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series from
Wachovi
Bradley asks for help from Mariners' management >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Outfielder Milton Bradley, sometimes a
lightning rod for controversy, has asked the management of the Seattle
Mariners for help after he was pulled from the game by manager Don Wakamatsu
in Tues
Kendrick, Phils shut down Cardinals >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Placido Polanco and Shane Victorino each
homered, and Kyle Kendrick and the Phillies bullpen did the rest in
Philadelphia's 4-0 win over St. Louis in the third test of a four-game set.
Kendric
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To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).
The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.
"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."
Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.
"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."
When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:
CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.
DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.
PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.
You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.
"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."
Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.
(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)
Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."
But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."
Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."
Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."
All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.
In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.
"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."
To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.
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