FC Dallas snaps Real's 10-game unbeaten streak

Soccer Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brek Shea and Atiba Harris scored in the second half and FC Dallas snapped Real Salt Lake's 10-game unbeaten streak with a 2-0 win Saturday night at Pizza Hut Park.

Shea opened the scoring in the 69th minute and Harris followed in the 76th, as FC Dallas extended its own unbeaten run to six matches. Dallas (6-2-7) has won four of its last five Major League Soccer matches.

Real (9-4-3), which lost for the first time in MLS since April 24 at Columbus, also had its five-game shutout streak ended. RSL last allowed a goal on May 29 in a 4-1 win over Kansas City.

FC Dallas debuted striker Milton Rodriguez, and the Colombian nearly scored in the early stages when he headed off the crossbar from the edge of the six-yard box.

RSL defender Jamison Olave managed to beat Dallas goalie Kevin Hartman in the half, but Shea was there to clear the ball off the line to keep the match even at halftime.

Shea finished on the other end midway through the second half for his fourth goal of the year. Rodriguez helped create the goal with a deflected shot that Shea hammered home from the top-left edge of the six-yard box in the 69th.

Real should have tied the match in the 74th when Nat Borchers somehow lifted a wide-open header in front of an empty net over the crossbar from just a couple yards out.

Harris then sealed Dallas' victory in the 76th when he scored his third of the season. Heath Pearce played in a low cross from the left and, after a touch by Shea, Harris hit a turning shot into the bottom right from five yards out.

Real last allowed two goals in a game in a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy in mid-April. Real wasted an opportunity to move within three points of L.A. for first place in the Western Conference and could lose more ground on Sunday when the Galaxy visit D.C. United.

Dallas, which is tied with L.A. for the fewest losses in MLS, climbed within five points of Real for second place in the West.

Both clubs return to action July 24, when FC Dallas visits Toronto FC and Real shots Chivas USA.

Roultette Soccer Betting News

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Horse Betting

(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.