las cruces
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Las Vegas - Wanna spend the evening in Las Cruces with me and make some money? Read on. New Mexico State will host Massachusetts as a -7 point favorite. Lemme tell you a little about the Aggies. They hired Jerry Kill to lead the way and the results were instantaneous. A winning season and a bowl appearance. Kill took over losing programs at Northern Illinois and Minnesota and turned 'em both into winners. He has nine starters returning on offense and the defense should be solid. These teams met last year in Amherst and State picked up a 23-13 road victory. It should be even easier at home. Like the Aggies to cover the seven point spread but would rather pound the money line. Why? If you're sitting, check out this stat. UMass HAS NOT won a road game in four years, and they fly to Las Cruces with an 0-23 record. That's OH & TWENTY THREE!
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*EckSTATS*
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For your wagering pleasure, here is your spread stat of the day. Got a little early football over in Dublin, Ireland, where Notre Dame plays Navy at Aviva Stadium. The Fighting Irish come into the game on an 8-0 run to the OVER from last season. But you might wanna check the weather in Dublin because they play on natural grass at Aviva and the field could get muddy and soupy.
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*ALL THE HORSES*
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If there's an important horse race, we turn to our master of the track, Martin Calia...the floor is yours Marty...
We head into the mid-summer classic today with the 154th running of the Travers Stakes. The field of seven is small but chock full of talented three year olds. This field has all three Triple Crown winners! Let's start with the Kentucky Derby winner Mage. Although he hasn't won since the Derby in May, he ran a good second in the Haskell at Monmouth Park. Is he good enough to win ? Possibly, but he needs his best effort. Remember, he loses his Derby winning jockey, Javier Castellano, who rides Arcangelo. Speaking of Arcangelo, the Belmont Stakes winner, he hasn't run since the Belmont, but has been working steadily leading up to this race. He won the Belmont on a rail skimming trip, but I don't think he will be so lucky this time. National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes, but finished 6th in the Belmont Stakes trying to go gate-to-wire. He will no doubt use the same strategy as trainer Bob Baffert sends him over from the West coast. I feel this field is too tough to bottom out so I'm looking elsewhere. One of two entires from trainer Todd Pletcher is Tapit Trice. His last win was in the Bluegrass at Keeneland in April. He just doesn't seem up to these other horses. An interesting horse in this field is Disarm. The Steve Assmussen colt is steady and is on the improve. His last three races have produced Beyer speed ratings that are capable to beat this field if things fall apart. The sleeping long shot in this group is Scotland. He is trained by Bill Mott and were it not for a nose loss, would be a perfect four for four. Big upside to this colt as he steps into the deep end of the pool. He owns a win over the track and he has the speed to beat National Treasure to the lead and take this field gate-to-wire. We watched the Chad Brown filly Randomized go gate-to-wire in the Alabama last Saturday, and it would be no surprise if jockey Junior Alvarado tries to bottom out this field. Very live long shot at 12-1. The other Todd Pletcher trainee is Forte, who is the 7/5 favorite. Although Forte lost to Arcangelo in the Belmont, he was returning after being scratched with a foot injury in the Kentucky Derby. His trip wasn't the greatest either as he was 4 to 5 wide and made a late run to be second. He then won the Jim Dandy in the slop by a nose in a gutsy effort. This is his third race of a form cycle, he has been working great, and is the most established runner in the race. His seven wins in nine races with four Grade 1s tops this field. So how do we bet? I love Forte and he should be your most likely winner, but Scotland has a huge upside, and if he gets a lead, will be hard to catch. Let's go $20 to win, place, and show on #7 Scotland, and a $5 exacta, wheel #7 with all. Since I do like Forte and Disarm, let's play an exacta and trifecta box, #7 Scotland, #1 Forte, and #6 Disarm.
Good luck!!!
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