Bowditch, Thompson share lead in Nebraska

Golf Betting Lines

07/29/2010 - Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Bowditch and Kyle Thompson fired rounds of eight-under 63 Thursday to share the lead after one round of the Cox Classic.

Bowditch claimed his lone tour win in his homeland of Australia at the 2005 Jacob's Creek Open, while Thompson won twice during the 2007 season.

Scott Gardiner, Kevin Chappell and Matt Marshall share third place at minus- seven.

Chris Kirk, who stands third on the Nationwide Tour money list, opened with a six-under 65 and is tied for sixth at Champions Run.

Bowditch parred his first five holes, then birdied the sixth. He gave that stroke right back with a bogey on the seventh. Bowditch caught fire from there.

The Australian birdied the eighth and ninth to turn in two-under. After a birdie on the 11th, Bowditch reeled off back-to-back birdies from the 13th to move to five-under.

Bowditch birdied the 16th and followed with birdies on 17 and 18 to be the first in the clubhouse at minus-eight and to match his career-low round on the Nationwide Tour.

"To be honest, I played the best I've played in the last four or five years last week, I just couldn't get the putts in," said Bowditch, who tied for 17th last week at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. "It wasn't so much about making the putts, but I was missing the momentum putts as well."

Thompson started on the back nine Friday and opened with a birdie on the par- five 10th. He parred his next five holes before posting birdies on the 16th and 17th.

After four consecutive pars around the turn, Thompson poured in four straight birdie efforts from the fourth to move within one of Bowditch's lead. Thompson grabbed a share of the lead with a birdie on the par-four ninth, his last.

"I never thought this course was that easy and every year guys are shooting 59s and 60s and here I am shooting two- or three-under and feeling like I played okay," stated Bowditch, who missed the cut in five of his first six starts this year.

"It's just fun again. I've struggled on this course in the past, so to play like this today was a lot of fun."

Kirk was joined in sixth at minus-six by Brandt Jobe, Hunter Haas, Ewan Porter, Aaron Watkins, Berry Henson, Ray Beaufils and amateur Morgan Hoffmann, who tied for ninth last week.

NOTES: Bowditch last fired a 63 in the final round of the 2005 New Zealand PGA Championship...Last week's winner, D.J. Brigman, struggled to a one-over 72 that left him tied for 121st...Also at plus-one is leading money winner Jamie Lovemark.

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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.