New York fillies stakes gain sponsor

Horseracing Betting Lines

05/27/2010 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NYRA stakes series, known as the Triple Tiara, for three-year-old fillies has gained the sponsorship of Betfair TVG. The series is comprised of the Acorn Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Alabama Stakes.

"We're thrilled to announce this partnership with Betfair TVG," said NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward. "It is a cutting edge, innovative company that has enjoyed tremendous success on both the national and international stage. The Betfair TVG Triple Tiara will add a lot of excitement to what should be a sensational spring and summer of racing in New York."

The one-mile Acorn Stakes will be held on Belmont Stakes Day, June 5. The second jewel will be the 1 1/8-mile Coaching Club American Oaks on Saturday, July 24 at Saratoga Race Course. Previously run at Belmont Park, the Oaks will have its 93rd running this year.

The Triple Tiara will conclude with the 1 1/4-mile Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, August 21. If a filly is able to win all three stakes, Betfair TVG will present her owners with a $50,000 bonus to go the charity of their choice.

"It's fitting that our first major sponsorship in New York should be for fillies races," said TVG CEO Stephen Burn. "Ten years ago Betfair's first ever betting market was on the Oaks at Epsom, when we had only 36 customers. A decade on and now with three million customers, it is thrilling to realize an ambition by being able to support races for fillies in the United States."

If a filly does not sweep the series, Betfair TVG will donate $30,000 to the chosen charity of the owners of the filly that accumulates the most points over the three races. Points will be based on a 10-5-3 system for horses finishing first, second, or third. All starters, including the first three finishers, will get an additional point. The tiebreaker will be wins, and if there is still a tie, the bonus will be evenly shared among the fillies with the most points.

At the conclusion of the three races, Betfair TVG will also donate $10,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation on behalf of NYRA.

There have been just five fillies who have been able to sweep the three races, Sky Beauty (1990), Open Mind (1989), Mom's Command (1985), Shuvee (1969), and Top Flight (1932).

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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