LPGA Tour unveils 2012 schedule

Golf Betting Lines

01/10/2012 - Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The LPGA Tour released it 2012 schedule on Tuesday and the 28-event slate features five new events.

As had already been announced, the tour opens the season February 9-12 in Australia with its first new stop. That will be followed by events in Thailand and Singapore before the first stateside event takes place March 15-18 with the LPGA Founders Cup in Arizona.

The tour will head to California for two tournaments, the second of which is the year's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

After two weeks off, the tour will move to Hawaii for another new tourney, then quickly shifts back to Alabama the following week.

In the first week of May, the tour will have a two-day event in Brazil. The next three events are in New York and New Jersey, including the year's second major, the Wegmans LPGA Championship.

After a pair of events, including a new stop in Canada, the year's third major -- the U.S. Women's Open -- will be contested at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin.

After a two-week respite, the tour heads to France for the Evian Masters, which will be a major starting in 2013. The tour returns to the U.S. for two events, including the return of the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, which was off the slate last year.

The tour heads north of the border to Canada the last week of August, then will play a new event at an old location as the Kingsmill Resort hosts the Kingsmill Championship.

The following week is the season's final major, the Women's British Open at Royal Liverpool. The tour returns to the U.S. the next week for the Navistar LPGA Classic, which is the last full-field event in the states.

In October, the tour goes back to Asia for four straight weeks. The tour will shift to Mexico for Lorena Ochoa's event before the season wraps up November 15-18 with the second playing of the CME Group Titleholders.

According to the tour's release, LPGA Tour commissioner Michael Whan also revealed that the LPGA renewed eight of the nine tournament contracts that ended in 2011 and 10 of 11 marketing partnerships that also required new contracts.

With the addition of the new events, and the return of the Jamie Farr, the total purse in 2012 increased to $47 million after being $40.4 million last year.

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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.