Barca crushes Real in El Clasico

Soccer Betting Lines

05/02/2009 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi each had a pair of goals and Barcelona crushed Real Madrid, 6-2, on Saturday at Bernabeu to win the El Clasico.

Barcelona ended Real's 17-game unbeaten streak - Madrid last lost in La Liga in December to Barcelona - and extended its La Liga lead to seven points with just four games left in the season.

Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique also scored for Barcelona, which has 100 goals in league play this season.

Real Madrid had won 16 of its last 17 games to close a once 12-point deficit to four, but was no match for Barcelona.

Gonzalo Higuain netted his 19th goal of the season in the 14th minute but Barca responded with three goals before halftime.

Henry started the onslaught in the 18th when he ran onto a short chip pass into the penalty area from Messi and slotted past Madrid goalie Iker Casillas to the right post.

Xavi picked up the first of his three assists on the second goal by finding the Barca captain, Puyol, with a cross. Puyol finished with a header into the right side from just a few yards out in the 20th.

After Barca defender Daniel Alves nearly scored an own goal, Messi and Samuel Eto'o were both denied by Casillas before Messi notched his first goal.

Xavi picked up his second assist by setting up Messi, who easily beat Casillas in the 36th for his first goal of the match.

Sergio Ramos gave Real a glimmer of hope in the 56th minute when he ran under a free kick from Arjen Robben to head past Victor Valdes, but just like earlier, Henry answered within minutes.

Henry ran onto a long ball into Real's end and, with Casillas charging out of the area to make a play on it, slotted around the goalie and watched the ball roll slowly into the net in the 58th for his 19th goal of the season.

Xavi and Messi combined on the fifth goal in the 75th, working a nice give-and- go on the right side, with the return pass going to an open Messi in the box. Messi faked a shot toward the far post to get Casillas out of position, then slotted the ball inside the near post for this 23rd league goal.

Messi helped set up the last goal without touching the ball. After Casillas had an initial save, Pique picked up the ball on the far side of the area. Casillas moved out in anticipation of a pass to Messi, who was standing on the edge of the six-yard box, and Pique slipped the ball between the goalie and the post in the 83rd.

Barcelona beat Real 2-0 in the teams' earlier match at the Camp Nou. The four- goal win was Barca's biggest win in Madrid in 35 years.

Also Saturday, Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute scored as third-place Sevilla beat Villarreal 2-0 to move four ahead of Valencia and five ahead of Villarreal and Numancia moved off the bottom thanks to goals from Juan Carlos Moreno and Javier Gonzalez Del Pino in a 2-0 win over Malaga.

On Sunday, Deportivo hosts Valladolid, Osasuna hosts Recreativo, Mallorca hosts Getafe, Sporting Gijon hosts Athletic Bilbao, Racing hosts Almeria, Espanyol hosts Valencia, and Real Betis hosts Atletico Madrid.

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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.