March 26 Fairgrounds Points Picks go here . . .

[JolyB]

Some morning line makers are just better than others and really try to calculate what the betting odds will be on each of the runners in a race. Others seem to take a more lackadaisical approach, especially once they have gotten past the top couple of choices.

I noticed that the odds maker at the Fair Grounds has used 6-1 and even more so 8-1 as his default settings once he got past the top couple of picks, sometimes assigning 8-1 odds to as many as 5 horses in a race. To me, this is a disservice to the betting public who are entitled to a more professional approach. I know that many serious handicappers pay very little attention to the ML or even make their own. But, there are a lot of casual horseplayers who use the ML as a basis of their wagering and deserve something more precise, rather than a line that looks as if it was sort of slapped together.

OK, rant over - have a great day in NOLA tomorrow.