Jockey Club Gold Cup features "Ron" and Curlin

Horseracing Betting Lines

09/28/2007 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunday's $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park has attracted a field of seven including leading older thoroughbred Lawyer Ron and Preakness Stakes winner Curlin. The 1 1/4 mile event is an important test leading to the Breeders' Cup Classic with the winner gaining automatic entry to the $5 million race.

Lawyer Ron, already in the Classic with his Whitney Handicap victory, goes after his third straight win this year for owner Hines Racing. Trained by Todd Pletcher, the four-year-old will start from post six with John Velazquez again in the saddle.

The chestnut colt is coming off a win in the Woodward at Saratoga and has established himself as the top older thoroughbred this year. Lawyer Ron has career earnings of more than $2.6 million, winning half of his 24 lifetime starts.

"I think Lawyer Ron in the Whitney and the Woodward has sort of separated himself from most of the horses that are in training right now," Pletcher said. "I mean his track record in the Whitney was a superb race and the Woodward was right along with it so I mean any of the three year olds are going to have to take a step forward to get up to that level and of course a lot of them, that's what we're going to be finding out about."

Stepping up to take on older horses for the first time is Preakness champ Curlin. Coming off a disappointing third in the Haskell Invitational, the three-year-old has lost his last two starts, both as the favorite.

Robby Albarado is back to ride for trainer Steve Asmussen and will break from post five. Albarado was aboard Mineshaft to win the 2003 edition. Curlin has won four of seven career starts, all in 2007, for better than $1.9 million.

The likely third choice is Suburban Handicap winner Political Force. The four- year-old will start from post three with Cornelio Velasquez returning to ride.

Political Force is coming off a fifth place finish behind Lawyer Ron in the Woodward at Saratoga. The colt was second in the Met Mile to Corinthian when Lawyer Ron was the beaten favorite in third.

Trained by Allen Jerkens, Political Force has won four of 16 career starts for $532,232. This year he has earned $445,747 with three wins in seven starts. Jerkens won the Gold Cup in 1973 with Prove Out, 1975 with Group Plan and 1998 with Wagon Limit.

Here is the complete field for the race post position order: Brother Bobby, Stewart Elliott; Sun King, Alan Garcia; Political Force, Cornelio Velasquez; Malibu Moonshine, Channing Hill; Curlin, Robby Albarado; Lawyer Ron, John Velazquez and Indy Wind, Rafael Bejarano.

The 89th running of the Jockey Club Gold Cup has a scheduled post-time of 5:45 p.m. (et) and will be televised on ESPN.

7decks Horseracing Betting News

<< Cowboys' Ellis, Newman both "50-50" for Sunday
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Cowboys linebacker Greg Ellis and cornerback Terence Newman are still questionable for Sunday's game against the Rams, head coach Wade Phillips said in his Friday press conference. Ellis is stil

<< Revs, Rapids to battle at Gillette
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the New England Revolution and the Colorado Rapids square off in a Major League Soccer match Saturday at Gillette Stadium, they will be desperately chasing points for different reasons. The Revs ha

<< Ravens to Face Lewis, Browns
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis will be playing with a little more aggression on Sunday, when his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, pay a visit to their AFC North rivals for a Week 4 showdown. Lewis spent his fi

<< Griese Era Begins In Bears-Lions Showdown
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears will have a new look under center when they travel to Ford Field this Sunday for an NFC North clash with the Detroit Lions. After getting off to a 1-2 start under the guidance of quarterback Rex Grossman

<< Colts, Broncos, Try to Maintain Division Leads
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle of first-place teams will be the feature attraction at the RCA Dome on Sunday afternoon, as the Indianapolis Colts welcome the Denver Broncos to town in a matchup between two frequent members of the AFC elite. Th

Bartoli ousts top-seeded Chakvetadze in Luxembourg >>
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli upset U.S. Open semifinalist Anna Chakvetadze of Russia in Friday's quarterfinal action at the $600,000 Fortis Championships. The fifth-seeded Bartoli

D.C. hopes to avoid letdown against Toronto >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United will try to take another step toward finishing with Major League Soccer's best record for the second year in a row on Saturday against Toronto FC. D.C. is riding a 10-game unbeaten streak, whi

Panthers' Delhomme listed as doubtful >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme is doubtful for Sunday's matchup against Tampa Bay due to a strained right elbow. Delhomme, who missed practice for the third straight day, was injur

Flyers' Downie suspended 20 games >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Flyers rookie Steve Downie was suspended 20 games by the NHL on Friday for his hit on Ottawa's Dean McAmmond that gave the center a concussion and knocked him out of action indefinitely. The incident occu

Bayern puts unbeaten mark on line against Leverkusen >>
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Re-tooled Bayern Munich has lived up to expectations so far this year, going undefeated in seven games to sit atop the standings as the class of the Bundesliga. An offseason signing spree that included

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.