Drosselmeyer storms back to win Belmont Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/05/2010 - Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Longshot Drosselmeyer, ridden by Mike Smith, drove down the middle the track to win Saturday's 142nd running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park. The victory is the first in the race for both the jockey and trainer Bill Mott.

Drosselmeyer is owned by WinStar Farm which also owns Kentucky Derby champ Super Saver. Neither Super Saver nor Preakness champ Lookin At Lucky ran in the race, the first time since 2006 that the Belmont was without both winners of the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Drosselmeyer and Smith were never far off the pace that was set by Preakness runner-up First Dude and Interactif. Racing right behind the top two were Uptowncharlybrown and Game On Dude. Running in the back of the 12 horse field was Kentucky Derby runner-up and 9-5 Belmont favorite Ice Box.

The top five runners, with Drosselmeyer fifth, entered the far turn in the 1 1/2-mile race with no change in positions. Jockey Jose Lezcano got Ice Box to begin moving toward the leaders with about three-furlongs to run.

At the top of the stretch three horses, First Dude, Game On Dude and Drosselmeyer, had moved as one to the front. Drosselmeyer was on the outside with First Dude inside of him and Game On Dude beginning to tire. Fly Down passed Game On Dude and got to within a length of the first two horses.

With less than a 100 yards to go Drosselmeyer took the lead and was able to hold off Fly Down by three-quarters of a length. Finishing third was First Dude with Game On Dude holding on to fourth.

Completing the order of finish was Uptowncharlybrown, Stay Put, Interactif, Stately Victor, Ice Box, Make Music for Me, Dave in Dixie and Spangled Star.

The time for the Test of Champions was 2:31.57 on a fast track.

"Great training and a great ride," said Doug Cauthen of WinStar Farm. "Mike put a great ride on him. He gave him a beautiful, clear ride."

Drosselmeyer was ridden for the first by Smith after having Kent Desormeaux in the saddle for seven of the first eight starts. Smith has now won all three Triple Crown events. He won the 2005 Kentucky Derby on Giacomo and the 1993 Preakness aboard Prairie Bayou.

The chestnut colt comes away with $600,000 for the victory, just his third in nine career starts. His lifetime earnings now stand at $801,170.

Earlier this year Drosselmeyer was fourth in the Risen Star Stakes as the 2-1 favorite, came back to be third in the Louisiana Derby and was second in the Dwyer as the 7-10 favorite. Fly Down won the Dwyer by six-lengths.

Drosselmeyer, sent off at 13-1, returned $28.00, $11.60 and $7.70. Fly Down paid $6.80 and $5.10, and First Dude paid $4.90 to show.

Wwwlakings Horseracing Betting News

<< Hunter solid in season debut as Texas downs Tampa
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Hunter was sensational in his season debut, hurling a complete game to lead Texas past Tampa Bay, 6-1, in the second of a three-game set at Rangers Ballpark. Hunter (1-0) allowed five hits,

<< Bills sign LB Torbor
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills signed free agent linebacker Reggie Torbor to an undisclosed contract on Saturday. Torbor, 29, appeared in all 16 games for the Dolphins last season -- his second with the club --

<< Niese returns and pitches Mets over Marlins
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Niese returned from the disabled list to toss seven strong innings while Ike Davis went 4-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored as the New York Mets downed the Florida Marlins, 6-1, in the second

<< Drosselmeyer storms back to capture Belmont Stakes
Elmont, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drosselmeyer passed several horses down the stretch to win the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes in a close finish. Ridden by Mike Smith, who was replacing last year's Belmont-winning jockey Kent Desormeaux, D

<< Struggling Kansas City earns draw at Toronto FC
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmy Nielsen made three saves for his fourth shutout of the year and the Kansas City Wizards earned their first road result of the season with a 0-0 draw Saturday at BMO Field against Toronto FC. Kansas City

Red Sox recall Reddick, option Atchison >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox recalled outfielder Josh Reddick from Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday for some extra depth. To make room on the roster, the Red Sox optioned pitcher Scott Atchison to the same club. Red

Angels roll on with rout of Mariners >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ervin Santana allowed one run in six solid innings and Torii Hunter continued his torrid stretch with three hits and three RBI, as the Angels remained hot with an 11-2 rout of the Seattle Mariner

Rasmus leads Cardinals to win in extras >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colby Rasmus drove in the game-winning run in the 11th inning, giving St. Louis a 5-4 victory over the Brewers in the middle test of a three-game series between the National League Central foes. A pair of e

Wittels' hit streak at 56, but FIU ousted from tourney >>
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida International shortstop Garrett Wittels extended his hitting streak to 56 games on Saturday, but his chance at history will have to wait until the 2011 season. Wittels hit an RBI double in th

Mackenzie stays ahead in Victoria >>
Victoria, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Brock Mackenzie managed an even-par 70 on Saturday, but remained atop the leaderboard after the third round of the Times Colonist Open. Mackenzie finished 54 holes at 10-under 200 and is one stroke

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.