Awesome Gem edges Rail Trip to win Hollywood Gold Cup

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Awesome Gem, ridden by David Flores, found room along the rail and was able to hold off defending champ Rail Trip to capture Saturday's $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park.

The seven-year-old chestnut gelding was sent off as the 8-1 fourth choice in the six-horse field. Rail Trip was the 2-5 favorite, and 2009 Pacific Classic winner Richard's Kid was the 4-1 second pick.

Awesome Gem, trained by Craig Dollase, was never far off the pace that was being set by Compari in the 1 1/4-mile race. Rail Trip and jockey Rafael Bejarano found themselves on the outside in fourth as the field went up the backstretch.

Around the final turn, Rail Trip began his rally three wide with Awesome Gem sitting right behind Compari as the field entered the stretch. Rail Trip took the lead at the top of the stretch as Awesome Gem edged past Compari along the inside.

Awesome Gem and Rail Trip battled down the stretch to the finish. Awesome Gem posted a neck victory over the defending champ to record his first victory of the year. Richard's Kid finished third followed by Tres Borrachos, Compari and Cigar Man.

The time for the Gold Cup was 2:03.31 on Hollywood's sythetic track.

Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, Awesome Gem went past the $2 million mark in career earnings. The Gold Cup win was worth $300,000 to bring the gelding's lifetime bankroll to $2,274,682. He has won seven of 36 career starts.

Awesome Gem had not won a race before Saturday since last October's Hawthorne Gold Cup at Hawthorne Race Course.

The victory is the third Gold Cup win for Flores. He won the race in 1991 with Marquetry and five years later aboard Siphon.

Awesome Gem returned $18.00, $4.40 and $2.40. Rail Trip paid $2.20 and $2.10, and Richard's Kid paid $2.20 to show.

Earlier in the day on the East Coast, a pair of top thoroughbreds came from off the pace to capture stakes races.

Leading three-year-old filly Blind Luck won a photo finish at Delaware Park to win the $250,000 Delaware Oaks. Ridden by Joel Rosario, Blind Luck covered the 1 1/16-miles in 1:43.34 on a sloppy track.

The winner of this year's Kentucky Oaks came from well off the pace to edge Havre de Grace at the wire. Derwin's Star finished third in the seven horse field followed by No Such Word, Worship the Moon, Calypso Queen and Listen In.

Trained by co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer, Blind Luck notched her eighth career victory in 12 starts. The Oaks win was worth $150,000 to bring her lifetime earnings to $1,538,712.

"She got away a little slow and sometimes she does that," said Hollendorfer. "I honestly was hoping she would have been a little closer. You know the good ones just find a way to get there. I mean she has been beaten before, but she is a very good filly and she just finds a way there. We are very grateful and very thankful. Joel (Rosario) is a very strong rider and he is one of the strongest finishers in the country. We are still looking at the Alabama (at Saratoga on August 21) for her next start."

Blind Luck paid $2.40, $2.20 and $2.10. Havre de Grace returned $3.60 and $2.80, and Derwin's Star paid $4.60 to show.

At Belmont Park, Gio Ponti successfully defended his crown in the $600,000 Man o'War for his first victory of the year. Approaching the furlong pole, Gio Ponti and rider Ramon Dominguez were four-lengths off the lead in the grass race. He came charging down the stretch to catch Mission Approved and win by a neck.

Rounding out the order of finish was 6-1 second choice Expansion followed by Bearpath, Midnite Silver, Interpatation, Grand Couturier and Strike a Deal.

The time for the 1 3/8-miles was 2:16.20 on a firm turf course.

Gio Ponti returned $2.80, $2.30 and $2.10. Mission Approved paid $17.80 and $7.40, and Expansion paid $2.80 to show.

The five-year-old, trained by Clement Christophe, was voted 2009 champion male turf horse as well as champion older thoroughbred male. He began 2010 with a third-place result in the Tampa Bay Stakes. In March he was third in the Dubai World Cup and last month was second in the Manhattan at Belmont Park.

"As a trainer, you get very excited when you train a horse as good as he is and you go into Grade 1 races, because he just trains so well and you know he's so good," said Clement. "So for me, and for my crew at the barn, it's very exciting to run that kind of horse. We are lucky to be involved with that kind of horse."

In his career Gio Ponti has won half of his 20 starts for $4.1 million. His next start will be in defense of his title in the Arlington Million on August 21.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.