Gotham Stakes up for grabs on Saturday

Horseracing Betting Lines

03/06/2008 - Ozone Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An even field of ten has been entered for Saturday's $250,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. The 1 1/16 mile Gotham is the final prep race for the April 5 Wood Memorial.

Breaking from the far outside post will be possible favorite Visionaire and jockey Jose Lezcano. Trained by Mike Matz of Barbaro fame, Visionaire is coming off a third place finish to Pyro in the Risen Star Stakes at the Fair Grounds.

"I was very pleased with his race in the Risen Star," Matz said. "It was his first time around two turns and he only got beat 2 lengths by some nice horses. Each time he's run, he's improved."

Visionaire is owned by Team Valor for whom he has won two of four starts for $78,260. The chestnut colt will be racing at his fifth different track in as many starts.

Another possible favorite on Saturday is Giant Moon, winner of the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct. Undefeated in four career starts, the colt is owned by Al Fried, Jr. and trained by Richard Schosberg.

Giant Moon will be ridden by Ramon Dominguez from the inside post. The three- year-old has earned $184,785, with three of his wins coming in stakes races.

"He's on the outside looking in, which is as it should be," said Schosberg about Giant Moon. "Hopefully, after Saturday, he'll be on the inside, looking out. Any advantage we have is that he has proven himself around two turns over this track."

Taking another shot at Giant Moon will be Roman Emperor, trained by Steve Klesaris. Roman Emperor will be ridden by Jeremy Rose from post three.

Owned by Puglisi Stables, the colt was third to Giant Moon in the Count Fleet and last time out finished second by a half-length to Barrier Reef in Aqueduct's Whirlaway Stakes.

"He's doing very good and has been incredibly sharp in his training," said Klesaris. "Obviously, this is going to be his stiffest test to date. He's got the versatility, that's for sure. My only reservation is I wish we had races with more ground to run in. This colt is a true mile and a half horse. He's really gonna excel with the big distances."

Roman Emperor has earned $83,553 with two wins in five starts. Rose will aboard the son of 2003 Belmont Stakes champ Empire Maker for the fifth straight start.

Here is the complete field for the Gotham Stakes in post position order: Giant Moon,Ramon Dominguez; Laysh Laysh Laysh, Mario Pino; Roman Emperor, Jeremy Rose; Saratoga Russell, Eibar Coa; Southern Terminus, Stewart Elliott; Holidaze, Michael Luzzi; Texas Wildcatter, Norberto Arroyo, Jr.; Larrys Revenge, Joe Bravo; Ling Ling Qi, Rajiv Maragh and Visionaire, Jose Lezcano.

Trainer Todd Pletcher has three entered in the race Southern Terminus, Holidaze and Texas Wildcatter.

The Gotham has a scheduled post-time of 4:50 p.m. (et).

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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