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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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.