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.

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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.


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.