Rail Trip out to defend Hollywood Gold Cup

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/07/2010 - Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rail Trip will take on six challengers on Saturday in defense of his title in the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park. The five-year-old gelding will carry highweight of 123 pounds in the 1 1/4-mile race.

Owned by Jay Em Ess Stable, Rail Trip will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano for the third straight start and the pair will break from post six. Jose Valdivia, Jr. was aboard the gelding last year in winning the Gold Cup.

Rail Trip, trained by Ron Ellis, is coming off victories this year in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap and the Californian. No horse has swept those two races and the Gold Cup since Eleven Stitches in 1981.

"The nice thing about him is that he's almost turned into a mile and a quarter horse," noted Ellis. "He knows where the running starts and he's really strong down the lane. This year he's bigger, stronger and heavier. He's matured a lot. He's a real versatile horse and that's going to come in handy at some point.

"When he won the Gold Cup, he was at the end of a lot of races. This year, by purpose, we wanted to bring him in and point for the Breeders' Cup and have him ready for the second half of the year."

Rail Trip is within a few dollars of becoming a millionaire. The five-year-old has won eight of 11 career starts and earned $967,790.

A win on Saturday would make him just the third horse to claim the Gold Cup more than once. He would join Native Diver (1965-67) and Lava Man (2005-07), who each won the race three straight times.

Last year's runner-up, Tres Borrachos will try to get the best of Rail Trip for the third straight race. The five-year-old gelding was fourth in the Mervyn LeRoy and seventh in the Californian.

Trained by co-owner Beau Greely, Tres Borrachos will start from post six with Victor Espinoza again in the saddle.

"He's got ability, he's been training well, there's nothing wrong with him and he's got a good record at Hollywood Park," said Greely.

Winless since taking an allowance race at Hollywood in May of last year, the gelding has banked $602,682 while winning three of 26 lifetime starts.

Here is the full field for the Gold Cup in post position order: Cigar Man, Joe Talamo; Compari, Mike Smith; Awesome Gem, David Flores; Richard's Kid, Martin Garcia; Tres Borrachos, Victor Espinoza; Rail Trip, Rafael Bejarano and Tap It Light, Tyler Baze.

Post-time for the race is set for 7:35 p.m. (et).

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.