Ruler On Ice and Shackleford meet in Donn Handicap

Horseracing Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Triple Crown race winners Ruler On Ice and Shackleford head a field of 11 older thoroughbreds for Saturday's 1 1/8- mile Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The two four-year-olds will each be making their 2012 debuts.

Drawing post three is the 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice. The gelding, trained by Kelly Breen, will be ridden by Rosie Napravnik, one of Breen's regular jockeys.

"She's been riding up a storm at Fair Grounds," said Breen about Napravnik. "With Garrett Gomez out (with an injury), it's an opportunity to go with Rosie."

Owned by Lori and George Hall, the gelding proved to be one of the top three- year-olds last year. Along with his Belmont Stakes win, he was third in the Breeders' Cup Classic after being bumped at the start.

"At times he has a little bit of trouble with the pace. He's just not that quick out of the gate," said Breen.

Ruler On Ice was third in the Sunland Derby, second in the Federico Tesio, third in the Haskell, fourth in the Travers and runner-up in the Pennsylvania Derby. He wrapped up his 2011 season with an unfortunate fifth in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Ruler On Ice has banked more than $1.6 million for the Halls with three wins in 12 career starts.

Shackleford, last year's Preakness Stakes champ, will start from post nine with regular rider Jesus Castanon in the saddle. Trained by Dale Romans, the chestnut colt is owned by Michael Lauffer and W. D. Cubbedge.

In addition to the Preakness win, Shackleford posted a second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile behind Caleb's Posse at Churchill Downs. Earlier at Churchill he was fourth in the Kentucky Derby and then fifth in the Belmont Stakes.

"He hasn't missed a beat. He hasn't missed a beat in his life," Romans said.

In 12 career starts the colt has three wins and is within $15,000 of the $2 million mark in lifetime earnings.

Here is the complete field for the Donn in post position order: Where's Sterling, Jose Lezcano; Mission Impazible, Javier Castellano; Ruler On Ice, Rosie Napravnik; Redeemed, Edgar Prado; Soaring Empire, Julien Leparoux; Al Khali, Alan Garcia; Flat Out, Alex Solis; Trickmeister, Ramon Dominguez; Shackleford, Jesus Castanon; Hymn Book, John Velazquez and Sangaree, Rajiv Maragh.

Post-time for the Donn Handicap is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. (et).

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

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