Favored Connemara draws rail for Lane's End Stakes

Horseracing Betting Lines

03/25/2010 - Florence, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's $500,000 Lane's End Stakes, Turfway Park's signature race for three-year-olds, will have 10 Kentucky Derby hopefuls break from the starting gate. The 1 1/8-mile event comes five weeks before the Run for the Roses.

Leading the field are a pair of colts trained by Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher. Pletcher will have 9-5 favorite Connemara leave from the inside post and Doubles Partner will break from the favorite's immediate outside.

Pletcher won the Lane's End in 2001 with Balto Star and in 2005 with Flower Alley.

Connemara will be ridden by Russell Baze who has been aboard the chestnut colt the last two starts. Owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Mrs. John Magnier, Connemara is coming off a win in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields last month.

The three-year-old was second to Ranger Heartley in the California Derby at Golden Gate two months ago. Connemara has won three of four career starts for $147,800.

"We're not ruling out the Derby for him," Pletcher said, "but we're really not looking beyond this race. "He liked the track at Turfway when he broke his maiden, so this looks like a good spot for him. He has trained on dirt and turf, but synthetics seem to be his preferred surface. If he does well, whether he goes in the Derby would probably depend more on how he did training at Churchill following the race."

Doubles Partner will have the services of Chris DeCarlo as rider. The colt is 10-1 in the morning-line and will be making his initial stakes appearance.

"This will be a step up for him," said Pletcher, "but he did beat Lentenor in his last race, and Lentenor just came back to be fourth in the Florida Derby. (Doubles Partner) is a WinStar (Farm) horse so he's spent a lot of time training at Keeneland and he seems to like the synthetic."

Doubles Partner won his last start, an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in February. He has earnings of $59,723 with two wins in five starts.

Ranger Heartley, winner of the California Derby, has drawn post five for the race and is 6-1 in the program. Trained by John Sadler, the gelding will be ridden by Michael Baze for the first time.

The Lane's End will be the fourth meeting between Ranger Heartley and Connemara. The series stands at two wins for Connemara and one for Ranger Heartley.

"We're looking for another chance to keep him on the Derby trail, and we wanted to keep him on the synthetic, so we decided to take him out of town," said Sadler. "It wasn't that smooth last time (in the El Camino Real), but he's been training forward since that race. I'm not concerned about the distance (of the Lane's End) but he likes to be on the lead, so it depends on what kind of trip he gets."

Ranger Heartley has four wins in 10 starts for owners David and Herb Alpert. Most recently fifth in the El Camino Real Derby, the three-year-old has career earnings of $122,440.

Here is the complete field for the Lane's End in post position order: Connemara, Russell Baze, 9-5; Doubles Partner, Chris DeCarlo, 10-1; Chief Counsel, Francisco Torres, 12-1; Kettle River, James Lopez, 8-1; Ranger Heartley, Michael Baze, 6-1; Outlaw Man, Alex Solis, 8-1; Northern Giant, Calvin Borel, 5-1; Letsgetitonmon, John McKee, 20-1; Dean's Kitten, Cornelio Velasquez, 5-1 and Vow to Wager, Victor Lebron, 20-1.

The Lane's End Stakes has a scheduled post-time of 5:12 p.m. (et) and will be shown live on the USA Network along with the Louisiana Derby.

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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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