Travers is wide-open Mid-Summer Derby
Horseracing Betting Lines
08/25/2010 - Saratoga Springs, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes has attracted an evenly matched field of 11 three-year-olds. Saratoga's Mid- Summer Derby will be conducted over the main track at 1 1/4-miles.
Local winner A Little Warm, the 7-2 favorite, will try to sweep the two major races for three-year-olds at the track. Trained by Tony Dutrow, the colt is coming off an eye-catching victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes last month.
"He had a big effort in Delaware and four weeks after that he came up here and had another big effort in the Jim Dandy," said Dutrow.
A Little Warm, owned by Edward Evans, will start from post five with John Velazquez riding. Velazquez has been aboard the colt the last two races and won the 2005 Travers with Flower Alley.
Early this year the three-year-old won the Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream Park and followed with second-place finishes in the Hutcheson and Louisiana Derby. He returned to racing in June with an allowance win at Delaware Park.
A Little Warm has lifetime earnings of $608,880 in nine starts with four wins and four seconds.
The 4-1 second choice is Haskell Invitational runner-up Trappe Shot. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, the chestnut colt will break from post two with rider Alan Garcia.
"We're all happy right now," McLaughlin said. "We came to a conclusion, and we're going to enter Trappe Shot in the Travers. The prestige of the Travers is very important to the (owners) Bradys and to the McLaughlins. The Travers is wide-open. It looks like there are seven horses who could win the Travers. He's fit and he's ready to go."
Owned by Nicholas and Jim Brady, Trappe Shot won Monmouth Park's Long Branch Stakes leading into the Haskell. The colt has won four of six lifetime starts for $387,050.
Jockey Calvin Borel will once again be aboard Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver on Saturday. Three years ago Borel guided Derby champ Street Sense to victory in the Travers.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Super Saver will break from the far outside post for owner WinStar Farm. The colt is 6-1 in the program along with Afleet Express, who was third in the Jim Dandy.
Super Saver is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Haskell Invitational behind Preakness champ Lookin At Lucky. 'Lucky' is out of the Travers after having a fever following his Monmouth Park victory.
"I believe the Haskell has moved him forward," said Pletcher. "And I would expect an improved performance from him in what appears to be a wide-open race."
Super Saver has earned more than $1.8 million in nine career starts with three wins. Along with the Run for the Roses victory this year he was third in the Tampa Bay Derby, second in the Arkansas Derby and eighth in the Preakness.
Here is the full field in post position order for the 141st Travers: Miner's Reserve, David Cohen, 12-1; Trappe Shot, Alan Garcia, 4-1; Admiral Alex, Kent Desormeaux, 12-1; First Dude, Ramon Dominguez, 8-1; A Little Warm, John Velazquez, 7-2; Ice Box, Julien Leparoux, 10-1; Afleet Express, Javier Castellano, 6-1; Fly Down, Jose Lezcano, 8-1; Friend Or Foe, Rajiv Maragh, 15-1; Afleet Again, Cornelio Velasquez, 30-1 and Super Saver, Calvin Borel, 6-1.
Post-time on Saturday is scheduled for 5:46 p.m. (et).
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Only a monumental collapse or some gypsy curse over the next few weeks can derail the San Diego Padres in their quest for a third division title since 2005. The Padres won the NL West five years ago and share
<< CFL Previews - August 27-28 - Week Nine
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
CALGARY STAMPEDERS (6-1) at BRITISH COLUMBIA LIONS (1-6)
DATE & TIME: Friday, August 27, 10:30 p.m. (et).
GAME NOTES: A couple of teams heading in opposite directions in the CFL's
Western Division
<< Kroenke becomes majority owner of Rams
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams announced on Wednesday
that E. Stanley Kroenke has become the majority owner of the club.
The decision was made via a vote by the rest of the league's owners at a
meeting in Atlanta.
"St
<< FIBA World Basketball Championship Preview - Group D
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
Country: Canada
FIBA Ranking: 19
Head Coach: Leo Rautins
Key Players: Joel Anthony, Andy Rautins
Overview: It's been sometime since Canada has made an impact on the world
stage and since the de
<< FCD producing positive results under Hyndman
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Suddenly FC Dallas is looking like a legitimate contender
in Major League Soccer under head coach Schellas Hyndman.
That hasn't always been the case since the long-time Southern Methodist
University coach took ove
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars signed running back Kolby Smith, the club announced on Wednesday. Smith, 25, joins the Jaguars following a brief stint with Denver. The 5- foot-11, 219-pounder was signe
Could be a wide-open Open >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 U.S. Open will get underway in
less than a week, and this year's fields appear to be a bit more wide open
than usual.
We already know we'll have a new men's champion next month, as 2009 winner
Ju
Vikings acquire WR Camarillo from Dolphins >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Vikings have reportedly
acquired wide receiver Greg Camarillo from the Miami Dolphins.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Dolphins got cornerback Benny
Sapp in return.
M
Carlos Eduardo leaves Hoffenheim for Rubin Kazan >>
Sinsheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim midfielder Carlos Eduardo
completed a move to Russian champions Rubin Kazan on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Brazilian has spent the past three seasons with Hoffenheim,
scoring 13 goals i
For golf, it's the Summer of Rules >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I know the feeling.
You wake up in the morning and realize one of three things has happened: 1)
You have forgotten to set your alarm; 2) You have set your alarm, but woke up
and turned it off; or 3) You set your alarm, whi
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.