Record number pre-entered for 24th Breeders' Cup

Horseracing Betting Lines

10/17/2007 - Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness champ Curlin are two of the record 141 thoroughbreds who have been pre-entered for all 11 Breeders' Cup races scheduled for October 26 and 27 at Monmouth Park. For the first time since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984, the event will conducted over two days.

Post positions for all 11 Breeders' Cup World Championships races will be drawn on Tuesday, October 23 at Monmouth Park. There will be three new $1 million Breeders' Cup races run on Breeders' Cup Friday and eight Breeders' Cup races on Breeders' Cup Saturday.

Nine thoroughbreds have been pre-entered for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. In addition to Street Sense and Curlin, the other possible contenders are Any Given Saturday, Awesome Gem, Diamond Stripes, George Washington, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron and Tiago.

The $3 million Turf has a dozen horses pre-entered including 2004 winner Better Talk Now and 2006 champ Red Rocks.

The three new Breeders' Cup races, to be conducted on Friday, October 26, helped push the total of pre-entered thoroughbreds to the 141 total.

The $1 million Dirt Mile has 11 pre-entered horses, including Met Mile winner Corinthian and veteran runners Commentator and Wanderin Boy. Five of the horses named for the Dirt Mile have also been pre-entered for other Breeders' Cup races.

The first ever $1 million Juvenile Turf race has 23 horses pre-entered, with five of them cross-entered for the two Juvenile races scheduled for Saturday, October 27.

The $1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint has attracted 12 pre-entered females for its initial running. Hystercalady, winner of the Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park, will among the favorites.

The $2 million Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile races have each drawn 16 pre- entered two-year-olds. Last year's Juvenile champ Street Sense went on to become the first winner to capture the Kentucky Derby.

Among the pre-entered two-year-old fillies are Spinaway Stakes winner Irish Smoke and highly regarded Indian Blessing. Some of the two-year-old colts are Hopeful Stakes champ Majestic Warrior, Belmont Futurity winner Tale of Ekati and Kodiak Kowboy, winner of the Saratoga Special.

Honey Ryder, third in last year's Filly & Mare Turf, is one of 13 females to be pre-entered for the $2 million grass race. Juddmonte Spinster Stakes winner Panty Raid is also pre-entered in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

The six-furlong $2 million Sprint has 15 horses pre-entered. Among the 15 thoroughbreds are Forego Stakes winner Midnight Lute, Smokey Stover, who has won five races this year and Smile Sprint winner Mach Ride.

The $2 million Mile has 18 pre-entered thoroughbreds. Among those pre-entered for the one-mile turf event are Del Mar Handicap winner After Market, Wood Memorial champ Nobiz Like Shobiz and multiple stakes winner Kip Deville.

The 1 1/8 mile $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff has 15 ladies pre-entered. Topping the list are Alabama Stakes winner Lady Joanne, Clement Hirsh Handicap champ Nashoba's Key and Octave, winner of the Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks.

The first three Breeders' Cup races will be televised on Friday by ESPN2 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. (et). On Saturday ESPN will broadcast from 12:00-7:00 p.m. (et) with the remaining eight races.

Icvholdings Horseracing Betting News

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

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.

NFL Betting Lines

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