Rachel Alexandra back to work in morning

Horseracing Betting Lines

06/21/2010 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra put in her first workout at Churchill Downs on Monday morning since her victory in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap. The four-year-old filly breezed a half-mile for trainer Steve Asmussen.

"She went fine," said Asmussen. "It's a ridiculously hot morning, you know. That's a big concern. It's time to get out and go north."

With Shaun Bridgmohan in the saddle, Rachel covered the four-furlongs in 51 1/5 second and galloped out five-furlongs in 1:05 1/5. At 6:30 a.m. (et) it was 81 degrees when the champion took to the track.

"I think we've got to get out of this weather," Asmussen commented. "The flag's stuck to the pole today. She acts like the rest of us do right now -- it's hot. Her weight's good and she's very sound, and her strength is good. But it's hot. We'd all feel better if it was about 20 degrees cooler."

The original plan for Rachel was for her to travel to Saratoga after the end of the Churchill Downs meet on July 4. Asmussen is now thinking about shipping the filly and his other horses earlier due to the hot weather.

Rachel won the Fleur de Lis by 10 1/2-lengths on June 12, her first win of the year. She came up short in her initial two starts of 2010. She was second to Zardana at the Fair Grounds in the New Orleans Ladies Classic and runner-up to Unrivaled Belle at Churchill Downs in the La Troienne.

Owned by Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, the filly has career earnings of $3,216,730 with 12 wins in 17 starts.

Wmajorleaguebaseball Horseracing Betting News

<< Saints release DE McCray
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have released defensive end Bobby McCray. McCray, 28, signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2008. The Florida product started eight of 32 regular-season ga

<< Portland Trail Blazers 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pritchard has built the Portland Trail Blazers into a contender in the Western Conference but he is reportedly not in the good graces of team owner Paul Allen. In fact, Pritchard has acknowledged he knows ownership i

<< Phoenix Suns 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Suns rebounded nicely this year after the Terry Porter debacle but that didn't stop Steve Kerr from announcing that he would not return as president and general manager when his contract expires on June 30. Kerr intend

<< Monterey is more than Pebble Beach
Monterey, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Most golf nuts are always searching for that ultimate buddy trip. To play 12 rounds of golf in 5 days, visit the local establishments and enjoy the fruitful libation to the wee hours of the morning. Myrtle Be

<< Philadelphia 76ers 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more active teams early in the offseason, naming Doug Collins as the team's new head coach, and trading disappointing center Samuel Dalembert to the Sacramento Kings. Collins is

San Antonio Spurs 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After 13 Consecutive trips to the postseason and four rings, you can almost see the end of the road coming for a great San Antonio team. Injuries and age have taken a toll on Gregg Popovich's club for the last two seasons

Toronto Raptors 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Raptors figure to lose Chris Bosh in the offseason so they will need to acquire a big man to replace him. Toronto would like to work a sign-and-trade with Bosh's prospective new team, where it could get an asset in ret

Miyazato takes over top spot in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With her fourth win of the season on Sunday, Ai Miyazato took over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for women's golf. Jiyai Shin, who slipped to No. 2, is scheduled to return to action thi

FC Dallas names Quinn president, CEO >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas announced that Douglas Quinn has been named president and chief executive officer of the Major League Soccer club, effective Aug. 2. "We are thrilled to welcome Doug to FC Dallas, and look fo

Utah Jazz 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The rich plan get richer, as Utah will use the New York Knicks' pick to select a big man as insurance for the injured Mehmet Okur and free agent power forward Carlos Boozer. The Jazz must also make a decision on Kyle Korve

Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.

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

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.