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05/14/2010 - Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lightly raced Acting Happy shook loose down the stretch to win Friday's 86th running of the $175,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The 1 1/8 mile race for three-year-old fillies is the sister event to Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
Nine fillies entered the starting gate for the annual renewal of the Black- Eyed Susan. When the gate opened several of the starters broke in a tangle.
Taking the early lead was Khancord Kid followed closely by Acting Happy on the outside. Running right behind the top two horses were post-time favorite Tidal Pool and Harissa.
The top four runners kept their positions up the backstretch. Entering the far turn C C's Pal joined the lead group and Tidal Pool was looking for room along the rail.
Around the final turn the top five runners were bunched in a group. Tidal Pool, a slight favorite over Seeking the Title, was pinched back as the field entered the stretch.
Khancord Kid began to fade down the stretch as Acting Happy and jockey Jose Lezcano took the lead. Trained by Rick Dutrow, Acting Happy drew clear inside the furlong pole as No Such Word mounted a rally.
Acting Happy posted a 1 1/2-length victory over the late running No Such Word with Tidal Pool holding on for third. Rounding out the order of finish was Harissa, Khancord Kid, C C's Pal and Patriot Miss.
Diva Delite, ridden by Julien Leparoux, clipped heels with C C's Pal and fell entering the far turn. Seeking the Title with rider Kent Desormeaux was unable to avoid her. Both the fillies and jockeys appeared to be uninjured.
The time for the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes was 1:50 on a fast track.
Owned by Jay Em Ess Stable, Acting Happy was making just her fourth career start and her first in a stakes race. Friday's victory was as a 10-1 longshot, but was worth $105,000.
The daughter of 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker has now won two of four lifetime starts for $141,540. After breaking her maiden first time out, Acting Happy was second in her next two starts.
Acting Happy returned $22.20, $10.80 and $5.80. No Such Word paid $9.00 and $5.60, and Tidal Pool paid $2.60 to show.
The updated weather forecast for Saturday's Preakness Stakes indicates partly cloudy skies, winds from the West at 10 to 20 m.p.h. and a post-time temperature near 75.
<< Piller remains hot, leads BMW Charity Pro-Am by one
Greer, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Piller carded a five-under 67 Friday to
take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the BMW Charity Pro-Am.
Piller, who shared the first-round lead with Ted Potter, Jr., completed 36
holes at 13-unde
<< Jones, Pirates use late burst of offense to down Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Garrett Jones collected five hits and drove in
a career-high five runs, including the tie-breaking three-run homer in the
eighth inning, to lift the Pirates to a 10-6 win over the Cubs in the opener
of a th
<< Embarrassed Wizards hope to catch Fire
Kansas City, KA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire travel to take on the
Kansas City Wizards in a Major League Soccer clash on Saturday night at
CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
The Wizards are trying to bounced back from an embarrass
<< Cahoon to return with Als for 2010
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes announced on Friday
that veteran wideout Ben Cahoon will return for a 13th year.
Cahoon, a Utah native and Brigham Young product, posted a league-best 89
receptions for 1,031
Former NFL lineman Hand dead at 37 >>
Walterboro, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NFL defensive lineman Norman Hand
has reportedly passed away at the age of 37.
The news was reported by CBS news affiliate WCSC-TV in Charleston, South
Carolina. The Colleton County corone
Rangers activate Cruz from DL >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers have activated
outfielder Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list.
The 29-year-old had been placed on the DL on April 27 with a strained right
hamstring.
He started two
Nationals/Rockies postponed, rescheduled for Saturday DH >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday night's game between the Washington
Nationals and Colorado Rockies was postponed due to inclement weather.
The game has been rescheduled as part of a split doubleheader on Saturday. The
first game w
Padres' Cabrera activated from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres activated shortstop
Everth Cabrera from the 15-day disabled list Friday.
Cabrera was put on the DL April 30 due to a strained right hamstring. In 18
games this season, Cabrera is
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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.
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