Misremembered wins Big 'Cap and Alphie's Bet takes Sham

Horseracing Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Misremembered, ridden by Martin Garcia, held off Neko Bay down the stretch to win Saturday's 73rd running of the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (Big 'Cap) at Santa Anita Park.

The four-year-old covered the 1 1/4-miles in 2:00.20.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Misremembered was trying to snap a three-race losing streak, where he was second in each attempt. He was coming off a loss to Jeranimo as the 7-10 favorite in the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita.

The pace in the Big 'Cap was set by Mast Track with jockey David Flores. Misremembered was racing second with Marsh Side third and Jeranimo running fourth in the 14-horse field.

Entering the far turn, Misremembered swung to the outside to take the lead as Dakota Phone made a move to the front. Misremembered had the lead at the top of the stretch as Neko Bay, on the inside, went past Dakota Phone.

Misremembered was able to repel Neko Bay down the stretch and posted a neck victory over the seven-year-old. Dakota Phone finished third, with Jeranimo fourth.

Completing the order of finish was Rendezvous, St Trinians, Marsh Side, Delightful Kiss, Pick Six, Pool Play, Loup Breton, Tiger's Rock, Eagle Poise and Mast Track. St Trinians was the only female in the race.

Misremembered is co-owned by Baffert and Natalie and George Jacobs. The Big 'Cap win was worth $450,000 and was the fifth career victory for the horse in 11 career starts. Misremembered has lifetime earnings of $1,188,589.

Last year he won the Swaps and Indiana Derby and finished 2009 as the runner- up in the Clark Handicap and Malibu Stakes.

Misremembered returned $10.80, $6.00 and $4.40. Neko Bay paid $7.80 and $6.00, and Dakota Phone paid $10.40 to show.

Additionally, in the rescheduled Sham Stakes for three-year-olds, it was Alphie's Bet taking the lead at the top of the stretch on his way to a 2 1/4- length victory. The Sham is a prep for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 3.

Alphie's Bet, ridden by Alex Solis, captured the $150,000 Sham and put himself on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Sent off at 8-1 in the 10 horse field, Alphie's Bet won the 1 1/8-mile stakes in a time of 1:48.72.

Finishing second was 5-2 favorite Setsuko followed by The Program, Outlaw Man, Boulder Creek, Marcello, Nextdoorneighbor, Kettle River, El Mirage King and Wolf Tail.

Alphie's Bet is trained by Alexis Barba for owners Peter Johnson and Teresa McWilliams. The win was worth $90,000 and is the colt's first stakes victory. In five career starts, Alphie's Bet has two wins and $141,320.

"He was a little bit closer than I thought he'd be," Barba said. "I was pleased to see it, actually. I was pleased to see that he got into the race a little earlier than his last race, in which he was kind of pinched back a little bit. So it was nice to see him closer, instead of that horrifying last place at the quarter pole. I'm not sure what we're going to do with this horse yet (for his next race). We're going to discuss it and then we're going to let you know after we figure it out."

Alphie's Bet paid $19.00, $8.40 and $4.80. Setsuko returned $4.40 and $3.20, and The Program paid $4.00 to show.

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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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