Drosselmeyer win voted 2011 Moment of the Year

Horseracing Betting Lines

01/13/2012 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the third straight year, the running of the Breeders' Cup Classic has been voted the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Moment of the Year.

This was the 13th year that horse racing fans have been able to cast votes for the top event in thoroughbred racing.

Of the 12 nominated events from 2011, Drosselmeyer's longshot victory in the $5 million Classic garnered the most votes cast. The four-year-old's win over pacesetter Game On Dude, with Mike Smith riding, received 46 percent of the online ballots.

The winning selection will be honored at the Eclipse Award ceremony Monday, January 16 with the "NTRA Moment of the Year" award.

The previous two winning "Moments" were the thrilling Breeders' Cup Classics involving Zenyatta. She won in 2009 and barely lost to Blame the following year.

Here are the remaining nominated moments with percentages:

- Game on Dude and Chantal Sutherland survive 10 furlongs and a 12-minute stewards' inquiry in capturing the Santa Anita Handicap. (three percent)

- Rosie Napravnik guides Pants on Fire to victory in the Louisiana Derby en route to becoming the first woman to win a Fair Grounds riding title. (one percent)

- Uncle Mo suffers his first defeat, running third behind Toby's Corner in Aqueduct's Wood Memorial. (one percent)

- Animal Kingdom runs down his foes in the Kentucky Derby. (five percent)

- Shackleford overcomes pre-race nervousness to hold off Animal Kingdom in the Preakness. (two percent)

- Blind Luck prevails by a nose over Havre de Grace following a stretch-long duel in the Delaware Handicap. (14 percent)

- Caleb's Posse catches a stubborn Uncle Mo in the King's Bishop Stakes at Saratoga. (two percent)

- Havre de Grace beats the boys in Saratoga's Woodward Stakes. (nine percent)

- Joseph O'Brien, 18, becomes the youngest jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race, piloting St. Nicholas Abbey to victory in the Breeders' Cup Turf for his father, Aidan O'Brien. (six percent)

- Court Vision spoils Goldikova's attempt at a fourth consecutive Breeders' Cup Mile win, upsetting the field at 64-1. (two percent)

- Rapid Redux breaks a North American record by winning his 20th consecutive race. (nine percent)

Betonspoets Horseracing Betting News

<< Bucks seek first road win in Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barring any freak occurrence on Friday the 13th, Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki will become the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 23,000 career points tonight and is just three points off the mark. The Milwaukee Buc

<< Wolves and Hornets battle in Big Easy
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of last-place teams get together tonight in the Big Easy, as the New Orleans Hornets take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Hornets have lost seven of eight games since opening the season with consecutive wins and

<< Kings continue trek in Houston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off of their first road win of the season, the Sacramento Kings look to make it two in a row when they resume a five-game swing tonight against the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. The Kings had dropped their f

<< Banged-up Bulls invade Beantown
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls managed to stay in the win column their last time out even though they had the second-lowest point total of the season and reigning MVP Derrick Rose did not play because of a toe injury. The Bulls have wo

<< Reeling Bobcats host struggling Pistons
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats try to put the brakes on a five-game losing streak this evening, as they welcome the Detroit Pistons to Time Warner Cable Arena. Charlotte started off a back-to-back-to-back stretch in disappointing f

Brown, Lakers face Cavs at Staples Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Brown could never get it done with LeBron James in Cleveland but Kobe Bryant seems intent on giving the new Lakers mentor a shot at the brass ring in Hollywood. Riding back-to-back 40-point performances Bryant wi

Caps try to continue surge against struggling Bolts >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five wins in seven games has the Washington Capitals back in the playoff picture. A season high-tying losing streak, and according to head coach Guy Boucher Tampa Bay's worst loss of the year, has the Lightning fading in t

Coyotes shoot for two points against lowly Blue Jackets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have been playing solid hockey as of late for 65 minutes. It's the few minutes after that where the club has been struggling. The Coyotes, losers of two straight shootouts, try to get back on track ton

Leafs seek to extend surge with home-and-home sweep of Sabres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to sweep a home-and-home series with the Sabres and also extend their longest win streak of the season when they visit Buffalo's First Niagara Center for tonight's Northeast Division clash.

Ducks try to return to win column vs. Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks will try to get back in the win column tonight when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for tonight's clash at Rexall Place. The Ducks had won three straight before dropping a 1-0 overtime decision Thursday i

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.