Rail Trip out to defend Hollywood Gold Cup

Horseracing Betting Lines

07/07/2010 - Inglewood, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rail Trip will take on six challengers on Saturday in defense of his title in the $500,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park. The five-year-old gelding will carry highweight of 123 pounds in the 1 1/4-mile race.

Owned by Jay Em Ess Stable, Rail Trip will be ridden by Rafael Bejarano for the third straight start and the pair will break from post six. Jose Valdivia, Jr. was aboard the gelding last year in winning the Gold Cup.

Rail Trip, trained by Ron Ellis, is coming off victories this year in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap and the Californian. No horse has swept those two races and the Gold Cup since Eleven Stitches in 1981.

"The nice thing about him is that he's almost turned into a mile and a quarter horse," noted Ellis. "He knows where the running starts and he's really strong down the lane. This year he's bigger, stronger and heavier. He's matured a lot. He's a real versatile horse and that's going to come in handy at some point.

"When he won the Gold Cup, he was at the end of a lot of races. This year, by purpose, we wanted to bring him in and point for the Breeders' Cup and have him ready for the second half of the year."

Rail Trip is within a few dollars of becoming a millionaire. The five-year-old has won eight of 11 career starts and earned $967,790.

A win on Saturday would make him just the third horse to claim the Gold Cup more than once. He would join Native Diver (1965-67) and Lava Man (2005-07), who each won the race three straight times.

Last year's runner-up, Tres Borrachos will try to get the best of Rail Trip for the third straight race. The five-year-old gelding was fourth in the Mervyn LeRoy and seventh in the Californian.

Trained by co-owner Beau Greely, Tres Borrachos will start from post six with Victor Espinoza again in the saddle.

"He's got ability, he's been training well, there's nothing wrong with him and he's got a good record at Hollywood Park," said Greely.

Winless since taking an allowance race at Hollywood in May of last year, the gelding has banked $602,682 while winning three of 26 lifetime starts.

Here is the full field for the Gold Cup in post position order: Cigar Man, Joe Talamo; Compari, Mike Smith; Awesome Gem, David Flores; Richard's Kid, Martin Garcia; Tres Borrachos, Victor Espinoza; Rail Trip, Rafael Bejarano and Tap It Light, Tyler Baze.

Post-time for the race is set for 7:35 p.m. (et).

Wwwallmusic Horseracing Betting News

<< Cano out of Home Run Derby
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano has pulled out of the Home Run Derby at next week's All-Star festivities in Anaheim because of a back injury, according to general manager Brian Cashman. Cano,

<< White Sox put Peavy on DL
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox have placed right-hander Jake Peavy on the 15-day disabled list with a detached latissimus dorsi muscle in his right posterior shoulder. Peavy came down with the injury during Tuesday

<< Puyol's header powers Spain past Germany and into final
Durban, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carles Puyol's 73rd-minute header was enough for Spain to claim a 1-0 win over Germany at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday in a FIFA World Cup semifinal. The win allows Spain to reach its first

<< Pirates acquire P Gallagher from Padres
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired reliever Sean Gallagher from the San Diego Padres on Wednesday for cash considerations. The right-handed Gallagher has spent four seasons in the majors and in the 2010 cam

<< Report: Former Sharks G Nabokov heading to Russia
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Multiple media outlets are reporting that former San Jose Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has signed to play in Russia. TSN.ca is reporting Nabokov signed with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hock

Warriors sign top pick Udoh >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors signed first-round pick Ekpe Udoh on Wednesday. Terms of the contract for the sixth-overall selection in last month's draft were not disclosed. The team also announced that

Sabres bring back Lalime for one year >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres agreed to terms with backup goaltender Patrick Lalime on a one-year deal on Wednesday. Lalime, who has spelled starter Ryan Miller for each of the last two seasons, went 4-8-2 with

Yonkers Trot has eight for Saturday >>
Yonkers, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eight three-year-old trotters are set for Saturday night's $573,770 Yonkers Trot, the first leg of trotting's Triple Crown. The one-mile race has a scheduled post-time of 10 p.m. (et) at Yonkers

Report: Bulls land Boozer >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls and free agent power forward Carlos Boozer have reportedly agreed to a five-year contract. The Chicago Tribune is citing two league sources on the pact, which ESPN reports is for $80 mi

Avs ink Yip for two years >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche signed forward Brandon Yip to a two-year contract on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by the club, but the Denver Post reports that it is worth $1.45 million for the dur

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.