Unbeaten Nyquist was rated a 3-1 early favorite for tomorrow’s 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville after drawing the 13th gate on Wednesday for the Run for the Roses.
Nyquist has won seven times at four different tracks and has some positive vibes on his side with trainer Doug O’Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez having teamed up for a Kentucky Derby win in 2012 with I’ll Have Another.
“Breaking from 13 is fine,” O’Neill said after the draw.
Photo: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY
“He was No. 13 when he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, so the post draw didn’t matter to us a ton, but we’re happy being more to the outside for sure,” O’Neill added.
Second choice in the first leg of US thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown is Exaggerator, an 8-1 choice starting from the 11th post position, with Creator, Gun Runner and Mohaymen joint third picks at 10-1 in the 20-horse field.
Exaggerator, who is coming off an impressive win over a sloppy track in last month’s Santa Anita Derby, is handled by a brotherly connection, with Kent Desormeaux in the saddle for trainer J. Keith Desormeaux.
Creator and Gun Runner, starting from third and fifth respectively, are trained by Steven Asmussen, who recently won election to the racing’s Hall of Fame and is seeking his first Kentucky Derby victory.
Mohaymen, who is to startalongside Nyquist from the 14th gate, is trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.
Last year’s Derby winner, American Pharoah, went on to sweep the Preakness and Belmont Stakes to become the 12th horse and first in 37 years to complete the Triple Crown.
American Pharoah trainer Bob Baffert will have to overcome a Gate 17 jinx if he is to snare a fifth Derby win as his mount Mor Spirit drew No. 17 and no horse has won the fabled race from that post position.
“Last year I had the 18th with American Pharoah and there was a scratch, but then we ended up at 16,” he said, adding that he was not worried about bucking the hex.
Starting from the eighth spot is Japanese-owned Lani, the UAE Derby winner aiming to become the first foreign-shipped horse to win the Kentucky Derby since Cannonero II in 1971.
He was rated a 30-1 longshot.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB