Horse racing's heavyweight Journalism back in weekend action
July 18 (UPI) -- Top 3-year-olds return to action in weekend racing with the Grade I Haskell at Monmouth Park and fillies on parade in the Group 1 Irish Oaks, Group 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga and the Woodbine Oaks in Canada.
Del Mar swings into action, providing graded stakes action on both coasts on turf and dirt at a wide variety of distances. In short, a racing fan's dream, a handicapper's challenge and a bettor's opportunity.
We'd "bettor" get on with it.
The 3-year-olds
Saturday's $1 million Grade I Haskell at Monmouth is a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Classic, but should odds-on favorite Journalism win the 1 1/8-mile heat, that would be irrelevant.
The Curlin colt is pretty much welcome at the big dance already after winning the Santa Anita Derby and Preakness and finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.
The other seven, though, could need a free pass to get into the Classic, and the most likely of them would seem to be Gosger. The Nyquist colt won the Grade III Lexington at the Keeneland spring meeting, skipped the Derby and finished second in Preakness in the dramatic finish that saw Journalism wipe out a 4-length lead in well under a furlong.
The other six in the Haskell field aren't bums. But they're not Journalism, either.
Sunday's $150,000 (Canadian) Plate Trial at Woodbine is the local prep for the King's Plate and is similarly restricted to Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.
The Oaks Crowd
Saturday's $500,000 Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga has a field modest in size with six entries, but large in talent.
Immersive, the 2024 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and Eclipse Award winner, was undefeated at 2 but finished second in the Monomoy Girl Stakes at Churchill Downs in her 2025 debut in June.
Take Charge Milady, the Monomoy Girl winner, tries for a repeat. La Cara won the Grade I Ashland at Keeneland and Grade I Acorn at Saratoga.
Sunday's $500,000 (Canadian) Woodbine Oaks is restricted to Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies, but the limitation hasn't prevented some of the contestants from going on to graded glory, including 2022 winner Moira.
Twelve are set for this seemingly wide-open edition, including five to be saddled by the Mark Casse team. Casse already has four Oaks wins to his credit. Coincidentally, he got his 4,000th North American training win Thursday at Colonial Downs in Virginia.
Distaff
There's a lot of talent scattered around the nine entries for Saturday's $500,000 Grade III Molly Pitcher at Monmouth Park. The eye goes to Dorth Vader, last-race winner of the Grade I Ogden Phipps in the slop at Saratoga, and Majestic Oops, who steps up on the heels of three straight wins. Step right up, pick a long shot and win a top-shelf prize in this one.
Sprint
Saturday's $400,000 Grade II Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga attracted some of the world's top dirt sprinters.
Book'em Danno and Mullikin exit a 1-2 finish in the Grade III True North. Nash, Baby Yoda and Full Moon Madness have been improving steadily. Nakatomi and Skelly return after filling the exacta spots in this race a year ago.
Friday's $100,000 Jersey Shore for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park has a field of six.
Filly & Mare Sprint
Scylla is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in a field of nine for Sunday's $200,000 Grade II Honorable Miss at Saratoga. The 5-year-old Tapit mare hasn't won for more than a year, but has been competitive in top company. She was second in the Grade II Bed o' Roses Stakes in her last.
Turf
Saturday's $600,000 Grade II United Nations at Monmouth Park features the 1-2-3 finishers from last year's running -- Get Smokin, Grand Sonata and Tawny Port. Among the others, Redistricting, Rebel Red, Limited Liability and Vote No look capable of putting on a good show.
Filly & Mare Turf
Seven are set for Saturday's $300,000 Grade III WinStar Matchmaker at Monmouth Park and a case can be made for most of them.
Saturday's $200,000 Grade II San Clemente Handicap at Del Mar is a lively looking heat with nine 3-year-old fillies set to mix it up.
South African import Gimme a Nother looks to bounce back from a bad day in her last start while contesting Sunday's $200,000 (Canadian) Grade II Canadian Stakes at Woodbine. The Gimmethegreenlight mare finished second twice in graded stakes for trainer Graham Motion before reporting seventh in the Grade I New York Stakes at the Spa last month.
Turf Mile
Del Mar's traditional opener, the Oceanside Stakes, is a restricted 1 mile on the grass for 3-year-olds. Saturday's $100,000 Wickerr Stakes for 3-year-olds and up also has restrictions. Both bear watching, especially in a year when the Breeders' Cup World Championships return to Del Mar.
Turf Sprint
Isivunguvungu was on a bit of a roll in the United States after his import from South Africa, but then hit the wall when sent in April to Dubai, where he reported 10th in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint. He's back for Saturday's $100,000 Wolf Hill at Monmouth Park.
Saturday's $175,000 Grade III Caress for fillies and mares at Saratoga has the top five finishers from last month's Grade II Intercontinental over the course -- Pipsy, Future Is Now, Kairyu, Time to Dazzle and Pandora's Gift. A 4-year-old filly named Caress is a "main track only" entry.
Sunday's $175,000 (Canadian) Grade II bet365 Connaught Cup at Woodbine has a field of 10 to go 7 furlongs.
Around the world, around the clock
Ireland
Coolmore and trainer Aidan O'Brien send out four of the seven confirmed runners for Saturday's Group 1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh.
Among them is the prohibitive favorite, Epsom Oaks winner Minnie Hauk, not surprisingly jockey Ryan Moore's choice to ride. The Frankel filly has won three of four starts, including the Cheshire Oaks in her 3-year-old debut.
Her only loss was a second in her career bow, when Wemighttakedlongway got the jump on a big field, set an easy pace and held on late.
Wemighttakedlongway, trained by Joseph Patrick O'Brien, was fourth at Epsom and fourth again in the Pretty Polly over the Curragh sod June 28.
Al Riffa and Shackleton figure in a nine-horse field for the Group 2 Michael John Kennedy Curragh Cup at 1 3/4 miles.
Al Riffa, a 5-year-old by Wootton Bassett, was second to Rebel's Romance in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes at the Royal meeting in his most recent start.
Shackleton gets a different test after he reported eighth in the Irish Derby in his last outing. It's another family feud as Joseph Patrick O'Brien handles Al Riffa and dad Aidan trains Shackleton.
Only four were left in for the Gain Railway Stakes for 2-year-olds with the elder O'Brien in charge of the solid antepost favorite, True Love. The No Nay Never filly got her first win in her third start, the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot, vanquishing 22 rivals in that one.
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Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
‘She's come a long way': Lawyer for woman who sued Hockey Canada reflects ahead of verdicts Thursday in sexual assault trial
The complainant at the centre of the Hockey Canada sexual assault case has 'come a long way,' lawyer Rob Talach says, from the young woman he took on as a client to sue the sports organization and players in 2022, sparking a national uproar and ultimately leading to criminal charges. The woman known to the public only as E.M. due to a publication ban on her identity alleged in graphic testimony earlier this year at the players' criminal trial that she was sexually assaulted by members of the 2018 Canadian world junior championship team in a room at the Delta Armouries hotel in London, Ont. in the early hours of June 19, 2018, when she was 20 years old. She faced intense cross-examination over seven days by five defence lawyers, all dissecting the events of that night and attacking her version, probing how much alcohol she drank, what she said to friends when, and whether she made up her allegations because she had cheated on her boyfriend, who is now her fiancé. Talach, who no longer represents E.M., thought his former client did well. 'The timid, quiet woman that I met as a client in the beginning clearly has grown in strength and confidence,' he told the Star in an interview. Former members of Canada's 2018 World Juniors hockey team, left to right, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Carter Hart as they individually arrived to court in London, in April. 'She faced top-notch criminal defence lawyers. She was poked and prodded on everything she said, thought, or offered as evidence. From the young lady that I first met, I think she's come a long way. 'Though the cross-examination was difficult and uncomfortable, I wouldn't suggest that it destroyed her. I think it gave her a chance to stand her ground and share her piece.' After hearing nearly eight weeks of evidence and legal arguments from April to June, Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia is set to deliver Thursday her verdicts in the matter of former world juniors and NHL players Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé, and Cal Foote. She could acquit or convict all of them, or deliver a mix of findings. It's a case that captured the country's attention and led to a reckoning about the handling of sexual misconduct in professional sports, and one that observers say helped to educate the public on what consent l ooks like in a sexual encounter. Regardless of what the judge decides, Talach believes the case will have made an impact. 'I think if guilty, it's hailed as a victory for survivors and a lesson for hockey culture,' Talach said. 'If it's a not-guilty verdict ... it was still a process for the accused, and I think it was a deep moment of reflection for Canadians with respect to our national sport.' The facts of the case are now well known. The world juniors were in London in 2018 to attend the Hockey Canada Foundation's annual Gala & Golf fundraising event and to receive their rings for winning the championship. After the gala on June 18, a number of players went out to Jack's Bar, where McLeod met E.M. and she returned to his room at the Delta where they had consensual sex. But other players began showing up in the room afterward, some prompted by a text McLeod sent to a group chat about a '3 way.' E.M. testified that the men laid a bedsheet on the floor and asked her to fondle herself, obtained oral sex from her while she was slapped and spat on, and engaged in vaginal intercourse. A screenshot of a group chat involving members of Canada's 2018 world junior championship team, including a text from Michael McLeod inviting his teammates to his hotel room for a three-way. The Crown has alleged that McLeod had intercourse with E.M. a second time in the hotel room's bathroom; that Formenton separately had intercourse with her in the bathroom; that McLeod, Hart and Dubé obtained oral sex from her; that Dubé slapped her naked buttocks, and that Foote did the splits over her head while she was lying on the ground and his genitals 'grazed' her face — all without her consent. The five men are charged with sexual assault, while McLeod faces a second charge of being a party to a sexual assault, for allegedly encouraging his teammates to engage in sexual activity with E.M. when he knew she wasn't consenting. While she never said no nor physically resisted, E.M. testified she felt numb and that her mind went on 'autopilot' as she engaged in the sexual activity as a way of protecting herself in a room full of men she didn't know while she was drunk and naked; she would later tell police and prosecutors she took on the 'persona' of a 'porn star' as a coping mechanism . 'I didn't know these men at all, I didn't know how they would react if I did try to say no or try to leave,' she testified. 'My mind just kind of shut down and let my body do what it thought it needed to do to keep me safe.' The Crown's case for sexual assault 'does not look the way it often does in the movies or on television,' prosecutors said in their closing arguments in June. 'The reality of what happened to E.M. is more nuanced. But it is equally a sexual assault, because she did not voluntarily agree to the sexual activity that took place in that room.' The players, meanwhile, maintained that E.M. was repeatedly demanding to have sex with men in the room and was becoming upset when few of them took her up on her offers. It's a version that some o f the accused players told London police when they first investigated in 2018, and which other players not charged with any wrongdoing offered up at trial when they testified for the Crown. 'She said, 'Can one of you guys come over and f--- me?'' former world junior Tyler Steenbergen testified in May . 'I feel like everyone was just kind of in shock that she had said that.' A photo of room 209 at the Delta Armouries hotel in London, Ont., marked up by Carter Hart during his testimony, depicting player Cal Foote doing the splits over the complainant on a bedsheet on the floor on June 19, 2018, as well as the positions of other players. McLeod, Formenton, and Dubé maintained that their sexual contact with E.M. was consensual when they spoke to London police in 2018, though Dubé didn't mention the slapping. Hart, the only pla yer t o testify in his own defence, said he asked for a 'blowie, meaning blowjob,' and that E.M. said 'yeah' or 'sure' before moving toward him and helping to take off his pants. Foote's lawyer said that the splits were a popular 'party trick' her client was known to do, but she argued there was no credible evidence showing he did the splits over E.M. without his pants and that his genitals touched her. 'There's not a lot of dispute around what went on physically in that room, and I don't think that's what a lot of parents are signing up their kids to learn in junior hockey,' Talach said. The first call to London police on June 19, 2018, came from E.M.'s mother, who found her daughter crying in the bathroom, struggling to explain what had happened. E.M.'s mother's partner called Hockey Canada, who forwarded the allegations to police. E.M. herself initially went back and forth on whether she wanted to see criminal charges laid, telling police at one point that she didn't want McLeod to get into trouble, but she also 'didn't want this happening to another girl either.' Police declined to lay charges in February 2019 after an eight-month investigation that included three interviews with E.M., reviewing surveillance and other video evidence, and interviewing most of the players now on trial. A composite image of London police Det. Steve Newton's handwritten notes on the complainant's comments during a June 26, 2018, photo-identification interview. Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton are all on trial for sexual assault. As the Star first re ported last May , the lead detective at the time had doubts about E.M.'s claim that she was too intoxicated to consent, after viewing footage of her walking unaided in heels up and down the hotel lobby stairs. And he wondered in his report whether she had been an 'active participant' in the hotel room, particularly after McLeod's lawyer shared two videos McLeod had taken of E.M. in the room. In one of them, she said: 'It was all consensual.' But everything changed in the spring of 2022, when TSN reported that Hockey Canada had quickly settled, for an undisclosed sum, E.M.'s $3.5-million sexual assault lawsuit against the organization and eight unnamed John Doe players. The public backlash was fierce, as sponsors began pulling out and Hockey Canada executives were called to testify before Parliament. And it also led to the revelation by the Globe and Mail that Hockey Canada had been using a fund partly made up of players' registration fees to pay millions of dollars to respond to sexual assault allegations. 'Parents across the country are losing faith or have lost faith in Hockey Canada,' then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in 2022. 'Certainly, politicians here in Ottawa have lost faith in Hockey Canada.' The growing scandal put pressure on London police too, prompting them to reopen their investigation and ultimately deciding they had grounds to lay criminal charges against the five players. At a packed news conference announcing the charges in early 2024, London police chief Thai Truong apologized to E.M. for the time it had taken to get to that point. Parents across the country are losing faith or have lost faith in Hockey Canada E.M. herself was actually 'quit e upset' when she was told police were reopening the case, court heard this year, with the lead detective testifying she felt she was 'opening up some wounds' that E.M. had been trying to close. The defence at trial argued that, after being told by police in 2019 of the 'deficiencies' in her version of events, E.M. and her lawyers cooked up a new 'terror narrative' — that she went along with everything in the room because she was scared — as part of her lawsuit, and it's that version that she then offered up in court at the criminal trial. Talach said he doesn't know what led Hockey Canada to quickly settle. (The players hadn't been told of the organization's intention, or even that a claim had been filed.) 'It obviously signalled an interest in Hockey Canada dealing with this quickly; now is that because they're fair and just individuals? Maybe,' he said. 'Is that because they knew there's a lot of this in their world and they don't want to highlight it, like what's happened to the church and the scouts? Maybe.' London police chose not to re-interview E.M. as part of their reopened probe, with lead detective Lyndsey Ryan testifying she felt it would be re-traumatizing . What police did have in 2022 was a new written statement shared by E.M. outlining her allegations, a statement she had also sent to a separate investigation being done by Hockey Canada . At trial, E.M. acknowledged under cross-examination by the defence that the statement contained errors, but blamed her civil lawyers — Talach — who helped draft it. 'I think with the passage of time and the level of scrutiny on the facts, the picture may have become more focused, but the best was done with what was had at the time,' Talach told the Star. Carroccia will undoubtedly be delivering her verdicts to a packed courtroom Thursday morning, while supporters are expected to rally outside the courthouse, just as they did during E.M.'s testimony in the spring. It was not supposed to be like this; the five players would long ago have learned their fates but for the fact that not one, but two juries had to be dismissed by Carroccia, causing the case to finish as a judge-alone trial. The first jury was sent home after having only heard the Crown's opening statement and brief testimony from a police detective, after a juror reported an encounter with Formenton's lawyer Hilary Dudding over the lunch break, though there were conflicting reports over what was said. The second jury was discharged two days after E.M. had completed her testimony , when a juror reported that 'multiple jurors' felt that Dudding and co-counsel Daniel Brown were mocking them, something the lawyers strenuously denied. Michael McLeod films a selfie video with the complainant on the dance floor inside Jack's Bar. While a jury verdict typically comes much quicker, the benefit of a judge-alone trial is that the judge provides detailed reasons for their decision. The courtroom where it will happen is the largest at the London courthouse, and was previously used for the infamous Bandidos murder trial, in which six men were convicted in the mass slaying of eight men connected to the biker gang in 2006. During the Hockey Canada trial, the multiple prisoner's boxes along one side of the room remained empty, as the accused players, who are all out of custody, each sat at a table with their legal teams. In the publi c gallery, McLeod's parents sat in the centre of the front row each day of the trial; Hart's mother and Dubé's relatives were also often in attendance. A series of text messages between Michael McLeod and the complainant after she alleges he and four other members of the Canadian world junior hockey team sexually assaulted her in a London hotel room. E.M. was beamed into the courtroom via CCTV from a different room at the courthouse during her testimony, while the courtroom's background was blurred on the screen so that she couldn't see the players. Court documents reveal that while she was scared and anxious, E.M. initially believed she might be able to testify in person. But after sitting in the witness box during a tour of the courthouse before the trial, she began to cry. This prompted the Crown to ask that she testify remotely, an application that wasn't challenged by the defence. 'While E.M. would tell the truth regardless of mode of testimony, testifying in the courtroom in front of the accused would potentially prevent her from providing a complete account of the allegations,' according to an affidavit filed in January by the Crown from London police Const. Amanda Corsaut, who had interviewed E.M. this year. 'She has not seen any of the five defendants since the alleged events occurred. She is scared that they may be angry. E.M. worries it may be re-traumatizing for her to see them and testify in front of them.' As the Star first reported in May , Meaghan Cunningham, the province's lead sexual assault prosecutor as chair of the Crown office's sexual violence advisory group, warned E.M. last year that it was 'not a really, really strong case,' but that a conviction was possible. She said that while most news articles from 2022 'accept as true what is in your statement of claim' from the lawsuit, the public's view of the case could shift by the end of the trial. I think Canada has probably grown a bit as a nation There is a 'real possibility that the current perception of what happened could change,' Cunningham said, according to notes from a meeting with E.M. Talach said he believes E.M. went through with it all due to wanting a mix of accountability, healing, and prevention. And her actions motivated the public to push for change. 'Regardless of the outcome, I think Canada has probably grown a bit as a nation,' he said. 'And hockey has had to sit up and take notice of some important issues that we'll continue to discuss.'
12 hours ago
15-year-old Aphrodite Deng becomes first Canadian winner in US Girls' Junior history
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. -- Aphrodite Deng became the first Canadian winner in U.S. Girls' Junior history, beating Xingtong Chen of Singapore 2 and 1 on Saturday in the 36-hole final at Atlanta Athletic Club. The 15-year-old Deng, from Calgary, Alberta, won her third junior major title of the year, following the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in April and the Mizuho Americas Open in May. She earned spots in the U.S. Women's Open next year at Riviera and the U.S. Women's Amateur this year and next. 'It really means a lot. I just can't believe that I won,' Deng said. 'I didn't really think about the end result because I knew there were a lot of good players here. I just tried to win each match.' Deng had a 4-up lead over the 16-year-old Chen — the first player from Singapore to reach the championship match — after 18 holes. Chen cut the deficit to two twice on the second 18, the last with a par win on the 34th. Deng ended it on the 35th by matching Chen's par. 'I think I stayed in the moment throughout the whole match,' Deng said. 'I did get a little tired at the end. I learned that I'm pretty consistent and I'm pretty good, and I think that I stay pretty calm in front of a crowd and cameras.'
Hamilton Spectator
13 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Vancouver Whitecaps defender Ranko Veselinovic suffers season-ending knee injury
VANCOUVER - Vancouver Whitecaps defender Ranko Veselinovic will miss the rest of the Major League Soccer season after suffering a knee injury. The 26-year-old centre back left the field after getting hurt in the 34th minute of Vancouver's 1-1 draw with San Diego FC on Saturday, and did not return to the game. The club announced Tuesday that he has a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, an injury that will end his season. The Whitecaps say Veselinovic and the club's medical staff will determine next steps 'in the coming days.' The Serbian defender is in his sixth year with the 'Caps and has acted as captain for much of the campaign, filling in for midfielder Ryan Gauld who has been recovering from a knee injury since early March. Veselinovic made his 200th appearance for Vancouver on Saturday, equalling Jordan Harvey for the second most in the MLS era. Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster says the injury is 'genuinely heartbreaking.' '(Veselinovic) has not only been an extremely consistent and high performer on the field, but also a compassionate and supportive presence in the locker room,' Schuster said in a statement. 'He's been a true cornerstone for us this season, and it's incredibly difficult to see his year cut short. The entire organization is behind him as he begins his recovery.' The Whitecaps have experienced a series of long-term injuries this season, including Gauld, who has been out since March 8. Canadian defender Sam Adekugbe saw his season cut short when he tore his Achilles tendon playing for the national team last month, and midfielder Ali Ahmed has been sidelined since spraining his ankle while playing for Canada. Several of Vancouver's players have also missed league games while competing for their national squads. The 'Caps (12-5-6) hope to get some bodies back into the lineup before they host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 22, 2025.
