Sovereignty, Journalism give Belmont Stakes a rematch from Kentucky Derby
Advertisement
The intent was to focus on the Belmont rather than chase the chance for Sovereignty to become the sport's 14th Triple Crown champion and first since Justify in 2018.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
'We felt that the best thing for him and to have a career through the whole season, and maybe into next year as well, was spacing his races a little bit,' Banahan said. 'Bill Mott, who's trained horses for us for a long time, is very judicious about where he wants to place his horses. And we put a lot of faith in the recommendations that he would give us.'
Michael McCarthy-trained Journalism is the only horse running in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. And he is the favorite for a reason.
Advertisement
'Journalism is a very tough horse,' said John Shirreffs, who trains Baeza. 'One thing about Journalism, [if] he runs his race [like in] Kentucky, Pimlico, he's very tough. He's solid. So, it's going to be a very difficult horse to beat.'
Shirrefs said Baeza is emerging and developing, hoping the half-brother of
'Hopefully we get out of the gate well and get a nice pace,' Shirrefs said. 'It's just the how the race unfolds and him not getting into any trouble.'
Long shot Heart of Honor is running again after finishing fifth in the Preakness three weeks ago. New to the Triple Crown trail are Hill Road, Uncaged, Crudo, and Rodriguez, who was scratched from the Derby with a minor foot bruise that also caused him to miss the Preakness.
Banahan expects Rodriguez to go to the lead, as so many of Hall of Fame and two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert's top horses do, and provide the main speed.
'That horse is going to be ready,' Chad Brown, trainer of Hill Road, said of Rodriguez. 'You can be assured of that. And it sure looks like he's by far the fastest horse in the race.'
Brown has won the Preakness twice but never the Belmont. After going to Saratoga with his parents while growing up and getting into horse racing as a result, he's hoping to end his drought at his home track.
'We have a very unique time in history where there'll be three Belmont Stakes run total at Saratoga before you'll never see another one again,' Brown said. 'So, to be part of history with that, that would be extra special.'
Advertisement
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Calls Mount for Blue Jays to Make Bo Bichette Move After His Postgame Comments
Calls Mount for Blue Jays to Make Bo Bichette Move After His Postgame Comments originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Toronto Blue Jays are addicted to winning at Rogers Centre, and shortstop Bo Bichette is at the center of that success. The 27-year-old went 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in Monday's 4-1 win over the New York Yankees, which was the Blue Jays' franchise-record 11th straight home win. Bichette has hits in 12 of his 14 games played in July and is slashing .346/.404/.558 with one homer and six RBIs in the month. The 5-foot-11-inch, 190-pounder also has five multi-hit games in that span. Bichette said the Blue Jays' fan base is the most supportive it has been since he arrived in the big leagues, via Keegan Matheson. 'This is what I remember watching on TV when I was 17 years old at home, with [Jose] Bautista and [Josh] Donaldson," he said. Donaldson was the AL MVP with Toronto in 2015 and led the team to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016. However, the Blue Jays haven't won a playoff game since then. Toronto fans begged the team to re-sign Bichette in the replies to Matheson's post. "GET THIS DEAL DONE. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE BO ON THE YANKEES," one said. "Alright, just offer him a 10-year deal," another said. "I think this translates to: Give me the pen and paper!" another said. "You guys generate those cheers with your incredible play this season, Bo!!" another said. "Really hope he re-ups, we can't let him go." "Ok so re-sign plz," another said. Bichette is in the final year of his arbitration extension and is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency this winter. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox Sports
3 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Cubs' Taillon, Assad nearing returns to depleted staff as trade deadline approaches
Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs line up as one of the prospective buyers, especially for pitching, as baseball's July 31 trade deadline approaches. In the meantime, Chicago — which entered Friday at 60-42 and a game behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central — is inching closer to having some injured pitchers return. On Friday before a game against the White Sox at Rate Field, Cubs manager Craig Counsell said starter Jameson Taillon, out since July 1 with a right calf strain, is expected begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa next week. The big right-hander threw a 47-pitch bullpen session Friday. Taillon is set to toss to live hitters in Milwaukee early next week and then report to the Cubs' top affiliate. Taillon is 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA and was mainstay in the Chicago's rotation despite some ups and downs in his ninth major league season. The 33-year-old lost his final three straight games, with a 10.66 ERA in that span, after winning five in a row. Taillon's injury opened a second gap in a Chicago rotation that already was thinned when ace left-hander Justin Steele's made only four starts before needing season-ending elbow surgery. Right-hander Javier Assad also is expected to join Iowa next week. Assad has not pitched this season due to a left oblique strain, but was 7-6 with a 3.73 ERA in 29 starts last season. Righty Porter Hodge, out since July 8 with right shoulder impingement, is scheduled to pitch for Iowa on Saturday. Hodge is 2-1 with a 6.85 ERA in 26 relief appearances this season. Catcher Miguel Amaya, recovering from a left oblique strain, also is expected to join Iowa next week. He's batting .280 with four homers and 25 RBIs in 29 games this season, but hasn't played since May 24. ___ AP MLB: recommended Item 1 of 2
Los Angeles Times
3 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Facing Dodgers for first time gives Walker Buehler chance to reflect on his time in L.A.
BOSTON — It had been nine months since Walker Buehler struck out Alex Verdugo, stretched his arms on the Yankee Stadium mound, and was dogpiled after recording the final outs of last year's World Series. But on Friday afternoon, ahead of Buehler's first reunion with the Dodgers since departing for the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, the memory remained vividly fresh — for him, his former teammates and coaches, and even a traveling contingent of Dodgers fans in town for this weekend's series at Fenway Park. As Buehler chatted with members of his old organization hours before Friday's series opener, Dodger fans taking a pregame tour of the stadium spotted him on the diamond. Within moments, an otherwise empty ballpark was echoing with cheers and applause, the fans shouting Buehler's name as he acknowledged them with a wave of his hand. 'That was really cool,' Buehler said later, the moment reminding him of a conversation he had with Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser (a World Series hero of a different generation who became a mentor of Buehler's during his time with the team). 'Talking to Orel about some of that stuff that he's gone through and the way people react to him, I think it's obviously two different situations,' he added. 'But for the fans walking around to yell at me, I kind of imagine in L.A. it'll be like that for a while, I hope.' Indeed, if there was any doubt about how Buehler's Dodgers tenure was destined to be remembered, his role in last year's World Series enshrined it in legendary status. No, the right-hander didn't quite reach the Cy Young-winning expectations many had when he first came up as a highly touted prospect with a big fastball and fiery mound presence. For as dominant as he was from 2018-2021, when he went 39-13 with a 2.82 earned-run average and two All-Star selections, the end of his seven-year stint was derailed by a 2022 Tommy John surgery (the second of his career) and a disappointing regular-season performance upon his return in 2024 (when he was 1-6 in the regular season with a 5.38 ERA). Buehler's best Dodger moments, though, always came in the postseason: From his division-clinching gem in Game 163 as a rookie in 2018, to his 1.80 ERA in five starts during the Dodgers' 2020 World Series run, to when he took the ball on short rest twice in a failed title defense in 2021, to his 10 consecutive scoreless innings in the final two rounds of last year's postseason most of all; an unexpected star turn following his post-Tommy John struggles throughout the summer. 'That moment means a lot to all of us, that we were a part of it with the city and the fans that came out every day for us there,' he said, while talking to reporters in the Red Sox's home dugout. 'I think it would have been hard to leave that for anywhere — except for here.' While Buehler expressed interest in remaining with the Dodgers ahead of his free agency last winter, his eventual departure became clear in the first week of the offseason. The team didn't extend him a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer — which ended up being the same amount he signed for with the Red Sox. The Dodgers instead went after Blake Snell with a $182-million contract, and won the January sweepstakes for Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. 'It was an interesting situation. I think there's obviously two sides to that situation,' Buehler said when reflecting back on his free agency. 'We had conversations about it, we talked through it. And they went and signed guys that they wanted to sign. And I signed with a place that I wanted to play. It kind of is what it is.' In hindsight, it was an outcome neither side seemed to be regret. In Buehler's absence, the Dodgers have managed to work around first-half injuries to several key starters, and are on track to have a potential postseason rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Snell (who could return from a shoulder injury after one last minor-league rehab start with triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday). Meanwhile, Buehler said he has enjoyed playing for the Red Sox, even though he has regressed with a woeful 5.72 ERA (sixth-worst in the majors among 107 pitchers with at least 80 innings). 'It's been a really fun year, outside of some of the playing stuff for me,' he said. 'But my family and me, we're loving it here and have felt really very welcomed here, as well, just like we were in LA.' Buehler has been better lately, giving up just three earned runs in his last 18 innings to help the Red Sox maintain the final wild-card spot in the American League. His next start, fittingly, will come in Sunday's series-finale against the Dodgers. 'It'll be interesting,' Buehler said with a laugh. 'Obviously, I was one of the last of the wave coming up there. So I've kind of got little bits and pieces of it playing against Joc [Pederson] and [Cody Bellinger] and Corey [Seager]. So it'll be nine of those for me, I guess.' Buehler wished he could have squared off against Clayton Kershaw; something he said he and the future Hall of Fame left-hander (who will instead pitch Saturday's game) joked about while meeting up on Thursday's off day. Still, Buehler added, 'I think you just try to keep it as normal as you can. Obviously it'll be a little awkward or funny or whatever. But I don't know. At the end of the day, we're all playing a sport for a paycheck. The goal is go and to get one over on them. I don't think the preparation against them is really different.' Friday, on the other hand, was a day for nostalgia, with Buehler receiving his World Series ring from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and most of the remaining players from last year's team during pregame batting practice. 'I was very fortunate to be drafted and developed and get to spend so much time there,' Buehler said. 'Should credit a lot of good success that I've had to them, and how they handled and treated me. Nothing but good things to say there.' As for if his ring — a diamond-studded reminder of what, for now at least, remains the lasting image of his Dodgers career — gave him any closure, Buehler smirked. 'I think you already have it,' he said. 'But I think everyone kind of knows I'm on a one-year contract, so you never know what's going to happen down the road.' The Dodgers were without shortstop Mookie Betts, who was home in Nashville with his family attending to a personal matter. Roberts said Betts was expected to rejoin the club on Saturday, but was unsure if he'd be back in the starting lineup for that day's game.
