Hall of Famers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas watch horses get troubled trips in the Preakness
AP Sports Writer (AP) — Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas saw their horses endure some troubled trips Saturday in the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.
Baffert's Goal Oriented finished fourth after bumping with winner Journalism down the stretch. A stewards inquiry was briefly posted to take a look at the contact, and then it was removed with no changes.
American Promise was eighth in a field of nine after going through similar struggles two weeks earlier in the Kentucky Derby led to finishing 16th.
Baffert and Lukas, who have combined to win the second leg of the Triple Crown, each lamented not getting what they hoped for from their colts in the Preakness.
'He didn't get to run his race,' Baffert said. 'I wanted to see him on the lead, Maybe he would have stopped, I don't know. He is lightly raced. He ran well, but he is still green. He was not used to being behind horses and he got intimidated.'
American Promise's jockey, Maryland native Nik Juarez, said the horse 'just didn't have it.'
'When he got bumped and roughed up a little bit, he kind of threw his head and quit on us,' Lukas said. "I didn't like the way he responded. ... I just think that attitude-wise, we've got to change it a little bit.' Gosger surprises
Irish trainer Brendan Walsh's Gosger went off at odds of 15-1, third-longest in the Preakness. He also was poised to pulled a big upset if not for Journalism's remarkable run from the middle of the pack to the finish line.
'I thought we were home when he opened up,' Walsh said. 'I'm disappointed not to win it, but I'm not disappointed in the horse. He ran a great race. He is an improving horse and he will improve off this.'
Jockey Luis Saez said they 'had no excuses' and hopes Gosger will learn from the experience.
'Luis said at the end he just got a little bit lackadaisical, and he was out on his own maybe a little too long and the other horse came by and flew by him,' Walsh said. 'Maybe we will get our turn the next time.' Malcolm celebrates the 'Middle'
NBC Sports' leadup to the race included an introduction from actor Frankie Muniz, known for his childhood role on the show 'Malcolm in the Middle.' Muniz espoused the virtues of the Preakness as the middle jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown, which for the fifth time in seven years went off without a shot at a Triple Crown for various reasons.
'People don't talk about the middle enough,' Muniz said, bringing up middle seats on planes, the middle ages and how nobody wants to peak in middle school. 'When you're in the middle, you've got to fight for attention."
The attention was on Pimlico Race Course, hosting the Preakness for a final time before the structure that opened in 1870 is demolished and rebuilt.
'Beginnings and endings get all the credit, but life happens in the middle on a journey from here to there," Muniz said. 'That's where you prove what you're really made of. On a day like today, at this ancient racetrack all dressed up one more time, there's absolutely no place better to be than the middle.'
___
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing in this topic
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
11 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Canadian teen Mboko reaches Montreal final, beating Rybakina in 3rd-set tiebreaker
MONTREAL (AP) — Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko rallied to reach the National Bank Open final, beating ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Wednesday night. The 18-year-old Mboko dropped to the court after Rybakina's shot sailed long on match point as the crowd — lined with 'Allez Vicky' — erupted. Mboko saved a match point in the third set and broke Rybakina twice to force the tiebreaker. Mboko, ranked 85th in the world, is seeking her first WTA Tour title and trying to join Faye Urban (1969) and Bianca Andreescu (2019) as the only Canadians to win the home event in the open era. On Thursday night, she'll face the winner of the second semifinal between Japanese star Naomi Osaka and 16th-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark. From Toronto, Mboko will move up to at least 34th in the world after starting the year outside the top 300. She upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the quarterfinals, then topped Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 on Monday. From Kazakhstan, Rybakina won at Wimbledon in 2022. She has nine career WTA Tour victories, winning in May on clay at Strasbourg. Rybakina beat Mboko 6-3, 7-5 last month in Washington. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
41 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Gavin Williams overcomes frightful first, nearly pitches Guardians' first no-hitter in 44 years
NEW YORK (AP) — Gavin Williams came within two outs of Cleveland's first no-hitter in 44 years before Juan Soto homered with one out in the ninth inning, and the Cleveland Guardians completed a three-game sweep of the reeling New York Mets with a 4-1 win Wednesday. Williams (7-4) walked three and struck out six, including Francisco Lindor to lead off the ninth. But Soto homered just beyond the leaping grasp of center fielder Angel Martinez two pitches later. The Guardians have not thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker twirled a perfect game on May 15, 1981. Their no-hitter drought is the longest in the majors. CUBS 6, REDS 1 CHICAGO (AP) — Seiya Suzuki homered, Cade Horton threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings and Chicago prevented a sweep from Cincinnati. The sixth-inning solo shot was Suzuki's 27th home run of the season, moving him into a tie with teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong for seventh in the majors and fourth in the National League. The outfielder finished 2-for-2 on the day with a pair of RBIs and a walk, also scoring Nico Hoerner on a third-inning sacrifice fly. Horton (6-2, 3.18 ERA) earned the win after giving up only two hits and striking out six. The 23-year-old Horton has not allowed a run in his last 23 1/3 innings, dating back to July 9 against Minnesota. PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dominic Smith hit a go-ahead double in the ninth inning, and San Francisco rallied for a win over Pittsburgh. Jung Hoo Lee hit a one-out double down the right-field line off Dennis Santana (3-4). Smith, pinch hitting for Christian Koss, brought Lee in with another double to right to make it 3-2 and Patrick Bailey extended the lead with an RBI single. Giants reliever Ryan Walker (4-4) struck out the side in the eighth, including Oneil Cruz with two on and two outs. Randy Rodríguez pitched a perfect ninth for his third save. ORIOLES 5, PHILLIES 1 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer, Jeremiah Jackson doubled in a run for his first extra-base hit and RBI in the majors as Baltimore beat Philadelphia. After the Phillies scored 18 runs in winning the first two games of the series, Baltimore left-hander Trevor Rogers (5-2) put a stop to it, allowing one run on eight hits with six strikeouts over six innings. Dietrich Enns pitched two scoreless innings and fellow lefty reliever Keegan Akin closed it out in the ninth for Baltimore. TWINS 9, TIGERS 4 DETROIT (AP) — Luke Keaschall drove in three runs for the second straight game as Minnesota beat Detroit. Keaschell is hitting .393 in his nine-game major league career, which was interrupted in April by a broken arm. He returned on Tuesday and has four hits and six RBIs in his first two games back. Thomas Hatch (1-0) picked up the win with 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. He was claimed off waivers on Monday from the Kansas City Royals. YANKEES 3, RANGERS 2 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt put the Yankees ahead with a pinch-hit solo homer in the seventh inning and New York ended its five-game losing streak with a victory over Texas. Goldschmidt went deep off lefty reliever Robert Garcia (1-7), who has now given up homers in his last three appearances. The Yankees (61-54) avoided being swept in Texas for the first time since 2010, and kept the Rangers from moving past them for the American League's third and final wild-card spot. Mark Leiter Jr. (5-6) got the win after coming on with a runner on in the sixth and getting a flyout before a double-play grounder to end the inning. That came after his cousin, Rangers rookie starter Jack Leiter, struck out three and walked four in 3 1/3 innings while allowing two runs (one earned). David Bednar struck out five while throwing 42 pitches over the final 1 2/3 innings for his 18th save. BLUE JAYS 20, ROCKIES 1 DENVER (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had four hits, including a home run, and Davis Schneider went deep twice as Toronto capped their Coors Field onslaught with a victory over Colorado. The first-place Blue Jays finished with five homers and 24 hits to set a major league record with 63 hits in a three-game series. They established a franchise mark with 45 runs in the three-game set. Bo Bichette and Ernie Clement also homered for the AL East leaders, who outscored the Rockies 45-6 in the series and are 26-11 since June 25. Toronto hit 13 home runs in the series. Ty France had four doubles and Clement added four hits. Bichette and Schneider had four RBIs apiece. Guerrero extended his on-base streak to 23 games, the longest current streak in the American League. CARDINALS 5, DODGERS 3 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani homered for his 1,000th career hit and struck out a season-high eight in four innings on the mound, but St. Louis rallied late to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jordan Walker had three hits for the Cardinals, including an RBI single that tied the score with two outs in the eighth. St. Louis took a 4-3 lead on the same play when rookie third baseman Alex Freeland made a costly throwing error. Lars Nootbaar added a run-scoring double off reliever Brock Stewart in the ninth. RAYS 5, ANGELS 4 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Junior Caminero hit his 29th and 30th homers, Christopher Morel had a go-ahead shot and six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 in the Rays' victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Caminero hit a career-long 447-foot shot with a man on in the first, and had a solo homer in the third. Morel was 0 for 6 with six strikeouts in the series before hitting his solo homer in the seventh. Nick Fortes also homered, his first hit in five games with the Rays since being acquired from Miami. Starter Shane Baz struck out nine in four innings to help Tampa Bay win for the fourth time in 14 games. Garrett Cleavinger (1-4) was the winner, and Pete Fairbanks got his 19th save. Ryan Zeferjahn (6-4) took the loss. MARLINS 6, ASTROS 4 MIAMI (AP) — Xavier Edwards went 4 for 5 with a double, Graham Pauley and Heriberto Hernández each hit a solo homer and Miami beat Houston to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Astros. Janson Junk (6-2) allowed three runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in five innings. The Marlins are 8-2 in Junk's 10 starts since joining the rotation June 20.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Travis Kelce looking ahead after Super Bowl loss: ‘I've thrown that thing in the trash'
Shake it off Chiefs fans — Travis Kelce has. Entering his 13th NFL season, the future Hall of Famer knows all too well what it takes to win a Super Bowl, and sulking over last season's Super Bowl loss isn't going to fulfill the prophecy. It's August now, the cruel summer off from football is over and Kelce's looking to fill a blank space on his trophy shelf with a fourth Super Bowl win. Advertisement 3 Travis Kelce is entering his 13 NFL season and is seeking a fourth Super Bowl. AP 'I've thrown that thing in the trash,' Kelce said of the Chiefs' blowout Super Bowl loss in February, according to ESPN on Wednesday. 'I've moved on. It happened sooner than you can imagine. I was pretty focused on this year in the offseason.' Kansas City's loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX was an ugly one, as Philadelphia throttled the Chiefs en route to a 40-22 win, leading by 34-0 at one point. Advertisement 3 A dejected Travis Kelce looks on after the Chiefs' Super Bowl LIX loss. Getty Images The manhandling halted a Chiefs three-peat and sent retirement rumors swirling surrounding the 35-year-old Kelce. But clearly the tight end sees some fight left in him and his team as he elected to return and is reportedly in tip-top shape at training camp. 'He's svelte right now. He looks like he's 20,' Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said two weeks ago. 'He's doing a good job and he's in great shape. I'm not sure he didn't come in first on the whole conditioning thing. He was right up front. You can see he's been working out. He's worked hard to get to this spot.' Advertisement 3 Travis Kelce has impressed at training camp. AP And after an offseason of what surely had some luxurious vacationing with his girlfriend Taylor Swift, Kelce is happy to be back on Missouri Western State University's campus where players stay through training camp. 'I love it here,' Kelce said. 'It gets me away from everything else that's going on in this crazy world. You can really just focus in on your craft and focus in on being the best you can for the guys around you, man. 'Football has always been the biggest driving force I've ever had. I love coming out here and focusing on this and getting better for another run at hopefully a Super Bowl.'
