Boca Queen 'Impressed' Kevin Attard In First Start, Now Tries Stakes Company
Repole Stable's Boca Queen, who turned heads after a stellar debut, steps up to the stakes ranks when she takes on eight rivals in Saturday's Grade 3 $150,000 Ontario Colleen at Woodbine.Bred by Flaxman Stables Ireland Ltd., the dark bay filly heads into the one-mile race over the E.P. Taylor turf for 3-year-old fillies off an authoritative 3 ¼-length win at seven furlongs over the E.P. Taylor on July 5.Sent off as the 2-1 choice in the field of 11, Boca Queen hopped slightly at the start, but regrouped and settled mid-pack along the backstretch before ranging up three-wide at the three-eighths mark. Shifted out into the seven path at the quarter pole, she sped away from her rivals en route to the impressive win.The daughter of Kingman out of the Big Bad Bob mare Bocca Baciata covered the distance in 1:20.32 over firm ground.
'Very impressed by that first start,' said champion trainer Kevin Attard. 'She had a little hop at the break, but she recovered quickly – I thought that was a good sign. She found her stride and looked comfortable the rest of the way. We were hoping she would run to her works, and she showed up in a big way. Obviously, you don't know how things will go first time out, but she showed a lot of maturity and class that day.'The dark bay traveled four furlongs in :48.20 over the Woodbine main track on July 19 ahead of the Ontario Colleen.'She came out of it [first start] well and had a nice work on Saturday,' said Attard. 'So, the hope is she can build off that first start and come back with a big effort this time. She definitely inspires confidence. Excited to see what the future holds for her.'
Purchased for €400,000 at the 2023 Goffs Orby Sale, Boca Queen is a half-sister to listed winner and €775,000 Goffs November alumni Foniska.Rhiannon Parkes is the groom.Other starters include graded stakes winner Somethinabouther, multiple stakes placed Pretty Lavish and stakes placed It Ain't Two.The wagering menu for the Ontario Colleen includes Rolling Double, Exacta, 0.20 Trifecta, 0.20 Superfecta, 0.20 Pick 3 (races 8-9-10), and $1 Swinger.
$150,000 Grade 3 Ontario Colleen Stakes
Boca Queen (IRE) – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
Lupa (IRE) – Fraser Aebly – Josie Carroll
Pretty Lavish (IRE) – Ryan Munger – Graham Motion
Somethinabouther – Rafael Hernandez – Brendan Walsh
Candy Quest – Sahin Civaci – Mark Casse
Social Code – Emma-Jayne Wilson – Steve Flint
Hidden Quarry – Sofia Vives – Ethan West
Tiz Her Money – Patrick Husbands – Mark Casse
It Ain't Two (GB) – Eric Cancel – Riley Mott
Also on Saturday, six fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, will travel 1 1/16 miles on the main track in the $150,000 G3 Trillium Stakes Presented by Don Julio.Trainer Marty Drexler, who won the 2023 edition of the Trillium with Il Malocchio, will send out the duo of Literate and Veery.
Literate, a 5-year-old daughter of Oscar Performance out of the Henrythenavigator mare Infanta Branca, will contest her third consecutive graded stakes affair.The bay mare, owned by C2 Racing Stable LLC, was sixth in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes (G1) on May 2 at Churchill Downs. She arrives at the Trillium off a fourth in the Belle Mahone (G3) at Woodbine on May 31.'She is doing very, very well,' said Drexler, of Literate, who was bred in Kentucky by Don Alberto Corporation. 'She has had the opportunity to run on different surfaces, and we have tried a few different things, but at the end of the day, this is what she is best at – two turns on the synthetic.'I really liked her in the race at Churchill, but she missed the break, and it kind of got messed up from there. I think this is the best type of race for her. Hopefully, she gets the job done here. I think she is a very, very talented horse.'
Literate launched her career with a quarter of races at Gulfstream. She was second in her debut on Dec. 4, 2022, and broke her maiden in her fifth start, a two-length score at 1 1/16 miles over the Woodbine main track on June 22, 2024, doubling up one month later, also at the Toronto oval.'She is a cool horse to be around,' said Drexler. 'She is not full of personality, but she can be a little high-strung at times. She is a hard trier, and she has a big, beautiful stride on her. Distance never seems to be an issue with her.'She has enough quality, so we hope we can get her a stakes win that we feel she deserves.'Drexler worked Literate, 4-3-1 from 14 starts ($196,126), three times in the lead up to the Trillium, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.00 over the Woodbine main track on July 19.
'I really like the way she is coming into this,' said the multiple graded stakes-winning conditioner. 'I have always liked her. The key is to have her come over to the paddock and be chill, which she did last time. She can get wound up at times, but if you can get her settled enough, she usually runs a really good race. And she is great right now.'Literate was a $27,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland Association September Yearling Sale.Ned Hayes is the groom.
A veteran of 29 starts (11-1-4, $309,671), 7-year-old Veery will contest her first stakes race on Saturday.The chestnut daughter of Giant Gizmo out of the Bertrando mare Roust 'Em Bertie has been at the top of her game over her past five starts, fashioning three wins and a pair of thirds.'She has been very impressive and deserves to be here,' said Drexler. 'She is also doing great coming into this race.'Veery, bred in Ontario by Dr. Rolph Davis, heads into the Trillium off a smart four-length score at 1 1/16 miles over the Woodbine main track on June 21.The veteran mare turned a three-length advantage at the stretch call into a 4-length win in 1:43.14.
'We raced her for $15,000 last year,' noted Drexler. 'It wasn't until we started stretching her out that it really brought the best out in her. She is just an incredible front-end horse. Once she gets the lead, she will go a long way. That last race – she was never in doubt. She was always the boss, and she kept going.'It's not to say she can't win going shorter, but she seems to be at her best when she is the controlling speed, especially on the synthetic. She just runs so well on the front end.'Veery launched her career with a fifth over six furlongs on the Woodbine main track on Oct. 1, 2021.Her breakthrough came in her fourth race, a 1 ¼-length triumph at 5 ½ furlongs on the Toronto oval main track.
Drexler claimed the horse for $10,000 on behalf of David Rowbotham, Rodney Carpenter, and Tony Boogmans, ahead of a Veery win on Dec. 8, 2022.'She is a real Cinderella horse,' said Drexler. 'It took some time to get her to where we wanted her to be – and there have been some ups and downs along the way, but she is just a fighter.'Anthony Bend is the groom. Multiple graded stakes winner Fashionably Fab, 2024 King's Plate winner Caitlinhergrtness, both trained by Kevin Attard, graded stakes placed For Flying, and 2024 Ontario Damsel Stakes winner Ecstasy round out the field.First post for Saturday is 1:05 p.m. The wagering menu for the Trillium includes Rolling Double, Exacta, 0.20 Trifecta, 0.20 Superfecta, 0.20 Pick 3 (Races 5-6-7), 0.20 Jackpot Power Pick 6 (Races 5-6-7-8-9-10) and $1 Swinger.Fans can wager on all the action through HPIbet.com and bet365.com.
Fashionably Fab – Pietro Moran – Kevin Attard
Veery – Eric Cancel – Marty Drexler
For Flying (BRZ) – Ryan Munger – Graham Motion
Literate – Sahin Civaci – Marty Drexler
Caitlinhergrtness – Rafael Hernandez – Kevin Attard
Ecstasy – Fraser Aebly – Sid Attard
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
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New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Blue Jays soaring in AL East after years falling short of expectations
On April 30, the Toronto Blue Jays' odds to win the American League East were at 7 percent. Now, with less than eight weeks remaining in baseball's arduous 162-game schedule, Toronto's odds of taking its first division title in a decade are nearly 70 percent. The AL is wide open, and first-place Toronto is a legitimate candidate to play deep into October. It's a shift for a talented club that for years has fallen short of expectations but is now finally exceeding them. The Jays, who told free agents all winter they were all-in on the 2025 season, were still projected by FanGraphs to win 82 games and finish fourth in the AL East when the season began. Since May 1, they've surged to a 53-32 record, a complete turnaround from a last-place finish in 2024 in which manager John Schneider acknowledged 'everything went to sh–.' Advertisement Toronto — which has the benefit of deep-pocketed ownership in Rogers Communications Inc. — boasted a record payroll last year only to flounder and sell off expiring contracts at the trade deadline. The front office's message then wasn't that the team was giving up on its core group. Instead, they insisted, the trades were designed to bolster the farm system and turn things around quickly. Still, the wait-and-have-faith approach didn't exactly sit well with a restless Toronto fan base that hasn't seen a playoff series win since 2016. The Jays — who stayed aggressive with last week's trade deadline additions — seem to have unlocked the promise of a talented core, which is playing with an exuberance that eluded previous iterations. 'It mostly comes down to me not putting the pieces together appropriately,' said general manager Ross Atkins, who wasn't quite on the hot seat this winter but was the source of significant fan frustration. 'We needed to make an adjustment. We thought long and hard about our process and the alignment we had.' In 2021, Toronto scored 846 runs (5.22 runs a game). By last year, a team built more on run prevention scored just 671 runs (4.14 per game). Small tweaks, Atkins acknowledged, weren't working. The 2024 Jays featured a middling offense that hit the fifth-fewest home runs in baseball and ran the bases terribly. Only the Yankees (-16 runs) got less out of their legs than the Jays (-14), according to Statcast. The offseason overhaul began with the hiring of hitting coach David Popkins, who made such an impression during his interview that he was offered the job that night. 'Easiest hire of my managerial career,' said Schneider, who felt like his players were eager for more information and a modernized approach. Popkins and assistant hitting coaches Lou Iannotti and Hunter Mense have received rave reviews for overhauling pregame and in-game prep and taking a creative approach to scoring. The Jays put the ball in play more than anyone in baseball (they entered Wednesday with an MLB-best 17.1 percent strikeout rate), and the trio of hitting coaches emphasize each player's strengths. Advertisement 'Be who you are,' is one of Popkins' popular phrases, which has resulted in Myles Straw bunting, contact master Ernie Clement tapping out 112 hits in his first 112 games and George Springer being on track to have his best offensive season since joining Toronto before the 2021 season. The Jays were a good contact team last year (20.3 percent K-rate), but they're better this year, with improved power and a deeper, more multi-faceted lineup. The Jays have scored the sixth-most runs in baseball (556) this year with an MLB-best .267 batting average. They could be the first team to finish a season with a sub-18 percent strikeout rate since the 2017 Houston Astros. The Jays have won thanks to multi-homer games by Springer (who is rehabbing from a concussion). They've also won with small ball. In keeping strikeouts low and the ball in play, there's constant pressure on opposing teams. 'Know what club to take out of the bag,' is another Pop'ism, an ode to golf and a directive toward situational hitting. If a spot calls for a bunt, take out your putter. If it calls for a home run, get the driver. Players have bought into that approach, one made considerably easier on a team that uses its whole roster to mix and match and maximize every game. 'That was the message from Day 1 of spring training,' Schneider said. 'Everyone is going to be a part of this.' If you're not starting for the Jays, you're probably still playing. Toronto routinely uses 11 or 12 of its 13 position players in games, with 15 players who have at least 100 at-bats. The roster is built for flexibility. Nathan Lukes, Joey Loperfido and Straw can handle all three outfield spots, Addison Barger moves between third base and right field, Davis Schneider (no relation to John) bounces from left field to second base to designated hitter, and Clement can pretty much slot in anywhere on the dirt. 'His glove is one of the best infielders I've been around,' marvels Jays starter Kevin Gausman. Advertisement Regulars like Bo Bichette — who leads the team with 74 RBIs — call the Jays' part-time players the heartbeat of the team. Bichette, who homered twice in Monday's rout of the Rockies, has done his part too. He leads baseball with 143 hits, 10 more than the next closest player (Manny Machado) as of Wednesday. Bichette's renaissance after his career-worst season in 2024 has been one of the biggest storylines of the season. His pending free agency could be the biggest story of the team's offseason. On the baserunning side, the Jays were abysmal in an 11-14 April that looked like 2024 all over again. The coaches challenged the players to improve. The Jays don't have the pure speed of a team like the Milwaukee Brewers, but they can — as assistant manager DeMarlo Hale points out — make smart decisions. And they started to. In June, the Jays were among the league's best baserunning teams and, according to Schneider, the top team on advancing on hits. Toronto has its own internal baserunning scoring system (they rank 20th on the season by Statcast) that has helped foster players' competitive spirit. 'When a guy scores from first on a double and they know what it means, they know what that does for your score,' Schneider said. 'It's cool, you know? And then it gets a little contagious.' The Jays take the season in two-week bites, called 'State of the Squad,' where they look at what the team is doing well over the previous 14 days and what it can do to improve. Players and coaches alike have commended this year's group on the ability to live in the moment, good or bad. The last two weeks have been a mixed bag, with series wins against the Tigers and Rockies and losses to the Orioles and Royals, as well as some personnel upgrades. In need of pitching help, Toronto added relievers Seranthony Domínguez and Louis Varland, starting pitcher Shane Bieber, first baseman Ty France and catching prospect Brandon Valenzuela at the deadline, losing three of their top five pitching prospects in return. Bieber, who is rehabbing back from Tommy John surgery, has the highest upside of the additions, as the former AL Cy Young award winner could give the rotation a potential ace down the stretch if he can regain his past form. The Jays' current group features Gausman, Eric Lauer (who has been a revelation), José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer, who has looked more like a future Hall of Famer in each of his last two outings. Scherzer, who turned 41 last month, signed with the Jays because of their aggressiveness in wanting to win. Despite significant financial resources that put them in baseball's upper payroll tier, recent offseasons have often been defined by their failure to sign big free agents. Last winter, they missed on superstar Shohei Ohtani. This winter, the pursuits of Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki were futile. Signing outfielder Anthony Santander (who has been injured since May) and Scherzer helped shift the narrative. So did keeping Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. On April 9, the Jays agreed to a 14-year, $500 million extension with their homegrown slugger. It was one of the biggest moves in franchise history, and declared Toronto's intention to stay competitive for the foreseeable future. But trying to win and actually winning are two very different things. It's fair to wonder if Toronto's style of play is sustainable and if the Jays — the only team with an entire country behind them — can finally avenge their October woes, which include playoff losses in 2020, '22 and '23. Advertisement The Jays players believe this year's team can do it, with some spotlighting their fundamentals (they also rank eighth in defense runs saved) and others highlighting how low-strikeout lineups tend to fare well in the postseason. Almost everyone mentioned team chemistry as evidence that this season is more than a hot streak. There is something about this team, players and coaches believe. Gausman said they haven't had to force any team bonding. Guys want to be around each other, and the younger guys are so into the game's minutiae and improving on the margins that Gausman endearingly calls them baseball rats. Ask Schneider — at the helm since he was named interim manager in 2022 — what stands out about this group, and he mentions the same thing. 'There's no jerks,' said Scherzer, who balks at the question of whether the Jays can sustain their torrid pace. To him, it's not about the results. It's about the process, both in getting to October and playing your best baseball. 'Great teams are a sum of their parts. … Here, everybody recognized their (past) mistakes in this whole organization,' Scherzer said. '(The front office) upstairs, coaches, players — everybody really wanted to fix everything, and they wanted a total overhaul of operations. It's tough to know how bad the past was. I just get to see what the changes are, and right now this is a well-functioning team in every facet.' (Top photo of Lukes and Clement: Duane Burleson / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Do Elias Pettersson and Juuse Saros have bad contracts? NHL Cap Court returns
Let's do another round of Cap Court. You know the drill by now: Five players, five dicey contracts (from a team perspective), five arguments over whether the deal is actually bad enough to be 'bad.' Today, we'll cover a perplexing goaltender, a one-time sure thing who may have peaked as a rookie and two players recently traded away by the Senators. But we'll start with what I believe may be the single biggest contract in terms of total dollars we've ever tackled in this column… The details: Elias Pettersson, 26, just finished the first year of his eight-year extension, which runs through 2032 and carries a cap hit of $11.6 million. The case that it's a bad contract: He had 15 goals and 45 points last year. Really, we could just end this section there. Pettersson signed his deal in March 2024, when he was in the midst of an up-and-down season but just one year removed from having 102 points. He got the sort of deal you give to an undisputed No. 1 center who'll be solidly in the Hart Trophy mix. Then, well, he had 15 goals and 45 points last year. Advertisement Yes, there's more to the story, including way too much off-ice drama. The team tried to address that by moving on from J.T. Miller, but it didn't seem to help. A new offseason approach might. But it's also possible the Canucks made a monster commitment to a player who's just broken. And if so, they're kind of screwed. Oh, and as of July 1 he has a full no-move clause. If there was any chance to bail out, that ship has now sailed. The case that it might be OK: In the two previous seasons, 2022-23 and 2023-24, Pettersson ranked 10th in league scoring with 191 points, ahead of guys like Sidney Crosby, Mitch Marner and Kirill Kaprizov. Yes, last season was a disaster, but it was one season. This is a contract my colleague Thomas Drance called 'stunningly team-friendly' when it was signed, and he wasn't alone in liking it. Maybe we all just take a deep breath, chalk up last year as a messy outlier due to all the Miller stuff, and remember that this guy has already shown us he can be elite. It's not a projection or a best-case hope — we've actually seen it. We just need to figure out how to see it again. And as for that NMC … well, if things are as bad for Pettersson in Vancouver as they seemed last year, let's just say it probably won't be a big issue. Key comparables: We mentioned Marner, who just signed for $12 million and is a bit older. So is William Nylander, who makes $11.5 million, and those guys are both wingers. So are Mikko Rantanen ($12 million) and David Pastrnak ($11.25 million). The list of centers who are signed long-term is actually an oddly short one: it's basically the MVP-tier of Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon, then a drop-off down to Pettersson. At least until Connor McDavid resets things over the next year. The ruling: It's not hopeless. But it's sure not good, and figuring out how to get Pettersson back to his 100-point level has to be the Canucks' second-biggest priority over the next few years, behind only the Quinn Hughes extension. The problem here is the best-case is that they fix him, and the contract is fine or maybe even borderline good. The worst-case is… well, we saw it last year, and it's terrifying. For now, it's absolutely a bad contract. The details: In March, Jakob Chychrun, 27, signed an eight-year extension carrying a $9 million cap hit. The deal kicks in for this coming season and runs until 2033. The case that it's a bad contract: Chychrun was acquired by the Capitals in a blockbuster trade during the 2024 offseason, then played well in his debut season in Washington. That sounds like good news, but long-term readers know where this is going: it's the classic setup for a Shiny New Toy deal, the single most dangerous contract in the NHL. A team gives up good assets to land a player, which strips them of any leverage in negotiating a contract, so they overpay to make sure the new guy isn't one-and-done. Sometimes it still works out. Sometimes you get the Jonathan Huberdeau extension. Advertisement Chychrun's deal makes him the 13th highest-paid defenseman by cap hit heading into next season. He's one of only seven defensemen in the league with a deal stretching through 2033, and of that group his cap hit is second only to Noah Dobson and only Jaccob Slavin and Aaron Ekblad aren't at least two years younger. It's basically a 'No. 1 defenseman' type of commitment for a player who's only had Norris Trophy votes in two of his nine seasons and never finished higher than tenth. The case that it might be OK: One of those Norris vote years was last season, his first in Washington. Granted, he got exactly one fifth-place vote to finish 17th, but the point is he fit in nicely with the Capitals, scoring a career-high 20 goals. And as you may have heard, that Capitals team did pretty well, so keeping the group together makes sense. It's also worth mentioning that Chychrun's career has seen its share of games missed due to injury, but he played 74 games last year after playing all 82 the year before in Ottawa. Some guys are injury-prone and always will be, but some guys just have some bad luck along the way, and if Chychrun can be a full-season force, the Caps are in good shape, especially once John Carlson's deal comes off the books next summer. Key comparables: As with any defenseman, the first thing to do is mention Cale Makar making just $9 million for two more years, and the second thing is to toss that comparison away because it's an outlier. More fitting names would include fellow 27-year-olds Charlie McAvoy ($9.5 million through 2030) and Adam Fox ($9.5 million through 2029), which don't favor Chychrun. But there's also two older guys in Seth Jones ($9.5 million through 2030) and Darnell Nurse ($9.25 million through 2030), plus Ivan Provorov ($8.5 million through 2032). If you're a Caps fan, do those names make you feel better, or are they cautionary tales? The ruling: There are warning signs here, and the reality is that the Caps didn't seem to get much of a discount by going max-term on an older player. But given how much leverage was on the player's side, the team didn't completely overcommit. Until we see how the blue-line market settles into the rising cap era, I don't think it's a bad contract. The details: Mathew Barzal is 28 and entering the third year of a max-length extension that runs through 2031 and carries a cap hit of $9.15 million. The case that it's a bad contract: Remember when Barzal was a legitimate stud? He debuted with a Calder-winning season that saw him score 85 points, a rookie total that only Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin have topped during the cap era. But since then, he's had just one season north of 62 points, and last year he had just 20 points in 30 games. His stock has fallen so far that when Team Canada announced its orientation camp roster for next year's Olympics, he wasn't on it. That seems like a problem for a guy who carries the 11th highest cap hit among centers. Advertisement The case that it might be OK: He was injured for almost all of last year, so we can probably ditch those disappointing numbers. The year before that, he had 80 points, his best total since his rookie season. There's a reason new Isles management made it clear Barzal wasn't going anywhere. And while you don't want to overplay the 'cap is going up' card, we already covered how the center market is about to shift in the Pettersson section. When that happens, $9 million and change for a point-per-game guy shouldn't seem like an issue. Key comparables: Among similarly aged players, Barzal would rank well back of Sasha Barkov and Jack Eichel (both at $10 million), but they're viewed as bargains. Closer comparisons would be guys like Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point and Dylan Larkin, who all carry cap hits within $600K of Barzal's and have posted similar offensive numbers to his last healthy season. The ruling: I don't love it right now, but with five years in an evolving market and a return to good health hopefully in the mix, I'm not willing to say it's bad. Check back in a year, though. The details: Josh Norris is 26 and entering the fourth year of an eight-year deal he originally signed with the Senators in 2022, which carries a $7.95 million cap hit through 2030. The Sabres acquired him in a deal for Dylan Cozens at least year's deadline which was not especially well-received. The case that it's a bad contract: Norris carries the highest cap hit of any Sabres forward, but is coming off consecutive seasons that saw his point total stuck in the 30s while his games played was in the 50s. Injuries have been a big part of his story, including missing all but eight games in 2022-23. He's basically had one decent season in the NHL (a 35-goal, 55-point sophomore campaign in 2021-22) and has been both paid and hyped based on that single year. But three seasons and one team later, that year feels like an outlier for a disappointing player. The case that it might be OK: Injuries are a two-way sword with this sort of debate. Yes, he has to stay healthy to earn his cap hit, and he hasn't been able to. But that's also why his numbers have been lackluster, and if he can get back to full health another 30-goal season seems realistic. He's not a play-driver, but with a career shooting percentage of 18.1 (including two seasons north of 20), we can at least say that he has the potential to be an elite finisher, which is a hard skill to find in a center. And his teammates in Ottawa loved him. It's also worth noting Norris does not have any trade protection until next summer, and only a 10-team no-trade list after that, which gives the Sabres some flexibility if they need to reconsider the commitment. And he'll be 31 when this deal expires, so unlike almost everyone else who shows up in Cap Court, the team isn't on the hook for a bunch of write-off years at the end. Advertisement Key comparables: Norris slots in with similarly aged centers like Jack Hughes ($8 million) and Nick Suzuki ($7.85 million); that's not exactly flattering, but those are also two contracts that are often viewed as solid bargains for their respective teams. Other comparisons would include the Blues duo of Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, both at $8.125 million. And of course, Norris will be forever linked with Dylan Cozens, whose deal has the same number of years left but carries a cheaper $7.1 million hit. The ruling: Putting aside who won or lost the trade, this contract feels like a risky bet for the Sabres, even as you can understand why they may have felt like they needed to make it. For now I'm ruling it a bad contract, but Norris will have a fast track to an appeal hearing if he can stay healthy enough to produce a big goal-scoring year. The details: Juuse Saros is 30 and signed a max-length extension last summer that only kicks in this year, meaning it runs all the way through 2033. The cap hit is $7.74 million, with a full NMC until the final two years, upon which it becomes a 15-team no-trade list. The case that it's a bad contract: Saros was a bad goalie last year. Maybe that's harsh, but it's reality for a guy who finished the year at .895. Worse, it was the second year in a row that his save percentage dipped by over 10 points, meaning we can't just hand-wave this away as goalies being weird. The Predators had a choice last summer – stick with Saros, or trade him to one of the several teams desperate for established goaltending and turn things over to blue-chip prospect Yaroslav Askarov. They decided to make a big-dollar gamble on the veteran and trade the kid, and one year later it sure looks like they bet wrong. The case that it might be OK: First of all, this is Cap Court, not Trade Decisions With Hindsight Court, so whatever happened around last year's extension doesn't really matter. The Predators' call in the crease made sense based on what they were trying to do at the time, and what's done is done. More importantly for our purposes, Saros signed for what seemed like a discount, coming in under $8 million while knowing Igor Shesterkin was about to reset the market for top goalies to well north of $10 million. And Saros has been a top goalie, finishing in the top six in Vezina voting four years in a row from 2021 through 2024. Last year was a disaster for pretty much everyone in Nashville, but that doesn't mean it's the new normal for a guy who's earned some benefit of the doubt. Key comparables: Saros ranks tenth for goalie cap hit heading into next season. Among guys signed through at least 2030, he ranks sixth, and is kind of on his own – the three guys immediately ahead of him are Ilya Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman and Jake Oettinger at $8.25 million, and then a drop all the way down to Lukas Dostal at $6.5 million and Adin Hill at $6.25 million. The ruling: I'm tempted to say 'you never know with goalies' and call it a day. But that's exactly it — you never really know, which is why committing to a max-length deal to a guy who's already 30 is so risky. And while the cap is going up, there aren't any studs in their 20s scheduled for new deals over the new few years, so the goalie market may be pretty much set. I'm kind of shocked to be saying this on a deal I didn't mind at the time and under which Saros hasn't even played a game yet, but I think this one might already have gone bad. (Top photo of Juuse Saros, Dante Fabbro and Elias Pettersson: Bob Frid / USA Today) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
HISA Establishes Racing Office Advisory Group
HISA Establishes Racing Office Advisory Group originally appeared on Paulick Report. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) has established a Racing Office Advisory Group comprised of senior racing officials from racetracks across the Racing Office Advisory Group will provide feedback to HISA's executive team and Standing Committees on rules, processes, and operational practices affecting Thoroughbred racing officials nationwide. The group will serve as a forum for dialogue between racing offices and HISA, ensuring that the perspectives of those responsible for daily racing operations are represented as HISA continues to strengthen safety and integrity standards. 'Racing offices are integral to the successful implementation of HISA safety and integrity rules,' said HISA director of racetrack safety Ann McGovern. 'By establishing this group, we are making a direct channel available for racing office professionals to share their expertise. We are very fortunate to have some of the industry's most experienced professionals collaborating with us.'The Racing Office Advisory Group will meet monthly and maintain an on-call advisory role to provide feedback on HISA rules and any racing office-related members of the Racing Office Advisory Group are: Amber Carlisle is the senior manager of racing operations at Canterbury Park, where she also serves as assistant racing secretary. Starting in the industry as a hot walker more than 20 years ago through the Kids to the Cup Program, Carlisle has worked at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and Colonial Downs. She is an accredited racing official through the Racing Officials Accreditation Program and is recognized for her dedication to efficient and fair race day Doleshel, the senior director of racing for the New York Racing Association (NYRA), has held several key racing official positions, including racing secretary and assistant racing secretary. A graduate of the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program, Doleshel's career includes early internships at Santa Anita Park and NYRA, sparking a lifelong commitment to racing operations. He currently serves on the Breeders' Cup Racing Directors/Secretaries Panel and the North American Rating Egan is the director of racing and racing secretary at Santa Anita Park. A graduate of the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program, Egan began his career working in the stable area before becoming a trainer and later transitioning to racing office leadership. He has played a key role in stakes planning and racing operations, bringing hands-on horsemanship and administrative expertise to the group. Georganne Hale is a trailblazer for women in racing. Currently the senior vice president of racing at the Maryland Jockey Club, Hale has over four decades of experience shaping the future of horse racing in Maryland and beyond. She became the first female racing secretary at a major North American racetrack and played a pivotal role in growing iconic events such as the Preakness Stakes and Maryland Million. Hale also launched successful aftercare initiatives and philanthropic programs, mentoring women in the industry and advocating for retired Thoroughbred Hammerle has spent more than 35 years as a senior racing official and executive at racetracks across the United States. He directed racing operations at Santa Anita Park for 16 years, including hosting a record seven Breeders' Cup events, and currently serves as director of racing at Kentucky Downs while consulting for 1/ST Racing. Hammerle is a long-standing member of the North American Graded Stakes Johnston, director of racing at Penn National Race Course, has more than four decades of experience in racing operations, having served as vice president of racing operations at Sam Houston Race Park, racing secretary at both Sam Houston and Fort Erie, and a racing official with the Maryland Jockey Club. He began his career at Penn National in 1983 and played a key role in launching Sam Houston in 1994. Johnston also served as a consultant for a Quarter Horse pilot project at Fort Erie and returned there as racing secretary from 2011 to 2013. He rejoined Penn National as director of racing in 2014, where he continues to serve today. Mike Lakow, vice president of racing operations at Gulfstream Park, has more than four decades of leadership and racing office experience, having served as racing secretary for NYRA, racing director at Santa Anita Park, and general manager at Hill 'n' Dale Farms. He also has been a steward in Florida and Dubai, CEO of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, and a jockey agent for Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano. Lakow currently sits on the Breeders' Cup Selection Committee and North American Rating Lies, who has more than 25 years of industry experience, has served as a racing secretary, announcer, and simulcast host. He oversees racing operations as racing secretary at Will Rogers Downs and Fair Meadows in Tulsa while also calling races and setting morning line odds for multiple tracks. Lies began his career working for prominent trainers before becoming an active race caller across Southern California. Tyler Picklesimer is the director of racing and racing secretary at Turfway Park and Kentucky Downs. He has served as a steward at Churchill Downs, Keeneland, and Ellis Park and has officiated Thoroughbred racing's most prestigious events, including the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup World Championships. Picklesimer holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northern Kentucky University and is an accredited Tullock has dedicated 35 years to racing and has worked in nearly every role in the racing office, from patrol judge and horse identifier to her current role as racing secretary for the Maryland Jockey Club. She is an accredited steward and has officiated at both Laurel Park and Pimlico, bringing deep knowledge of race officiating and operations. A Saratoga Springs native, Tullock was a nationally accomplished junior rider and holds a degree in Sports Management from Ithaca College.A full list of HISA's Committees and Advisory Groups can be found here. For more information about HISA and its efforts to enhance safety and integrity in Thoroughbred racing, please visit This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Aug 6, 2025, where it first appeared.
