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Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignity will not run in Preakness Stakes
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, ridden by Junior Alvarado, will not run in the Preakness Stakes. (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press) There will be no Triple Crown winner this year. It became official on Tuesday when Sovereignty trainer Bill Mott told Preakness Stakes officials that the Kentucky Derby winner will not run in the second leg of the Triple Crown and instead point to the Belmont Stakes. 'We received a call from trainer Bill Mott that Sovereignty will not be competing in the Preakness,' Mike Rogers, a Stronach Group executive vice president, said in a media release. 'Bill informed us they would point toward the Belmont Stakes. We extend our congratulations to the connections of Sovereignty and respect their decision.' Advertisement It opens the door for Rodriguez, the Bob Baffert-trained horse who scratched from the Derby because of a tender hoof. The winner of the Wood Memorial will likely be the favorite unless Journalism runs in the second leg of the Triple Crown. Journalism's trainer Michael McCarthy has still not announced the next race for the Santa Anita Derby winner and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby. Baffert has won the Preakness eight times. He said on Sunday that the horse's hoof is fine and the 3-year-old colt was set for Baltimore. 'We're going to breeze this weekend [at Churchill Downs], and then ship to Pimlico,' Baffert said. Generally, the Kentucky Derby winner runs in the Preakness even though it is only two weeks later. Horses tend to run once a month although in racing again in two weeks was common in the past, but training and racing methods have changed in recent years as the business model switched more from racing to breeding. Advertisement Read more: Sovereignty surges past race favorite Journalism to win the 151st Kentucky Derby Michael Banahan, the director of bloodstock for Godolphin, Sovereignty's owner and breeder, appeared on "At the Races" radio show with Steve Byk on Monday. 'We fully respect what the Triple Crown means for the industry, for racing in America,' Banahan said. 'Most importantly, the decision will be made to do what's best for the horse. … It looks like he's come out of the race well. He did have a scrape on his pastern that needed to be treated somewhat. We'll just see how he gets over that, what his energy levels are going to be like.' The last Kentucky Derby winner to skip the Preakness Stakes was Rich Strike in 2022. Before that it was 2019 when Country House, the Derby winner when Maximum Security was disqualified, skipped the Preakness because of a cough. He never ran again. His trainer: Bill Mott. Advertisement It was more than two decades before Country House when a horse didn't go to the Preakness. Grindstone skipped the 1996 race becasue of a bone chip in his knee. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Todd Pletcher-trained Grande scratched from Kentucky Derby with a foot bruise
Grande works out at Churchill Downs Monday. The horse was scratched Friday with a foot bruise. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press) The Kentucky Derby dropped to 19 horses on Friday when Grande was scratched from the race with a foot bruise. Grande is trained by Todd Pletcher and was to be ridden by John Velazquez. The owner is Mike Repole. Grande joins Rodriguez, trained by Bob Baffert, as scratches since the race was drawn last Saturday. Both are coming out of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Rodriguez won the race and Grande was second. Advertisement Two years ago, Forte, also trained by Pletcher and owned by Repole, was scratched as the morning-line favorite. This is the first time in 21 years that Pletcher has not had a Derby starter. Pletcher has won the Derby twice with Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017. Grande did not race as a 2-year-old and had only run three times. He won his maiden and then an allowance before finishing second in the Wood. A son of Curlin, he was purchased for $300,000. He was scheduled to break from nine, wearing the saddlecloth of 10. All horses on the outside of him will move in one gate. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bob Baffert scratches one of his two horses for the Kentucky Derby
Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner who was considered trainer Bob Baffert's best horse in this year's Kentucky Derby, scratched out of the race on Thursday after a sensitive foot bruise was discovered on the 3-year-old colt. He is expected to recover quickly and will be pointed to the Preakness States in two weeks. 'The horse is by all measures healthy and well,' Tom Ryan, who heads Rodriguez's ownership group, told The Times. 'I guess we look on the bright side and know we can now target him for the Preakness. Advertisement 'Of all the possible setbacks, this is the one we can live with.' Ryan said the sensitivity was discovered a couple days ago and 'out of an abundance of caution' the owners and Baffert thought a scratch was the right thing to do. The horse is not in any pain, said Ryan, the foot is just a little sensitive. 'The diagnostic work came back clear and clean,' Ryan said. Read more: When it comes to Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism, it's all in the family The same ownership group also has Citizen Bull in the race. He won last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile and was named Eclipse 2-year-old male champion. Advertisement The defection made room for another Southern California horse, Baeza. He has been at Churchill Downs biding his time while waiting for an opening in the race. He is considered a strong contender but will break from the 20th gate, the farthest outside. It is protocol when an 'also eligible' horse is added to the race after the draw. Baeza finished second to Journalism, the Derby favorite, in the Santa Anita Derby. He is trained by John Shirreffs. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard make Masters history
Twin brothers Nicolai, left, and Rasmus Hojgaard listen to a caddy during a practice round for the 2024 British Open. (Jon Super / Associated Press) Meet Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard, an identical pair that's singularly focused. The 24-year-old Danish brothers are the first set of twins to play in the same Masters, and they will be pulling for each other Thursday when the storied tournament gets underway. Advertisement OK … that's a bit of a buried lie. 'Probably be very frustrating,' Rasmus said when asked how it would feel seeing his brother win a green jacket. 'No, I think it would be very cool.' They're pretty much dead ringers for each other, especially when they showed up to Augusta National this week wearing the same gray quarter-zip pullovers. That wasn't planned, by the way. Just another mind meld. It's helpful that Rasmus has a swoop of brown hair, and Nicolai has a buzz. Otherwise, it would be hard for anyone but friends and family to tell them apart. Read more: Can Rory McIlroy win the Masters to complete career Grand Slam? Advertisement 'Back when we were in school, we would switch classes, and everyone in the room, they obviously know that it's the wrong one that's here, but the teacher wouldn't know,' Rasmus said. 'So we would sit there for an hour, and everyone was trying to be serious about the situation. Then the teacher eventually would find out that it's Nicolai here and not Ras, and they would just laugh about it. We did that a few times and we thought it was quite fun.' They don't have identical experience in the Masters, however. Whereas Rasmus is making his debut, Nicolai played last year and actually held the Saturday lead through 10 holes before tailing off and finishing in a tie for 16th. 'After the tournament,' Nicolai said, 'I looked at that thinking, 'What went wrong after you had been in perfect position to then finish 16th, and what can you learn from that?'' Naturally, the two are ultra-competitive and unquestionably pushed each other. Advertisement 'I think when we were younger, we learned how to deal with when somebody was playing well and we couldn't talk to each other for days. … 'Then we got older and more mature. We can shake each other's hand now and say congrats when someone is playing well.' Oh, brother. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Puka Nacua plans to hang up his cleats like Aaron Donald: 'I want to retire at the age of 30'
Puka Nacua already knows when he wants to retire. It's not anytime soon, but it's probably a lot sooner than Rams fans might want to think about right now. Asked during a recent podcast appearance how he might know when it's time to hang up his cleats, the 23-year-old star receiver did not hesitate in giving an answer. 'I know I want to retire at the age of 30," Nacua said on an episode of "Join the Lobby" that went live Saturday. That's either six or seven seasons away, depending on when during the start of his fourth decade Nacua (born May 29, 2001) decides to call it a career. Read more: Plaschke: Retiring Aaron Donald didn't just lead the Rams, he was the Rams Nacua cited former Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald as his inspiration. Donald was a three-time defensive player of the year and made the Pro Bowl in all 10 of his NFL seasons before retiring last offseason at age 32. "I think of Aaron Donald," Nacua said. "To go out at the top, I think it would be super cool." But Nacua said he has at least five other reasons. "I want to have a big family," said Nacua, who is the second-youngest sibling in a family with four brothers and a sister. "I want to have at least a starting five. I came from a big family, so I need five boys. I want to be able to be a part of their lives and be as active as I can with them." Selected by the Rams in the fifth round of the 2023 draft, Nacua was an instant sensation, setting NFL rookie records for total receptions (105) and receiving yards (1,486) and earning a Pro Bowl berth. Last year, he was hampered by a right knee sprain that caused him to miss five games early in the season. Read more: Matthew Stafford excited about Rams signing Davante Adams: 'A big addition to our team' Nacua said he only wants to risk sustaining a major injury for so long before devoting his time to fatherhood and a post-football career that will possibly involve real estate and owning restaurants. "The injuries are something you can't control [as] part of the game, so you never know," he said. "Hopefully, the rest of the career can go healthy, but you have shoulder surgery, you have knee surgery, you have ankle [issues]. By the time my kids could be 18, I could be barely walking if you play the game and sustain all the injuries and stuff like that." Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
