Off the wire

Sunday, January 5, 2014

HORSE RACING

Two horses die at Belmont

Four-time graded stakes winner Caixa Eletronica and another horse have died after a training accident at Belmont Park. Caixa Eletronica was galloping on the training track Saturday morning when he collided with Six Drivers, who was running loose after dumping his rider behind the starting gate. Caixa Eletronica sustained a skull fracture and Six Drivers broke its neck. Dr. Anthony Verderosa, chief examining veterinarian for the New York Racing Association, says both horses died immediately. Caixa Eletronica was owned by Mike Repole and trained by Todd Pletcher. The 9-year-old horse won seven stakes, including the Westchester, the Charles Town Classic and the True North Handicap. Caixa Eletronica had earned more than $1.8 million. Caixa Eletronica’s exercise rider, Carlos Castro, was taken to a hospital for evaluation. Six Drivers’ rider, Julio Pezua, had no apparent injuries.

Awesome Baby led all the way in a half-length victory Saturday at Santa Anita in the $200,000 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Awesome Baby ran six furlongs in 1:16.62 and paid $12.60 and $4.40. There was no show wagering because of the four-horse field. Taste Like Candy returned $2.80. Crushed Velvet, the 4-5 favorite, was third. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert trains both Awesome Baby and Crushed Velvet. The victory, worth $120,000, increased Awesome Baby’s career earnings to $170,250 with two wins in four starts. “She ran dynamite,” Smith said. “She broke really well, was well in hand until I needed to ask her and I just showed her the whip and she kept running.” In the $75,000 Midnight Lute Stakes, Smith rode Cyclometer to victory by three-quarters of a length. Trained, owned and bred by Bruce Headley, Cyclometer ran six furlongs in 1:08.95 and paid $5.20 and $2.60.

Noble Moon and Fierce Boots won stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday, the first major 3-year-old races of the season in New York. Noble Moon, the 4-5 favorite, held off Classic Giacnroll by two lengths in the $200,000 Jerome. Irad Ortiz, Jr. was aboard for trainer Leah Gyarmati as Noble Moon got his second victory in three starts, paying $3.60 to win. The time was 1:45.08 for a mile and 70 yards on the fast track. With the victory, Noble Moon earned 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. Fierce Boots, owned by celebrity chef Bobby Flay, scored a pacesetting 8-1 upset in the $100,000 Busanda for fillies. Her margin was also two lengths. Jose Ortiz was in the saddle for trainer Todd Pletcher. She paid $19 to win, running the same distance in 1:46.62.

HOCKEY

Rangers acquire Carcillo

The New York Rangers acquired tough guy Dan Carcillo from the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday for a seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft. Carcillo fills a role for New York, which lost Derek Dorsett to a broken left fibula for four to six weeks. Carcillo appeared in 26 games this season for Los Angeles, getting a goal and an assist with 57 penalty minutes.

Forward Andrew Cogliano has agreed to a four-year, $12 million contract extension with the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks announced the deal Saturday for the durable forward, who is on pace for the best season of his NHL career. Cogliano has 13 goals and 12 assists and a plus-16 rating while playing in all 43 games for the Ducks.

TENNIS Nadal continues streak

Rafael Nadal opened his 2014 campaign by winning his first title of the year in defeating Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2 at the Qatar Open on Saturday. Although he wasn’t in top form in this first event of the season, he battled to win his 61st career title, one shy of Guillermo Vilas’ total, seventh on the all-time Open era list. “I think I played my best match of the season - of the tournament - today,” Nadal said after the two-hour final. “I was happy with how I played.” Of the five matches Nadal played this week hewas taken in the three-set distance three times: By Tobias Kamke in the second round, Peter Gojowczyk in the quarterfinals, and then by Monfils. Nadal, who reached the championship match in Doha in 2010, has been in the final of 15 of his last 18 tournaments. Last year he won a career-high 10 titles. Nadal holds a 9-2 record against Monfils.

Serena Williams showed she has carried her momentum from 2013 into the new season, beating No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International and set the tone for the Australian Open. The top-ranked Williams extended her winning streak to 22 matches with the emphatic win over the reigning Australian Open champion, making it back-to-back victories over two of her main rivals. She beat four-time major winner Maria Sharapova in straight sets in the semifinals. The year’s first major starts Jan. 13 at Melbourne Park and Williams, who won 78 of her 82 matches and collected 11 titles last year, is positioning herself as the favorite to claim a sixth Australian title. She improved to 14-3 against Azarenka, who beat Williams in two finals last year and was the last person to defeat the American - at Cincinnati in August.

Stanislas Wawrinka and Edouard Roger-Vasselin registered hard-fought wins to set up the final of the Chennai (India) Open. Top-seeded Wawrinka saw a resurgent Vasek Pospisil of Canada concede their semifinal at 6-4, 5-5 due to a back strain while Frenchman Roger-Vasselin sweated it out against Spanish player Marcel Granollers for a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory. The eighth-ranked Wawrinka was surprised when fifth-seeded Pospisil withdrew just after he had struck rhythm following some unforced errors at crucial junctures.

Jurgen Melzer has pulled out of this month’s Australian Open because of a persistent left shoulder injury. The 27th-ranked Austrian underwent surgery on a torn tendon in October and needs more time to recover, the Austria Press Agency reports on Saturday. Melzer hasn’t played since losing to Kei Nishikori in the second round at Shanghai in early October. Having risen as high as No. 8 in the rankings, Melzer’s best result in Melbourne was reaching the fourth round three years ago.

GOLF

Johnson leads by 3 in Hawaii

KAPALUA, Hawaii - Zach Johnson wants to avoid three putts and score better on the par 5s. He did neither Saturday at Kapalua, and still built a three-shot lead.

Johnson relied on great wedge play and a few timely putts for a 7-under 66 to take the lead after two rounds of the Tournament of Champions. Defending champion Dustin Johnson (66), Matt Kuchar (68) and Jordan Spieth (70) were tied for second as the winners-only tournament started to show some separation.

Johnson was at 13-under 133. He failed to birdie any of the par 5s, and he three-putted one of them at No. 5 after hitting 5-iron into the back of the green.

None of that mattered the way Johnson was feeding wedges into the right spots of the green to set up birdie chances. He ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine, and a few good chips kept him from getting seriously close to a bogey.

Dustin Johnson approached the Plantation Course differently.He birdied all the par 5s with his length, and only fell back with a pair of bogeys on the back nine when he missed short putts. Even so, he was in good position heading into the final two rounds of a tournament that ends Monday.

“This golf course sets up well for me,” Dustin Johnson said. “I can reach all the par 5s, and there’s a few short holes where you can drive it up close to the green. So if I chip and putt it well, I’m going to shoot a good score pretty much every time.

Webb Simpson and Michael Thompson, part of a four-way tie for the lead after the opening round, each had a 71 and were four shots behind.

Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) shot a 4-under 69 and is six shots back at 139.

Masters champion Adam Scott, who can get within range of No. 1 in the world depending on his two weeks in Hawaii, had a 70 and was seven shots behind. The Australian was in dire need of a low round to at least have chance going into Monday.

Sports, Pages 22 on 01/05/2014