Off the wire

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

HORSE RACING

Borel loses ride; Court hurt

Hall of Famer Calvin Borel, who replaced Jon Court as the jockey of Ride on Curlin for last Saturday’s Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Ky., won’t have the mount on the Derby’s seventh-place finisher for the May 17 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The Louisville-Courier Journal reported Monday that Ride on Curlin trainer Billy Gowan told Preakness officials that Joel Rosario will replace Borel, who replaced Court for the Derby after Court rode Ride on Curlin to a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Borel, a three-time Derby winner, guided Ride On Curlin, from the No. 19 post, straight to the rail and behind competitors Saturday against Gowan’s wishes. “I told him before the race that he had three-eighths of a mile to work his way over,” into the first turn, Gowan told Pimlico. “[The horse] was not tired at all after the Derby. He only ran three-eighths of a mile. He was more tired after his seven-eighths work last Sunday.” Rosario, who won the 2013 Derby with Orb, finished 11th this year aboard General a Rod. Giving the Ride on Curlin mount back to Court wasn’t an option after Court suffered a broken hand in a two-horse spill in the 13th race on Saturday. Court’s agent, Steve Krajcir, told Daily Racing Form that Court was “resting comfortably” while in Audubon Hospital early Sunday. “It’s a clean break,” Krajcir said. “The doctors haven’t estimated how much time he’ll miss, but hopefully, it won’t be all that long.” Court was scheduled to see a doctor Monday and will determine a timeline for his return, according to Churchill Downs.

In other post-Derby news

Derby runner-up Commanding Curve will be pointed to the June 7 Belmont Stakes, not the Preakness.

Arkansas Derby third-place finisher Bayern worked 5 furlongs in 58.20 on Monday at Churchill. Bayern, who won the Derby Trial at Churchill but was disqualified for interference in the stretch, galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:13.40 for trainer Bob Baffert, who said the Preakness is a possibility.

Other Preakness probables include Illinois Derby winner Dynamic Impact, who broke his maiden at Oaklawn in March, as well as Social Inclusion, the thirdplace finisher in the April 5 Wood Memorial. Kid Cruz, who won the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico, is also expected to race May 17.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Monday he definitely will not run Grade I winner Strong Mandate in the Preakness. Strong Mandate ran second in the Southwest, fourth in the Rebel and ninth in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs. Meanwhile, Derby runners Danza (third) and Samraat (sixth) haven’t been ruled out of competing for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

All-sources wagering on this year’s Kentucky Derby race card tied an all-time record while on track wagering showed a double-digit surge as the world’s most famous horse race proved a financial winner once again for the parent company of Churchill Downs racetrack. Oaks Day wagering the day before the Derby provided a strong two-day performance for the famed track in Louisville, Ky. Wagering from all-sources came in close to all-time records for both the full Kentucky Oaks race card and on the Oaks race itself, the company said. California Chrome won the Run for the Roses on Saturday. The race drew a crowd of 164,906, the second-largest in the Derby’s 140-year history. On-track wagering on the Derby race totaled $11.9 million, up 4 percent from a year ago, Churchill officials said. On-track wagering on the entire Derby Day race program reached $23.4 million, an 11 percent increase from 2013, they said. Wagering from all-sources on the Derby race card totaled $186.6 million, up 1 percent from a year ago and tying the record set in 2012, Churchill said. All-sources wagering on the Derby race declined 1 percent to $129.2 million. Churchill said it returned $147.8 million to bettors, amounting to 79 percent of total wagering on the Derby Day race card. Meanwhile, wagering from all-sources on the full Kentucky Oaks Day race card totaled $43.2 million, down 5.7 percent from last year. All-sources wagering on the Kentucky Oaks race fell 1.9 percent to $14.1 million from last year’s record $14.4 million, Churchill said.Oaks Day drew a crowd of 113,071, third largest in the Oaks’ 140-year history.

BASKETBALL Oregon State fires Robinson

Oregon State Athletic Director Bob De Carolis announced on March 28 that head coach Craig Robinson would return for a seventh season as basketball coach, even penning a strongly worded letter of support for President Barack Obama’s brother-in-law. The more De Carolis thought about it, the more he realized it was a mistake. Reversing his course from five weeks earlier, De Carolis fired Robinson on Monday, ending the tenure of a coach who brought prestige to the university but who failed to get the Beavers to the NCAA Tournament during six seasons in Corvallis. The brother of First Lady Michelle Obama, Robinson was hired during President Obama’s first presidential campaign in 2008 and gave the university some added attention that summer, when he introduced his sister at the Democratic National Convention. The Beavers were 16-16 this season, including 8-10 in the Pac-12, and lost to Radford at home in the lower-tier College Basketball Invitational. Robinson went 94-105 overall - 39-69 in conference -with Oregon State after spending two seasons as Brown’s head coach. The Beavers have not reached the NCAA Tournament since 1990. Oregon State will pay $4.2 million to Robinson over the course of a contract that runs through 2016.

The Big Ten Conference men’s basketball tournament is headed to the East Coast in three years. The league is going to make it official today that its 2017 tournament will be held at Washington’s Verizon Center, according to a person familiar with the plans. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made. The conference said Commissioner Jim Delaney would appear at a news conference at Verizon Center today but did not say why. That arena is the main home for Big East member Georgetown’s men’s basketball, as well as the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals. The 2017 BigTen Tournament will be the conference’s 20th for basketball. The inaugural tournament was held in 1998 in Chicago. It was in Indianapolis this year.

HOCKEY Carolina axes Muller

One week into his new job as Carolina Hurricanes general manager, Ron Francis fired coach Kirk Muller and most of his staff. Francis, a Hall of Fame player and former captain and assistant coach with the Hurricanes, took control of the team last week when Jim Rutherford stepped aside after a two-decade run as its GM. As part of his first big housecleaning move, assistants John MacLean and Dave Lewis also were fired and goaltending coach Greg Stefan was reassigned back to the team’s pro scouting department. Rod Brind’Amour, a third-year assistant who was the captain of Carolina’s only Stanley Cup-winning team in 2006, was retained. Muller was 80-80-27 in three seasons with the Hurricanes, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2009, the longest active drought in the Eastern Conference. Carolina finished 13th in the 16-team East this season. Muller, 48, made six All-Star teams during a 19-year career with six clubs, most notably New Jersey and Montreal.

TENNIS Li wins in Madrid

Second-ranked Li Na started her Madrid Open by overcoming a stubborn opponent just as third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska did to reach the second round on Monday. Li’s clay debut began with a 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory over Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens before Radwanska also advanced thanks to a 7-6 (3), 6-2 victory over Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard. Li, the Australian Open champion, survived two set points by Flipkens, and eventually took the tiebreaker to avoid another surprise first-round exit like last year. Li goes up against fellow Chinese player Zheng Jie next. Bouchard came out on the losing end of a tough match against third-ranked Radwanska. In men’s first-round play, American John Isner beat Russian qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (8), 6-4.

Sports, Pages 18 on 05/06/2014