Promises Fulfilled a surprise winner in Fountain of Youth
HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. » Promises Fulfulled was a surprise wire-to-wire winner Saturday in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, one of the big early preps on the road to the Kentucky Derby.
Starting from the outside post, Promises Fulfilled went straight to the lead and kept holding off challengers as he made his way around 1 1/16 miles of the dirt at Gulfstream Park. It was the third win in four starts for the Dale Romans trainee, who went off at 18-1 and paid $38.40 after winning in 1 minute, 44.17 seconds under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr.
Strike Power was second, after several attempts to pass Promises Fulfilled down the stretch came up empty.
“The trainer told me to go to the lead and hold on,” said Ortiz, who rode five winners at Gulfstream on the day. “When I asked my horse, he just took off again. He was impressive today. He ran the whole race. He broke great and was ready. The trainer was right.”
Good Magic — the overwhelming favorite — was third. Good Magic won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last year, won the Eclipse Award as the top 2-year-old, was ridden by Eclipse Award jockey Jose Ortiz and is trained by two-time reigning Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown. But even connections like that wasn’t enough to get Good Magic to the lead.
Hialeah Park owner and breeder John Brunetti dies
HIALEAH, FLA. » John Brunetti, a horse breeder and the owner of historic Hialeah Park since 1977, has died at 87.
Hialeah says on its website that he died at his home Friday in Boca Raton.
As Hialeah’s owner, Brunetti feuded with nearby Gulfstream Park and Calder Race Course for the best racing dates. When the state of Florida stopped assigning dates in 1989, Hialeah found itself unable to compete with the other tracks, and its prominence quickly faded.
Coleman wins 60m in world indoors record time
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND » When you get a phone call from former sprint king Maurice Greene straight after setting another record, you know you’ve done something special.
Christian Coleman added the championship record to his growing list of achievements in winning the 60 meters at the world athletics indoors.
Coleman smashed Greene’s 20-yearold world record last month by clocking 6.34 seconds and the American came within 0.03 seconds of that at Arena Birmingham.
Other world indoors records tumbled on Saturday: American Kendra Harrison set a new mark in the 60-meter hurdles as did compatriot Sandi Morris in the pole vault, and New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh in the shot put.
Neymar undergoes surgery
SAO PAULO » Neymar has successfully undergone surgery on his injured right foot, the Brazilian soccer confederation said Saturday.
Confederation spokesman Vinicius Rodrigues said the surgery took place Saturday at the Mater Dei Hospital in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte.
FIFA panel adds video review to soccer laws ahead of WCup
ZURICH » FIFA’s rule-making panel approved adding video review to the laws of soccer on Saturday, clearing the way for its use at the World Cup in June.
The panel, known as IFAB, voted unanimously to begin updating the game’s written rules to include video assistant referees (VAR) and give competition organizers the choice to adopt it.
The decision “represents a new era for football with video assistance for referees helping to increase integrity and fairness in the game,” the panel said in a statement.
Americans Hurd, Moldauer capture gold at American Cup
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. » Americans Morgan Hurd and Yul Moldauer won all-around gold medals Saturday at the America Cup, the first major international gymnastics competition of 2018.
Hurd is a 16-year-old high school junior from Middletown, Delaware. She won her second major international all-around title with a consistent performance, outscoring runner-up Mai Murakami of Japan 56.599-55.633.
The 21-year-old Moldauer is the reigning national champion from Norman, Oklahoma.
He completed the U.S. sweep, winning the men’s all-around while placing in the top three in all six events to repeat his 2017 American Cup championship.