Cal-Huskies canceled

The season opener scheduled for Saturday between and

was canceled following a request from the Golden Bears due to a positive coronavirus test for one of their players.

The cancellation was a big blow for the Pac-12 as the conference prepares to kick off a seven-game football slate after league programs had watched other teams around the country playing for weeks.

California doesn’t have the minimum number of scholarship players available for the game as a result of the positive test and the need for other players to isolate under contact tracing protocols, the Pac-12 said in a statement Thursday.

Pac-12 guidelines require at least 53 scholarship players to be available for a game to be played. The conference said the game would be declared a no-contest.

“It is very disappointing that we will not be opening our 2020 season this Saturday night against Washington,” Cal coach Justin

said. “My heart goes out first and foremost to all of our players who have been through so much since the pandemic began

ARMY-AIR FORCE OFF

Air

Air Force Academy and the surrounding community in Colorado. The schools are working to reschedule the game.

BREEDERS SET TO GO

This year’s Triple Crown slate unfolded over 3.5 months instead of six weeks and shuffled the marquee Kentucky Derby from its traditional first Saturday in May to Labor Day weekend — as the middle jewel.

Numerous tracks canceled meets and some returned with abbreviated schedules. Many cards went off without the noise of spectators, demonstrating the coronavirus pandemic’s affect on horse racing that continues to this day.

While it has made for a strange year and compacted path to this weekend’s $31 million Breeders’ Cup world championships at Keeneland, the 14 races running today and Saturday at the picturesque track provides some normalcy after a season of upheaval.

“It’s certainly getting back to normal in a feel way,” trainer said this week. “It’ll be exciting to get fans back in. I know that a lot of them miss it, but I also know that a lot of them are watching real close. The sport’s done a good job staying out there in the limelight to some extent.”

High-quality competition helps and once again could determine the Eclipse Award favorites as the year’s best in several divisions.

Saturday’s marquee $6 million Classic highlights the depth with a rematch between Belmont Stakes champ Tiz the Law and Derby winner Authentic, the Bob Baf

trained pupil who went wire to wire and beat the race favorite by 1 lengths at Churchill Downs.

And yet, both 3-year-olds are listed as betting choices below veterans and Baffert stablemates Improbable (5-2) and Maximum Security (7-2), who crossed the finish line first in last year’s Derby before becoming the first horse in 145 years to be disqualified for interference.