Epicenter set as favorite for the Preakness Stakes
Kentucky Derby runnerup Epicenter was set Monday as the 6-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness Stakes.
Rich Strike, the surprise Derby winner at 80-1, is not in the field of nine for Saturday's $1.65 million race. Rich Strike's owner felt the two-week turnaround did not give the colt enough rest and plans to enter him in the Belmont.
Kicking off the Preakness draw at a Baltimorearea restaurant, emcee Britney Eurton talked about Rich Strike pulling off “one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Though we might not have the Kentucky Derby winner, there is no shortage of talented runners,” she said.
Rich Strike's absence clouds the second jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown and makes this the second Preakness in four years without the Derby winner.
This time, Steve Asmussen-trained Epicenter, who drew the No. 8 post, and fourth-place finisher Simplification, are the only horses back for the Preakness from the Derby, which Rich Strike won with a furious charge down the stretch.
Simplification is 6-1 and drew the rail spot with the No. 1 post position and jockey John Velazquez set to ride.
“At first I thought, not good, but Johnny V is so smart,” trainer Antonio Sano said. “He'll make the decision if he wants to take the option outside.”
Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath is the third betting choice on the morning line at 9-2 after Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas opted to enter the filly in the Preakness. She drew post position No. 4.
Early Voting is the 7-2 second choice after skipping the Derby. Trainer Chad Brown targeted the Preakness for Early Voting, who drew the No. 5 post position.
While Taiba and Messier aren't in the Preakness, there is a Bob Baffert presence in Armagnac, a late entry whom the two-time Triple Crown winning trainer transferred to Tim Yakteen. Baffert is serving a suspension in Kentucky for medication violations and would not have been allowed to saddle any horses in the Preakness. No. 7 Armagnac is 12-1.
Added to the field at the extra cost of $150,000, No. 2 Creative Minister is 101. No. 9 Skippylongstocking is 20-1, Doug O'Neilltrained No. 6 Happy Jack is 30-1 and longshot No. 3 Fenwick is 50-1.
Epicenter, who finished second at the Kentucky Derby, was named the 6-5morning line favorite for Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Nicklaus turned down Saudi-backed tour
Golfing great Jack Nicklaus turned down an offer worth more than $100 million to be the face of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series that is hoping to challenge the PGA Tour.
Nicklaus, who counts a record 18 major titles among his 73 PGA Tour wins, said in an article on the Fire Pit Collective website that organizers of the series asked him to spearhead the bigmoney circuit.
“I was offered something in excess of $100 million by the Saudis, to do the job probably similar to the one that Greg (Norman) is doing,” Nicklaus said in the report. “I turned it down. Once verbally, once in writing. I said, `Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.”
The LIV Golf Invitational Series, which will feature an individual and team concept, is scheduled to hold its inaugural event season June 9-11 at Centurion Club outside London with a total prize purse for the eightevent season of $255 million.
U.S. falls to Finland at world championships
Sakari Manninen scored and added two assists as Finland beat the United States 4-1, keeping a perfect record at the IIHF World Championships.
After Mikael Granlund gave Finland a 1-0 lead on a power play in the opening period, Austin Watson was given a major penalty early in the middle period for a high hit on Teemu Hartikainen.
Valtteri Filppula and Manninen used the following five-minute power play to increase the lead to 3-0 and Mikko Lehtonen added
the fourth later in the frame.
Alex Galchenyuk scored the consolation goal for the U.S. in the third period.
Finland leads Group B iwith nine points from three games. The U.S. is third with five points.
Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice to spark defending champion Canada to 5-1 over Slovakia for a third straight victory.
Canada leads Group A i with nine points from three games.
In another Group A game, Germany defeated France 3-2 for a second win, while Latvia beat Norway 3-2 to record its first win in Group B.
American Harkes named Dundee POY
American midfielder Ian Harkes was selected as Dundee United's player of the year.
The 27-year-old had three goals in 28 Scottish Premier League matches in his fourth season with the club. Dundee United finished fourth, earning a spot in the Europa Conference League's third qualifying round.
Harkes was the winner of the 2017 Hermann Trophy as U.S. college player of the year at Wake Forest.
ATP spares pair of British tournaments
The Queen's and Eastbourne tournaments were spared punishment from the ATP for banning Russian and Belarussian players.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine prompted the British Lawn Tennis Association and the All England Club — the host of Wimbledon — in April to bar players from Russia and its war ally Belarus from the coming
British grass-court season.
The ATP and WTA objected at the time.
On Monday, the ATP said “Queen's and Eastbourne will proceed as normal, offering full ATP ranking points.”
The governing body of the men's tour added it consulted with its player and tournament councils. The likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were against the ban, while Sergiy Stakhovsky, the retired Ukraine Davis Cup player who joined the military when the war started, supported it.
“LTA's decision to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes is, however, contrary to ATP rules and undermines the ability for players of any nationality to enter tournaments based on merit, and without discrimination — a fundamental principle of the ATP Tour,” it said in a statement.
The LTA said it welcomed the ATP decision.
• Sixth-seeded Sloane Stephens was upset in the first round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg by the 306th-ranked player in the world. Nefisa Berberovic lost the first set but rallied to defeat Stephens 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. Stephens is ranked No. 53 in the world.
Top-seeded Karolina Pliskova, No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber and fourth-seeded Elise Mertens all won in straight sets to advance to the Round of 16.
Fifth-seeded Shuai Zhang lost, 6-2, 6-3 to Maryna Zanevska.
• Top-seeded Garbine Muguruza and third-seeded Nuria Parrizas won firstround matches at the Morocco Open.
• No. 22-ranked Gael Monfils needs surgery for a right foot injury and will miss the upcoming French Open, which starts Sunday in Paris.