Essential Quality the early favorite in small Belmont field
Essential Quality was set Tuesday as a 2-1 favorite for the Belmont Stakes, which will be run Saturday without a horse from trainer Bob Baffert pending an investigation into Medina Spirit’s failed drug test after winning the Kentucky Derby.
Preakness winner Rombauer and Essential Quality headline a field of eight horses for the third jewel of the Triple Crown. Baffert has no horses running at Belmont Park because the New York Racing Association suspended him in light of Medina Spirit’s positive drug test for a corticosteroid at the Derby.
Essential Quality, who drew the No. 2 post position, went off as the Derby favorite and finished fourth. Brad Cox’s other Derby horse, Mandaloun, would be named the winner of that race if Medina Spirit is disqualified, but Cox opted to run only Essential Quality in the Belmont.
Rombauer is the 3-1 second choice on the morning line. Jockey Flavien Prat left Rombauer despite winning the Preakness to honor a commitment to ride Hot Rod Charlie, who is the 7-2 third choice from the No. 4 position.
Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride Rombauer, who drew the third post position just outside Essential Quality and No. 1 Bourbonic, who is back after skipping the Preakness.
Bourbonic is 15-1, No. 5 France Go de Ina is 30-1, No. 6 Known Agenda is 6-1, No. 7 Rock Your World is 9-2 and No. 8 Overtook 20-1.
The 1 1/2-mile distance is the unknown. The Belmont is back to its traditional “test of the champion” distance on the giant Belmont Park oval known as “Big Sandy” after the race was shortened in 2020 because it led off the Triple Crown.
NFL TEAMS GET SALARY CAP FLEXIBILITY >>
Now that the calendar has turned to June, NFL teams can trade or release players and spread the salary cap hit over two years instead of one. That doesn’t mean Aaron Rodgers is going anywhere but the Packers couldn’t afford to deal him from a financial standpoint until now. Other star players such as Julio Jones and Zach Ertz are more likely to be moved.
With the salary cap expected to increase up to $208.2 million in 2022, teams have more flexibility to make blockbuster moves now that this important date has arrived.
Ertz, the three-time Pro Bowl tight end from Monte Vista High and Stanford, said goodbye to Philadelphia in a tear-filled news conference after the season, but Eagles general manager Howie Roseman hasn’t found an acceptable trade offer.
The 30-year-old Ertz is coming off his worst season in which he caught just 36 passes for 335 yards and one TD in 11 games. He’s scheduled to earn $8.5 million this season.
Trading or releasing Ertz would clear $8.5 million in cap space for the Eagles this year. He’d count $4.2 million in dead money in 2021 and $3.6 million in 2022.
College athletics IN PERSON RECRUITING OPENS AGAIN >>
The NCAA has lifted the recruiting dead period that has been in place since March 13, 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The NCAA returned to its usual recruiting calendar, allowing prospects to meet coaches in person and coaches to conduct live evaluations of recruits.
That means programs across the country are going to make up for lost time.
College coaches have said they would like to continue offering Zoom tours of campuses to prospects even in a post-pandemic world. As it became apparent the dead period would last longer than just a few months, football staffs got creative and made these tours increasingly sophisticated.
College football FLORIDA GIVES DAN MULLEN RAISE, THREE-YEAR EXTENSION >>
The University of Florida has given football coach Dan Mullen a three-year contract extension worth an additional $1.5 million annually through the 2026 season.
Mullen and Florida agreed to the extension last month. The Gators released details of Mullen’s contract in response to a public records request.
Mullen, 49, who made $6.07 million last year, will earn $7.6 million in 2021. That salary ranks third in the SEC behind Alabama’s Nick Saban ($9.1 million) and LSU’s Ed Orgeron ($8.68 million), according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher, who makes $7.5 million per season, ranks fourth in the SEC.
Football EDMONTON FRANCHISE RENAMED ‘ELKS’ >>
The Canadian Football League’s Edmonton franchise will now be known as the Elks, the club announced, after discarding their longtime name the Eskimos that had been criticized as derogatory towards indigenous people.
One of the CFL’s most successful franchises, Edmonton had come under fire on numerous occasions for using a name that some critics felt showed a lack of respect for indigenous people in the northern regions of Canada and the United States.
The Eskimos name was retired in 2020 and the club known as the Edmonton Football Team while it considered a new identity.
Soccer ANCELOTTI RETURNS TO REAL FOR SECOND SPELL AS COACH >>
Carlo Ancelotti has returned to Real Madrid for a second spell as coach, re-joining the club from Everton, both teams announced on Tuesday.
The Italian, who was previously in charge of Real between 2013 and 2015, has agreed a three-year deal at the Bernabeu. He replaces Zinedine Zidane, who left Real last month.