Trainer Chad Brown hopeful Good Magic earns him Derby win
LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Chad Brown acknowledges he has lacked either the right horse or the right luck to win the Kentucky Derby. Until now. Brown almost gushes when talking about Good Magic, which might position him to finally break through in Saturday’s 144th Run For The Roses at Churchill Downs. If the chestnut colt’s name alone doesn’t suggest a positive vibe, then consider his resume’ that includes last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Eclipse Award as the top 2-year-old male.
Good Magic is hitting stride at the right time entering horse racing’s marquee event, standing second in Derby points with 134 after claiming the Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 7. Five career starts have yielded two wins, two seconds and a third for Good Magic, allowing Brown to envision winning horse racing’s crown jewel after falling short four previous times.
Brown would like to remove himself from conversations about which upand-coming trainer is due to break through.
“We have to think that with all the opportunities that keep coming our way, we have a good shot of doing this,” said Brown, 39. “Whether that happens or not remains to be seen.
“I’ll say this: for me this is our best chance. Seems that way, anyway.”
Brown earned his first Triple Crown series vic-
BOSTON — Terry Rozier scored 29 points and firstyear Celtics forward Jayson Tatum scored 28 to outplay redshirt rookie Ben Simmons and lead the Boston Celtics to a 117-101 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night.
With much of the attention focused on Philadelphia young guns Simmons and Joel Embiid, Boston’s youth movement of Tatum and Rozier led the way. Rozier, in his third year, added eight rebounds and six assists, and Al Horford had 26 points and seven rebounds for Boston.
Embiid scored 31 points with 13 rebounds for Philadelphia. Simmons, the likely rookie of the year, scored 18 with seven boards and six assists.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Boston.
The Celtics are hoping to have guard Jaylen Brown back from a hamstring injury he sustained in the firstround series against Milwaukee. He had been “very doubtful” for the secondround opener and was ruled out about a half hour before the tipoff, adding to injury woes that had already cost Boston Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving.
Playing point guard in place of Irving, Rozier was a star for Boston in Game 7 against Milwaukee and he came out hot again against the Sixers. He had 10 points and six assists in the first quarter and was 7 for 9 from 3-point range overall, overshadowing the lottery picks accumulated by Philadelphia during The Process.
The first overall pick in the 2016 draft who sat out all of last year with an injury, Simmons was heckled by the Boston crowd with chants of “Not a Rookie!” In the fourth quarter, as Tatum stepped to the free throw line to protect a double-digit lead, the chant turned to “He’s a Rookie!”
Tatum was Boston’s first pick last year — third overall — after swapping the No. 1 pick to the Sixers and grabbing a 2018 first-rounder as well. Philadelphia picked Markelle Fultz; he did not play on Monday night.
It was 33-all with just over