LONDON: If there is one man who knows more about winning the Preakness Stakes than Bob Baffert it is D. Wayne Lukas.
Both men stand on six wins apiece, and at Pimlico Racecourse today they will seek to step out of the shadow of Robert Wyndham Walden, the 19th-century monolith whose record of seven stands tall.
Of the two Californian perma-tanned, silver-haired trainers, Baffert clearly has the best chance after Justify powered to an imperious victory in front of 170,000 people in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago at Churchill Downs.
Whichever way you slice that performance, it was a monster. Under evergreen 52-year-old jockey Mike Smith, Justify chased fractions of 22.24 seconds for the first two furlongs and 45.77s to the next two, before completing six in 1.11.01. That is sprinter pace.
Promises Fulfilled, the horse that set those blistering sectionals in the pouring rain and mud, could not live up to his name and faded away in to 15th. Flameaway, who matched strides with Justify during the early stages, burned brightly before running on fumes during the closing stages and finished 13th.
Nothing could stop the giant son of deceased sire Scat Daddy striding clear though, and with all of his experience the 82-year-old Lukas has no doubt that Justify is much the best horse in the $1.5million contest.
“Yes, they can beat him but it’s going to be very difficult,” he said.
“It’s his race to lose. Give him a chance to run — give him a clear shot at it and everything, I definitely think he’s going to be very difficult to beat. But you can’t mail it in. You got to go over there, and you got a different track, a different surface, a different trip, but if you had to — if you’re going to count on the fastest horse and the most powerful, you better count on him.
“You need tactical speed, it really lends itself to a good Preakness. Justify had that.”
The Preakness can apply pressure to the smallest chink in any armory and there is a long list of horses who failed two weeks after their Derby triumphs.
To win the Preakness a horse needs to be mentally and physically tough to deal with the short turnaround , and it seems Justify is blessed with those qualities.
This bruiser of a racehorse weighs in at 575kg, which is 50kg more than American Pharoah who won the Triple Crown three seasons ago and to whom Baffert favorably compares America’s new darling.
Lukas is impressed, too. “You have to have a fighter,” he continued. “The other thing is, it really helps if your horse has had an easier race in the Derby. Justify did. Justify had an easy race, a good trip, no trouble, so it didn’t take a lot out of him, in my opinion. If you have got one that takes a little bit of management, you got to baby him a little bit, you’re in the wrong spot on Preakness Day.”
If Justify has the frame and brain, he has an Achilles’ heel. He was passed by the vets and his connections only last Friday after he galloped for a mile and a half without any discomfort to the minor bruising on his left hind foot. If he loses, it will surely be down to his huge Derby run taking more out of him than those closest to him thought, and his troublesome heel.
As ever, there are dangers. Justify faces a greatly reduced number of rivals today. Lukas fields Sporting Chance, fourth in the Pat Day Mile, and Bravazo, who was sixth in the Derby. Lone Sailor, who was eighth in Louisville, and Arkansas Derby fifth, Tenfold, also are due in the starting gates.
Chad Brown, trainer of Derby runner-up Good Magic, lines up the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. Quip, Diamond King and Todd Pletcher’s Pony Up are the only others in the Preakness blend after connections of the classy Bolt D’Oro took a rain check.
The weather has come to Justify’s aid, too. Heavy rain hit Baltimore earlier this week and and images of horses ploughing through the slop have dominated social media in the build-up. There is expected to be a downpour on the big day, also.
All four of Baffert’s Derby winners who made the Preakness — subsequent Dubai World Cup winner Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002) and American Pharoah (2015) —added the second leg of the Triple Crown.
The 65-year-old is good at bottling up the stresses and strains he experiences, but, if anything, the Preakness offers a smidgen of light relief in comparison to the pressures of the opening leg of the Derby, and the weight of history in next month’s Belmont Stakes. Especially if you have a horse as good as Justify.
“Fortunately we’ve been through this a few times and so, we don’t do anything different,” he said. “We just go in there and have a good time. To me, the Preakness is a lot of fun. That’s my favorite of the (Triple Crown) races, because it’s stress-free. I don’t want to be jinxing it right now. We live for the moment and now the moment is this race.”
Justify the one to beat with Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas gunning for Preakness glory
Justify the one to beat with Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas gunning for Preakness glory
- Baffert and Lukas both looking to land their seventh Preakness Stakes victory.
- Justify won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago and starts as favorite at Pimlico Racecourse.
Rahul powers Delhi to big win over Lucknow in IPL
- Chasing a modest 160 for victory, Delhi rode on Rahul’s 42-ball knock and a second-wicket partnership with Abishek Porel, who hit 51, to achieve their target with 13 balls to spare
- Delhi, with six wins in eight matches, bounced back from their previous defeat to table-toppers Gujarat Titans and are second in the 10-team table
Chasing a modest 160 for victory, Delhi rode on Rahul’s 42-ball knock and a second-wicket partnership with Abishek Porel, who hit 51, to achieve their target with 13 balls to spare at Lucknow’s home ground.
Delhi, with six wins in eight matches, bounced back from their previous defeat to table-toppers Gujarat Titans and are second in the 10-team table.
Seam bowler Mukesh Kumar set up victory with his four wickets as he helped pull Lucknow back from 87-0 to 110-4 and then a below-par total of 159-6.
“Once we picked up two quick wickets, we got the momentum and all the bowlers did well to restrict them under 160,” Delhi skipper Axar Patel said.
In reply, Delhi lost Karun Nair for 15 bowled by Aiden Markram, a part-time off spinner, but Porel and Rahul combined to get the chase on track in their stand of 69.
Markram struck again to get the left-handed Porel out after his 36-ball knock, which was laced with five fours and one six.
Rahul stood firm and along with Axar, who made 34, put on an unbeaten stand of 56 to steer the team home with a winning six from Rahul.
Rahul hit his third fifty of the season to go past 5,000 runs in the IPL — making him the quickest player to achieve the feat in the T20 tournament.
Earlier, openers Markram (52) and Mitchell Marsh (45) combined the right dose of caution and aggression to steer Lucknow to 87 inside 10 overs.
South African batter Markram raised his fifty and alongside Australia’s Marsh forced Delhi to rotate their bowling options.
Sri Lanka pace bowler Dushmantha Chameera struck first to send back Markram caught out, and the wicket triggered a mini collapse.
Australia’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc got the big wicket of West indies left-hander Nicholas Pooran, bowled for nine.
Mukesh then got two wickets in one over, including Marsh, and Lucknow wobbled.
Lucknow subbed out Marsh and got Ayush Badoni as the impact player, and the 25-year-old repaid the decision by regularly finding the boundary.
Badoni made the most of a dropped catch by Tristan Stubbs on three to smash 36 off 21 deliveries.
Badoni hammered Mukesh for three successive boundaries in the 20th over but the bowler bowled him on the fourth ball.
Skipper Rishabh Pant dropped himself down to number seven but faced just two balls before being bowled by Mukesh on the final delivery of the innings.
“We knew we were 20 runs short,” said Pant. “In Lucknow, the toss plays a big part. Whoever is bowling first, they get a lot of help from the wicket. We just had to stay back, we just couldn’t get it away.”
Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant, who went to Lucknow for a record bid of $3.21 million in the November auction, has scored 106 runs in eight innings with a highest score of 63.
Chances of Alonso staying in Leverkusen ‘50-50’, says CEO
- Carro told reporters that “my gut feeling is that it’s 50-50” Alonso would stay
- “If a team he has played for comes, we would sit down and discuss it and we wouldn’t stand in his way”
MADRID: Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said Monday the club had a 50-50 chance of holding onto manager Xabi Alonso amid rumored links between the coach and Real Madrid.
Carro also revealed the club had a “gentlemen’s agreement” with Alonso, allowing him to leave to coach one of the clubs he played for as a player for a fee.
Alonso, who played for Real and last year took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double, has been linked with the top job at the Bernabeu, with current coach Carlo Ancelotti rumored to be headed for the exit.
Speaking ahead of the Laureus Sports Awards, where the club is nominated for breakthrough of the year after their debut Bundesliga win last season, Carro told reporters that “my gut feeling is that it’s 50-50” Alonso would stay.
“Xabi has no exit clause, but we have a gentleman’s agreement. If a team he has played for comes, we would sit down and discuss it and we wouldn’t stand in his way,” he said.
Carro said the club “needs clarity” and “the decision needs to be in the next three or four weeks. We cannot wait until the end of the season.”
“We are not naive, the position of the coach is very important for a club and it is true that we are preparing for next season with him.
“We have worked with him every day; he is fully committed to this preparation.”
After winning the title last season, Leverkusen have fallen back slightly and sit eight points behind league leaders Bayern Munich with four games remaining.
Leverkusen were eliminated from the Champions League by Bayern and were knocked out in the semifinals of the German Cup by third-division Arminia Bielefeld
Despite the drop off, the club is still on track for its second best points total.
Carro also said he believed star midfielder Florian Wirtz, 21, “has a contract until 2027 and I believe he will play for us next year.”
Damac seek to end winless run against Al-Nassr in Saudi Pro League clash
- The last time Damac defeated Al-Nassr was in Matchweek 25 of the 2021 season
RIYADH: Damac will be aiming to end a 1,474-day winless streak against Al-Nassr when the two sides meet on Tuesday in Round 29 of the Saudi Pro League.
The last time Damac defeated Al-Nassr was in Matchweek 25 of the 2021 season, securing a 3-2 victory.
Since then, Al-Nassr have dominated the fixture, with the overall head-to-head record showing eight wins for Al-Nassr, one for Damac, and two draws across 11 meetings.
Al-Nassr have scored 23 goals in those encounters, while Damac have managed nine.
Heading into Tuesday’s match, Al-Nassr sit third in the league standings with 57 points, recording 17 wins, six draws, and five losses this season. Damac are in 11th place with 31 points from eight wins, seven draws, and 13 defeats.
Later in the evening, Al-Ahli will take on Al-Wehda at King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Makkah.
Both teams head into the contest on the back of strong performances. Al-Ahli thrashed Al-Fayha 5-0 in their last outing, while Al-Wehda claimed a valuable three points away at Al-Taawoun.
In their previous 29 league meetings, Al-Ahli have won 15 matches compared to just three victories for Al-Wehda, with 11 draws between them. Al-Ahli have scored 41 goals in those games, while Al-Wehda have netted 19.
Syrian striker Omar Al-Somah, a former Al-Ahli player, is the all-time top scorer in this fixture with 10 goals. The biggest margin between the sides came during the 2020–2021 season, when Al-Ahli secured a 4-2 win. Their most recent meeting was in Round 12 earlier this season, with Al-Ahli edging a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Algerian star Riyad Mahrez.
Al-Ahli currently occupy fourth place with 55 points, while Al-Wehda are battling relegation in 15th place with 26 points.
Norwich sack Thorup and name Wilshere as interim coach
- Norwich lost 3-1 at Millwall on Monday
- “Jack Wilshere ... will take charge of the first team on an interim basis ” Norwich said
LONDON: Norwich City have sacked Danish manager Johannes Hoff Thorup following a poor run of results and appointed his assistant and former England midfielder Jack Wilshere as interim coach until the end of the season, the Championship club said on Tuesday.
Norwich lost 3-1 at Millwall on Monday and have slipped to 14th place in the second-tier table with 53 points.
Sporting Director Ben Knapper said: “Whilst we made this appointment with a long-term focus and in line with our wider club strategy and direction, unfortunately recent results and performances have deemed it necessary for us make a change.
“Jack Wilshere ... will take charge of the first team on an interim basis for our two remaining Championship fixtures” Norwich added on their website.
The 33-year-old former Arsenal player Wilshere has been assistant coach at Norwich since October 2024.
‘We never gave up’: Dubai Basketball edge out KK Split in last-minute win
- The 87-82 victory over the Croatian team secured their 11th consecutive victory to take their record to 23-5
DUBAI: Dubai Basketball continues their dream debut season with a last-minute comeback, securing a 87-82 victory over Croatian side Split on Sunday night at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
This secured their 11th consecutive victory, taking their win-loss record to an impressive 23-5. With just one home game remaining before the playoffs, the team has cemented its place as one of the standout teams of the season.
Dubai Basketball delivered a dominant first half, outscoring Split with quick offensive blows and solid defense. Dubai Basketball’s “Latvian Laser” Davis Bertans led the scoring with 25 points, earning the title of the night’s hero after a clinical shooting display.
“Our first half was very, very good,” said head coach, Jurica Golemac, after the match. “We played with intent, we executed well, and we were in control. But then, we thought it was finished, and Split didn’t give up. We gave them the chance and the hope that they could win this game.”
With momentum shifting, Dubai’s rhythm appeared to falter toward the final minutes of the game. “We started to not move the ball,” Golemac said. “We missed a couple of open shots. We played basket to basket, and that’s never good. They got momentum, and they were scoring tough shots — even with good defense.”
Split seized the opportunity with a burst of energy in the second half, clawing back from a 12-point deficit and even taking a narrow lead at one point in the final quarter. Their head coach shared his half-time message, telling his players to “to take control of our lives — (the game) is in our own hands.”
As the game tightened, Golemac made a decisive move, bringing on fan favorite Nemanja Dangubic to help the team from deep in the court. The city’s commanding forward responded immediately.
“In the end, I have to give credit to the players,” Golemac said. “We managed. We never gave up. With defense, we won the game. And with the great help of our fans, they never gave up on us, and they gave us the extra energy when we needed it.”
Reflecting on the team’s recent run of success, Golemac said: “This is the 11th game in a row that we are winning. The last couple of weeks we had easier victories, and I think everyone expected that tonight would be the same — especially after the way the game started. But as I always say, we play for 40 minutes. Not 10, not 12, not even 38. We play for 40.
“It’s hard to stay at a high-level week after week,” he said. “Now we need to analyze what went wrong, look at what we can improve, and get back to work in practice to prepare for the next game.”
