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Norway beat Australia on pens, reach last eight

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 22 June 2019 16:33

Norway beat Australia 4-1 on penalties to reach the Women's World Cup quarterfinals for the first time since 2007 following a highly entertaining 1-1 draw after extra time on Saturday.

Norway's Isabell Herlovsen opened the scoring shortly after the half hour, but Elise Kellond-Knight's direct corner seven minutes from time sent the game into extra time -- during which Australia's Alanna Kennedy was sent off.

- FIFA Women's World Cup: All you need to know

- Full Women's World Cup fixtures schedule

Australia missed their first two spot-kicks in the shootout and Ingrid Syrstad Engen buried the winning penalty to send Norway through.

They will face either England or Cameroon for a place in the last four.

Australia set a high tempo from the start and went close in the opening minute when Sam Kerr collected a through ball from Caitlin Foord and fired just wide.

But it was Norway who found the back of the net first as Karina Saevik played Herlovsen in and the striker finished clinically in the 31st minute.

There had to be VAR action and it happened five minutes from the interval when a ball bounced off Maria Thorisdottir's shoulder and referee Riem Hussein awarded Australia a penalty -- a decision that was overturned after a three-minute VAR review.

For all their slick passing, the Matildas proved quite toothless in the area, having managed only a single shot on target by the hour mark.

But Kellond-Knight sent a corner straight into the far corner of the net with seven minutes left, only her second goal in 110 appearances for her country, to send the game to extra time.

Caroline Graham Hansen's fierce shot was tipped over the bar by Australia keeper Lydia Williams in the 99th minute as both teams attacked relentlessly. Kennedy was shown a straight red card for bringing down Lisa-Marie Utland as she rushed toward goal.

Vilde Boe Risa attempted a long-range lob that landed on the crossbar as Australia struggled physically but hung on for dear life to force the shootout

Kerr and Emily Gielnik missed the first two attempts and Norway kept cool heads to book their place in the last eight.

Brazil finally convince, thrash Peru to top group

Published in Soccer
Saturday, 22 June 2019 14:58

Copa America hosts Brazil finished top of their group with an impressive performance in a 5-0 victory over Peru in Sao Paulo on Saturday.

Looking like their imperious old selves, the host nation went ahead after 12 minutes when Casemiro was on hand to nod home after a goalmouth scramble and Roberto Firmino made it two seven minutes later after keeper Pedro Gallese made a hash of his kick.

- Copa America: All you need to know

- Full Copa America fixtures schedule

Firmino charged down the kick and the ball rebounded off the post but Firmino picked up the rebound and rounded the keeper to roll the ball into the empty goal.

Man of the Match Everton added a nice third after 32 minutes when he cut in from the left and unleashed a low shot that sneaked inside Gallese's near post and Dani Alves made it 4-0 eight minutes into the second half when he finished off a neat team move and lashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Substitute Willian made it five with a vicious strike from outside the box in the final minute, before Gallese made up for his earlier error by saving a spot-kick from Gabriel Jesus in stoppage time.

The result, combined with Venezuela's 3-1 win over Bolivia, means the hosts top Group A and will play one of the two third-placed teams at the Gremio arena on Thursday.

After struggling in the first half of their previous two games, and failing to score in both, the two early goals settled Brazil and gave them more space to play, said coach Tite.

"When you score an early goal the team has play differently and open up, that is real," he said.

The only down side for Brazil was a second yellow card in three games for Casemiro, which means the combative Real Madrid midfielder will miss Thursday's quarter-final.

Second-placed Venezuela will face the second team in Group B on Friday at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, while Peru must wait to see if their four points are enough to earn them a place as one of the two best third-placed sides.

"It's not up to us now, that's the uncomfortable situation," Peru coach Ricardo Gareca said.

"They were better than us from start to finish. Brazil had lots of chances in their other games and never took them. Today they took them."

Revenge no factor for U.S. vs. Trinidad & Tobago

Published in Soccer
Friday, 21 June 2019 14:07

BEREA, Ohio -- "Revenge is for suckers. I've been griftin' for 30 years, I never got any."

Paul Newman's character Henry Gondorff said it in the movie "The Sting," and the same sentiment holds true for the U.S. men's national team ahead of its Gold Cup group stage game against Trinidad & Tobago on Saturday night.

It was the Soca Warriors who defeated the U.S. 2-1 on that infamous night in Couva, Trinidad back in 2017, a result that knocked the Americans out of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. The repercussions weren't immediate, but they eventually did arrive. Bruce Arena stepped down as manager. Sunil Gulati ultimately decided not to run for reelection as president of the U.S. Soccer Federation. For long-serving players like goalkeeper Tim Howard and forward Clint Dempsey, that was their last appearance in a U.S. uniform.

- When is the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
- Full Gold Cup fixtures schedule
- Carlisle: Tyler Boyd the hero but U.S. have work to do
- U.S. ratings vs. Guyana: Boyd 8/10, Arriola 7/10

Twenty months on, Saturday's match at First Energy Stadium will be the first encounter between the two sides since that qualifier, and while it's tempting to think that revenge will be a motivating factor for the U.S., that isn't the first emotion the players are feeling.

"For us as a federation, I think there's that [revenge] angle, but for us as players, it's about winning the game, period," midfielder Wil Trapp said.

First off, the U.S. roster has largely been turned over. Just six of the players who suited up that night in Trinidad are on the U.S. squad contesting the Gold Cup. Twelve of the players are taking part in their first competitive tournament with the U.S., giving them plenty to prove to manager Gregg Berhalter. The impulse is to find motivation in the present as opposed to the past.

Even for those holdovers, the impulse is to focus on the here and now. Given the pain of that night, such an approach isn't surprising. There's also the reality that nothing will make up for the pain of missing out on the 2018 World Cup, certainly not a mere group stage game at a Gold Cup that the U.S. is hosting.

"I wouldn't say there is too much of what has happened before in our minds," said midfielder Paul Arriola, one of the players who was on the field for the U.S. on that fateful night. "I think internally and for us as a group, the more important thing is we're playing [them] here in 2019 in the second game of the Gold Cup. A win for us could put us through [into the knockout rounds]. I wouldn't say there's too much regarding the revenge aspect."

Thoughts of avenging a bitter defeat can be a powerful motivator. It can force self-reflection in terms of where a team needs to improve. During the game itself it can provide a boost of energy, and a sense of satisfaction afterwards if the desired result is achieved. But it's also one that focuses on the ultimate outcome and can distract a player from executing on the building blocks needed to achieve it. While every player is different, it's not a trick Arriola is using heading into the match.

"From personal experience, I don't think there's too much of revenge that plays into my thought process," he said. "I think it's more about focusing on the next game and what's coming up. As professionals, you have to have a lot of short-term memory. You can never get too high, you can never get too low based on results or performances.

"You've got to keep going and do the best that you can and bring the best version of yourself to the next game."

To that end, there is plenty for the U.S. to work on after its 4-0 win over Guyana. The attack can be much more cohesive in the final third, and the quality of the crossing needs to improve, even as the likes of Arriola and Tyler Boyd got on the scoresheet. Defensively, there were moments where the U.S. midfield gambled, creating transition moments that were more dangerous than they should have been. While Guyana lacked the overall quality to exploit such opportunities, T&T has more ability to take advantage with the likes of Seattle Sounders midfielder Joevin Jones, Beitar Jerusalem midfielder Levi Garcia and Minnesota United attacker Kevin Molino.

For Arriola, a more refined defensive approach can lead to more chances in attack.

"I think if I'm being critical of our performance last game, I think defensively we can be more sound as far as what we actually wanted to accomplish," he said. "Obviously the 'no goals conceded' is a big thing for us, but at the same time, we have figure out ways to try and build pressure.

"I think in the beginning of the game against Guyana, we kind of got stuck and weren't able to find ways to build pressure. I think that's important."

Given the Soca Warriors' ability on the counterattack, that pressure will have to be managed carefully regardless of what T&T are planning. Manager Dennis Lawrence tried to play more of a possession game in his side's lackluster 2-0 defeat to Panama, but Molino was largely invisible, with just 14 touches in the attacking third according to ESPN Stats & Information.

"[Trinidad & Tobago] have quality players that can beat you off the dribble, they can run in behind, so it's understanding that if we win the ball higher, we can limit that space," said Trapp. "Then it's about your angles, your communication, and getting set up quickly."

Twenty months after Couva, the U.S. has a long way to go towards rehabilitating its reputation. A win against the team that sent them into the tailspin would make for a welcome step forward.

Bumrah's magic and Shami's hat-trick save India

Published in Cricket
Saturday, 22 June 2019 12:59

India 224 for 8 (Kohli 67, Jadhav 52, Nabi 2-33) beat Afghanistan 213 (Nabi 52, Shami 4-40) by 11 runs
As it happened

Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi sent India on a tailspin and threatened a Sri Lanka-style comeback as a second successive upset loomed large in the World Cup. Afghanistan's spinners, including part-timer Rahmat Shah, claimed combined figures of 34-0-119-5, but Rahmat and Hashmatullah Shahidi were resolutely playing out India's wristspinners in a chase of 225. But then, Jasprit Bumrah returned and bounced out both batsmen on a slower-than-usual Hampshire Bowl track to crack the game open.

Watch on Hotstar (India only): Full match highlights

Afghanistan were 106 for 4 by this point and the asking rate shot past six. Nabi followed his boundary-less spell of 9-0-33-2 with a fearless assault - 52 off 55 balls - but Bumrah and Mohammed Shami ensured India avoided a potential banana peel and remained unbeaten in the tournament. It was Shami who secured the victory for India with a hat-trick, which began with the prized scalp of Nabi and ended with a whirring yorker that demolished the stumps of No.11 Mujeeb.

The game was still dangling on a razor's edge, when Nabi smeared a hard-to-hit low full-toss off Shami for four straight of long-on to leave Afghanistan needing 12 off the last five balls with three wickets in hand. Nabi slugged the next ball away to deep midwicket and refused the single to wicketkeeper Ikram AliKhil, who in stark contrast, struggled to get the ball away and ended on an unbeaten 7 off 10 balls.

Nabi then hit an attempted yorker straight to long-on and two deadly yorkers breached through the defences of Aftab Alam and Mujeeb. Shami wouldn't have played this game had Bhuvneshwar Kumar been fit. His inclusion had made India's tail longer than usual, but he delivered at the crunch to become only the second Indian - after Chetan Sharma - and 10th player to bag a World Cup hat-trick.

Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal played their parts as well, putting the chase away from the reach of Afghanistan, despite late cameos from Najibullah Zadran (21) and Rashid Khan (14). Pandya was swatted away for back-to-back fours by Gulbadin Naib in his second over, but he responded brilliant in his next over by hitting a harder length and having the Afghanistan captain top-edge a hook to deep midwicket.

Watch on Hotstar (India only): Shami's hat-trick

Pandya exploited the two-paced pitch with offcutters that often kicked up at the batsman; one such variation had Najibullah spoon a catch to midwicket in the 42nd over. Chahal, who had bowled Asghar Afghan earlier, then struck in the 46th over to have Rashid stumped. At this point, Afghanistan required 35 off 26 balls, but Bumrah and Shami denied them.

In the morning, though, it was the Afghanistan spinners who were denying India's batsmen. Before Saturday, Mujeeb had all of one wicket in eight matches - a dry spell that stretched back to the IPL - but he found his length and form right away on this deck. He bowled Rohit Sharma with a beauty that drifted in and then broke away like a legbreak to kiss the top of off stump. KL Rahul, the other opener, struggled to come to grips with the dual pace of the pitch, too, and when he tried to manufacture something, he spliced a reverse-sweep off Nabi to short third man.

Virat Kohli, though, had no such troubles and zoomed to his third successive half-century off 48 balls. He would finish with 67 off 63 balls at a strike-rate of 106.34; no other batsman struck at over 100 in the match. He cracked Aftab Alam through the covers, flicked Mujeeb behind square and shovelled Rashid through the covers with his bottom wrist. While No.4 Vijay Shankar delightfully drove Rashid inside-out, he was more sedate at the other end, contributing 29 in a 58-run stand - the highest in the match. However, it ended when Rahmat defeated his sweep and trapped him in the 27th over. Four overs later, Nabi got one to drift and bounce to coax a top edge from Kohli.

Watch on Hotstar (India only): Bumrah's double-wicket maiden

MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav then soaked up one dot after another. In all, Dhoni played out 52 balls for his 28 - of which 33 were dots. He stuck to his familiar template of blocking out spinners and waiting for the weak links in Afghanistan's attack - Naib and Alam. While he did muscle Naib through the covers and then hoisted Alam over the same region, relentless pressure from the spinners burst Dhoni's bubble. He dashed down the track to Rashid, only to be stumped for the second time in 293 ODI innings.

Once Dhoni - and later Pandya - fell, Jadhav stepped back and re-calibrated his focus towards batting out the 50 overs. He moved to a 66-ball half-century in the last over, but holed out off the penultimate ball of the innings. It gave Afghanistan hope, Nabi raised it further, but India's gun seamers killed it off and handed them their sixth defeat in six matches.

'We had doubts at the halfway stage' - Kohli

Published in Cricket
Saturday, 22 June 2019 13:40

With a total of just 224 to defend Virat Kohli admitted the dressing had "doubts" about what would happen. The India captain was also honest about their batting not going to according to plan because some of his men had played "horizontal" bat shots on a pitch that demanded they play straight.

On a sunny Saturday, Kohli had no qualms in electing to bat and wanted to put up a score well above 250. But as the game progressed, and the slow nature of the pitch and a quality Afghanistan attack challenged the Indian batsmen, Kohli said they had to recalculate.

"You expect yourself to win the toss and put up big runs on the board," Kohli told the host broadcaster after India's narrow 11-run win, wrapped up by a Mohammad Shami hat-trick off the penultimate ball of the match. "Then you see the nature of the pitch slowing down drastically with three wrist spinners [Rashid Khan, Rahmat Shah and Mujeeb Ur Rahman]. We thought 250-260 would have been par, but 270 would have been outstanding effort."

Watch on Hotstar (India only): Highlights of Kohli's fifty

Barring Kohli, who made his third half-century of the World Cup, every other Indian batsman struggled to find rhythm. Rohit Sharma was clueless against the carom ball from Mujeeb. KL Rahul abruptly played a reverse sweep and paid the price. Vijay Shankar attempted a sweep, tempted by the empty area at fine leg, but was lbw. MS Dhoni's dot-ball kitty swelled once again before he charged Rashid in desperation and was stumped. Kedar Jadhav played a scrappy and unconvincing innings.

Only Kohli displayed dominance over the bowlers as he rotated strike with ease before he cut a ball that bounced sharply and took his leading edge. Kohli admitted India's shot selection was not good on the day.

"As soon as I went in I understood the pace of the pitch. I thought cross-batted shots are not on on this pitch at all. You've got to play with a straight bat [and because of that] I was able to rotate strike. Our shot selection could have been much better - a lot of horizontal bat shot costs us a lot of wickets. You can't really take the game away from the opposition, you'll have to respect the pace of the pitch and knock the ball around for ones and twos and work yourself into an innings. But once you lose wickets on a pitch like that with three quality wristspinners…"

"They really put some pressure on us in the middle overs. A team like Afghanistan who have a lot of talent doesn't let you play the way you want to play."

What then was India's plan at the innings break? Kohli said it was to have the "collective belief" and the bowling attack showed plenty, led by Jasprit Bumrah, Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal. "At halfway mark, we did have some sort of doubts in our minds [about] what's going to happen in the game, but everyone had belief in the change room. Everyone had collective belief that we can win this one.

"This game was way more important for us. It didn't go as planned, but when things don't go your way you need to show character and bounce back and fight till the last ball. That shows the character of our team."

Brathwaite's six-hitting frenzy in 2D

Published in Cricket
Saturday, 22 June 2019 14:36

West Indies were down. They were supposed to be out. The crowd in Manchester was packing up. But then came the sound. Ball hitting bat. And flying into the stands. Carlos Brathwaite was in one of his bowler-bashing, reality-defying six frenzies. And he nearly pulled off one of THE greatest ODI chases of all time. This is when the madness was at its peak.

Varun Shetty is on ball-by-ball commentary. West Indies are nine down, still needing 33 off 18 balls. Matt Henry comes on.

47.1 Henry to Brathwaite, 2 runs, miscued pull but he has managed to drag it to deep square's right. Too early through this shot as he tries to drag the short ball from wide outside off

47.2 Henry to Brathwaite, SIX, clears long-on! Flat-bats it and hardly gets height on this, but he's got plenty of distance. Literally swipes from above waist height

47.3 Henry to Brathwaite, SIX, and another! It is no longer a clear New Zealand advantage! Low full toss wide outside off. Reaches out and gets bat - just enough bat - to get it to land on the padding at deep backward point!

Ohhh boy! Conference - four man conference. New Zealand are feeling this. Matt Henry is feeling this. He began this England tour conceding 107 in the first warm-up game. He's been here - West Indies taking him apart. It's happening again. Can he hold his nerve? It's a packed off side field, it's going to full and outside off

47.4 Henry to Brathwaite, SIX, it is too full! It is too far outside off! Knee high full toss with lots of width and he smokes it over wide long-off! Unreal. How does he keep finding himself in these situations, and doing this? Three in a row.

What now for Brathwaite?

47.5Henry to Brathwaite, FOUR, top edge clears the wicketkeeper! Heart in the mouth, but the fortune is all his, it seems! Bouncer cramps him at the chest. He has no control over this shot. But it's trickled through to the third man boundary. 24 off the over!

47.6 Henry to Brathwaite, 1 run, lofted to third man's right and he will keep strike! Short outside off and he holds his composure

Wow. How does he keep finding himself in these situations? 25 off the over. Eight required off two overs. He's on 99. Will it be CDG or Neesham for the 49th? It's Neesham

48.1 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, short of a length outside off, watchfully tapped to extra cover

48.2 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, beaten! Whew. Short and wide outside off. Backs away and has a swipe but it some distance away from connection

Surely he's thinking 8 off 4

48.3 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, beaten again. Short and wide outside off. Once again he's gone for the pull. Misses again

Point, cover comes in, extra cover, mid-off in

48.4 Neesham to Brathwaite, 2 runs, pulls out to deep midwicket and comes back for the second! What. An. Innings. He doesn't get to do a lot very often, down at No. 8. But every time he finds himself in this situation, he shines through. A hundred. An unlikely win in sight. Takes his helmet off, blows a kiss. Back to it.

48.5 Neesham to Brathwaite, no run, legcutter, short and spinning past off stump as he shapes to pull and is deceived again. Beaten. This is a great over from Neesham

48.6 Neesham to Brathwaite, OUT, has he done it? No! Boult plucks it at long-on! Two drops for Boult since the last game, but he's held on when it's mattered! They're checking for no-ball...it's well behind the line. This is heartbreak for Brathwaite. So close. Short ball at middle, he pulled it, but slightly from under again. Ended up slicing it, with no room. It was to Boult's right. He leaped, he held on, he balanced on his right foot. That is solid work under pressure. Both batsmen on their knees, and then Brathwaite gets up with a smile. He did his all, and then some. But it was always unlikely. And you feel like he knows that. Smiles from his opponents as they offer their commiserations. It's all shakes. It could have so easily been the other way round...

CR Brathwaite c Boult b Neesham 101 (117m 82b 9x4 5x6) SR: 123.17

New Zealand 291 for 8 (Williamson 148, Taylor 69, Cottrell 4-56) beat West Indies 286 (Brathwaite 101, Gayle 87, Hetmyer 54, Boult 4-30, Ferguson 3-59) by 5 runs
As it happened

We've had Sri Lanka, the No. 9-ranked team that came to the World Cup in utter disarray, stunning No. 1 side England. We've had Afghanistan coming within a couple of hits of upsetting India.

Neither of those results, however, will live on as the defining memory of these last two days.

Watch on Hotstar (India only): Full match highlights

West Indies, chasing 292 against New Zealand at Old Trafford, were 164 for 7. Then 211 for 8. And 245 for 9. But Carlos Brathwaite wouldn't be defeated. He saw off the tenth overs of Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson, New Zealand's best and most dangerous bowlers on the day, with a bit of help from the No. 11 Oshane Thomas.

Then, with 33 needed off the last three overs, he tore into Matt Henry. There was a sweet, baseball-style swat over long-on, a mighty drive high over extra-cover. There was a fortuitous slice wide of third man and a top-edge over the keeper too, but no one - perhaps not even the New Zealanders - will have begrudged him a bit of luck: 2, 6, 6, 6, 4, and an all-important last-ball single to keep the strike, smartly steered to third man. Brathwaite ended the over on 99, with West Indies eight runs from victory.

New Zealand had used up their main bowling options, so they went with their fifth bowler, James Neesham, for the 49th.

Fifth bowler against one of the game's most dangerous hitters, a man with the winds of an otherworldly performance in his sails, a man with the winds of history in his sails. Remember the name?

But Neesham's slower ball kept him on tenterhooks. Two swipes and misses. Then a pulled double to bring up three figures. Only six needed. One hit.

Last ball of the 49th was in Brathwaite's arc: a touch short of a length, angling into him but not so much that he doesn't have swinging room. Big swing, and a pretty sweet connection.

But not sweet enough, not far enough to the right of Trent Boult, sprinting from long-on. He was leaning over the boundary rope when he caught the ball, his feet inches away from it. Inches. That's how close it ended up.

Take away Brathwaite, however, and the gap between the two sides was much wider - the width of the gap between ODI cricket and T20. Already once in this tournament, against Australia, West Indies lost from a position of strength thanks to the spirit of T20 creeping too far into their ODI game.

It happened again on Saturday. Chasing 292, West Indies were 142 for 2 after 22 overs, with a pair of half-centurions at the crease. New Zealand had been erratic with the ball; too short, too wasteful. They had missed vital chances in the outfield.

For West Indies, the cold, hard ODI approach would have been to keep New Zealand on the ropes, and give them no opening. The fields were defensive by necessity, and singles were available if the batsmen wanted them. But Shimron Hetmyer and Chris Gayle kept taking the high-risk option. That approach had brought them the bulk of their runs, but it had also kept them on the edge: Gayle had only just been dropped twice in an over. But they kept swinging, even though a top-order batsman, Evin Lewis, was nursing a hamstring injury and hadn't batted yet, and couldn't be expected to contribute too much. They kept swinging, opened the door for Ferguson's clever changes of pace, and 142 for 2 became 164 for 7.

The first two-thirds of Brathwaite's innings, spent mostly in the company of Kemar Roach and Sheldon Cottrell, was all about smart, sensible ODI batting: he watched the ball, read the field settings, assessed the risks, and rebuked his team-mates with the ease of his run-scoring in excellent batting conditions. In the end, he had to reach into his T20 kitbag, but, unlike his team-mates, only out of necessity.

The first half of the match was far less dramatic, but that's because Kane Williamson doesn't do drama. Sheldon Cottrell, bowling full and swinging the ball dangerously, took out both openers, and that set the tone for the early part of Williamson's innings, in the company of Ross Taylor. They ensured New Zealand saw off the new balls without further loss, and the score inched to 36 for 2 in 12 overs before the strokes began to flow around the ground.

There were trademark Taylor pulls with a whip of the bottom wrist, trademark Williamson drives between mid-off and extra-cover, and a contest between the two as to who could play the prettier straight drive. At the 30-over mark, New Zealand were 144 for 2.

From there on, the old ODI adage of doubling your 30-over score if you have wickets in hand worked a charm. Taylor fell for 69, failing to clear mid-off, but Williamson, who came into this game with scores of 79 not out and 106 not out in his last two innings, stretched his run of un-dismissed run-scoring to 333, off 390 balls, before he top-edged Cottrell in the 47th over. There was lower-order biffing from Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner too, and New Zealand ended up with what looked, at that point, like an anyone's-game kind of total.

For the first third of West Indies' chase, it seemed hardly adequate. Then it looked more than enough. And then, Carlos Brathwaite happened.

30th horse dies at Santa Anita; trainer banned

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 22 June 2019 14:46

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was banned by the ownership of Santa Anita on Saturday after a fourth horse from his stable died -- and the 30th overall -- at the Southern California track.

The Stronach Group, which owns the track, said in a statement that effective immediately Hollendorfer "is no longer welcome to stable, race or train his horses at any of our facilities."

On the recommendation of a special panel convened to review horses' medical, training and racing history, the track's stewards scratched four horses trained by Hollendorfer that were entered to run Saturday and Sunday.

A 4-year-old gelding trained by Hollendorfer was injured Saturday while exercising on the training track and was euthanized. It was the first death of the meet on the training track, which isn't used for racing.

It was the 30th death since the racing season began Dec. 26. The track closes for the season Sunday.

Hollendorfer couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

However, he told the Daily Racing Form, "I'm training over 100 horses right now. Santa Anita didn't want me stay on the grounds. My opinion was that was a premature thing to do. I thought it was extreme. Now I have to step away for a while."

Hollendorfer has 7,617 winners from 33,519 starters and purse earnings of $199,737,768 in his career, according to Equibase.com.

He has three wins in the Breeders' Cup and none in the Triple Crown races. His best finish with seven Kentucky Derby starters was third in 2017 with Battle of Midway. That colt sustained a fatal injury during a workout at Santa Anita on Feb. 23.

Hollendorfer's first horse to die at the meet was a 4-year-old gelding on Dec. 30 after a race on the dirt.

It wasn't immediately known whether Hollendorfer will be allowed to race at Los Alamitos in Orange County when that meet opens June 29 or at Del Mar near San Diego, which opens July 17. Neither track is owned by The Stronach Group.

A 9-year-old gelding named Kochees trained by Hollendorfer was euthanized on May 26 after injuring his left front leg in a race a day earlier.

At the time, a spokesman for The Stronach Group told The Associated Press that it was looking into whether new protocols were followed leading up to the gelding being euthanized.

The Stronach Group said in a statement Saturday it regrets that Hollendorfer's record in recent months at both Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields in Northern California "has become increasingly challenging and does not match the level of safety and accountability we demand." Both tracks are owned by The Stronach Group; Golden Gate doesn't resume racing until Aug. 15.

The track owner said individuals who don't embrace the new rules and safety measures that put horse and rider safety above all else will have no place at any Stronach Group racetrack.

Mike Marten, spokesman for the California Horse Racing Board, said Hollendorfer's gelding American Currency injured Saturday wasn't entered to run in any race and thus wasn't subject to review by the special panel.

Kochees' injury appeared to be correctable through surgery. However, when doctors realized the horse had lost blood flow to the leg, he was euthanized.

Among the rules put in place since March, a trainer's veterinarian must sign off on a horse's fitness before the track's veterinarian also takes a look at the animal ahead of it training or racing.

"In my mind there is absolutely no doubt that we've done every single thing properly with Kochees and all the rest of our horses, too," Hollendorfer said in response to questioning by The AP on May 27. "We certainly are pretty sad when they get hurt."

The 73-year-old trainer is best known for overseeing Eclipse Award winners Blind Luck, Shared Belief and Songbird. Based in Northern California for most of his career, Hollendorfer frequently ships his horses to Southern California's tracks to run.

He's known for buying young horses at auction in the low to mid-price range, often with his own money. He then puts together ownership groups and retains a percentage of the horse while training it as well.

Sources: Lakers OK'd to talk with Warriors' Adams

Published in Basketball
Saturday, 22 June 2019 15:51

The Los Angeles Lakers have received permission from Golden State to talk to assistant Ron Adams about a role on Frank Vogel's staff, league sources tell ESPN.

It is unclear Adams' level of interest in the Lakers' position, but they could make the case more compelling with a significant financial offer.

The Lakers want to put together an experienced coaching staff, and the current group already includes former head coaches Lionel Hollins and Jason Kidd as assistants.

Adams, considered one of the top assistants in the NBA, just finished his fifth season on Steve Kerr's staff and 25th season overall as an NBA assistant coach.

Ortiz moved out of ICU as recovery continues

Published in Baseball
Saturday, 22 June 2019 15:51

Former Red Sox great David Ortiz has been moved out of the intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, his wife said in a statement Saturday.

Ortiz was shot in the back at a bar in the Dominican Republic on June 9, and was transported to Boston in order to receive medical attention there the following day.

On Tuesday, doctors at MGM upgraded the 10-time All-Star's condition from "guarded'' to "good.''

"He remains in good condition and continues to recover under the care of Drs. David King and Larry Ronan," Ortiz's wife, Tiffany, said in the statement Saturday.

Dominican prosecutors said earlier this week that Ortiz was attacked in a case of mistaken identity by a gunman who was hired to kill an auto shop owner.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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