ekansekans's blog: "df"

A nose. Peyton Manning Womens Jersey . Thats all that separated Real Quiet from racing immortality. He was beaten by the smallest of margins in the 1998 Belmont Stakes, the longest and toughest leg of thoroughbred racings Triple Crown. Affirmed was the last to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont, 34 years ago. Since then, 11 horses have won the first two only to come up short in the Belmont, felled by a safety pin picked up in a stall, a stumble out of the gate or a jockeys judgment. Now its Ill Have Anothers turn to try to become the 12th Triple Crown winner. The chestnut colt chased down pacesetter Bodemeister in the final 100 yards to win the Kentucky Derby on May 5. Two weeks later, he surged past Bodemeister a few yards from the finish line in the Preakness to win by a neck. Bodemeister wont be back to challenge Ill Have Another in the Belmont. But 10 other rivals are likely, including Derby also-rans Dullahan, Optimizer and Union Rags. The others are horses that skipped one or both of the first two legs, leaving them well-rested for the 1 1-2 mile run around the deep, sandy dirt track. "It aint like the old days where everyone used to run in all three," said Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who is 1 for 13 in the Belmont. "Its taxing on the horse to run in all three. If somebody is hiding behind the bushes waiting to jump you when theyre all fresh, they can beat you." Smith will be aboard one of the fresh ones in next Saturdays Belmont. Hell ride Paynter, who skipped the Derby and Preakness. Nineteen times since 1944 horses have come to the Belmont with a chance to win the Triple Crown. Big Brown was the last horse to take a shot in 2008. But he bombed out in the Belmont, mysteriously getting eased at the top of the stretch and leaving nearly 95,000 fans stunned at the sight of the colt with the bad feet failing to finish. The final 1 1-2 miles on the Triple Crown trail can do a number on a horse, trainer and jockey. Sometimes, a horse finds trouble in his own stall. On the morning of the 1979 Belmont, a safety pin was discovered embedded in Spectacular Bids hoof. He didnt appear lame, so he ran in the race. His teenage jockey, Ron Franklin, gunned the colt to the early lead before he eventually faded to third. Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998 and Smarty Jones in 2004 were the only three since Affirmeds victory to lose by a length or less. In Real Quiets case, he owned a five-length lead with a quarter-mile left in the Belmont. Victory Gallop, second in the Derby and the Preakness, moved up on Real Quiet and jockey Kent Desormeaux. The horses crossed the wire in a photo finish, but Victory Gallop got his nose in front. A stride past the finish line, Real Quiet had regained the lead. "I thought he won it," said Bob Baffert, the Hall of Fame trainer who had his hopes dashed with both Silver Charm and Real Quiet. In 1997, Baffert watched from the stands as Silver Charm fought off Free House for the lead with a quarter-mile to go and appeared to have clear sailing to the wire. Then Touch Gold made a move on the far outside. Jockey Gary Stevens didnt see his rival and Silver Charm was beaten by three-quarters of a length. When the gates sprang open in the 2002 Belmont and War Emblem nearly fell to his knees, Baffert knew his horse was doomed. The winner was 70-1 shot Sarava. War Emblem came home in eighth, beaten by 19 1-2 lengths. Smarty Jones may have moved too soon. The small black colt had trouble relaxing with horses on either side of him. So jockey Stewart Elliott guided him into the lead entering the backstretch with a mile remaining. Around the far turn, Smarty Jones led by nearly four lengths before Birdstone came flying past him in the stretch and left Smarty with a one-length defeat. Birdstones trainer, Nick Zito, and owner, Marylou Whitney, both apologized afterward for spoiling the Smarty Party. There was nearly an asterisk Triple Crown. In 1968, Forward Pass was credited with a win in the Derby after Dancers Image was disqualified. Forward Pass went on to win the Preakness, but finished second in the Belmont. The Triple Crown is run on a compressed schedule, with the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont just five weeks apart. A horse gets just one chance to win them all since the Triple Crown is for 3-year-olds only. The Derby is a 1 1-4-mile free-for-all with a crowded field of 20 untested horses. At 1 3-16 miles, the Preakness is the shortest of the three races and the one in which horses begin proving themselves. The Belmont may be the trickiest of them all. Nicknamed "The Test of the Champion," the race is uncharted territory for 3-year-olds and their jockeys who have never gone that far in their lives and likely wont again. Its full of strategy, with jockeys making split-second decisions on pace, placement and when to start their final run to the wire. Go too soon and a colt could be gassed for the 1,097-foot stretch run. Wait too long and risk letting the lead horses get away. "Its very deceiving. The turns are so big, so wide and swooping," said Smith, who once rode regularly at Americas biggest track. "Where the half-mile pole is on a normal track, its the 3-4 pole at Belmont so it can throw you off." Ill Have Anothers jockey, Mario Gutierrez, has never ridden at Belmont. Smith gives a slight edge to jockeys with experience at navigating the sprawling track. "You can use those big turns to do different things and throw a race wide open depending on the pace," he said. Sometimes, its the surface that derails potential Triple Crown history makers. The Belmont tripped up Funny Cide in 2003, when the gelding couldnt handle a muddy track and finished third, five lengths behind Empire Maker. Riding tactics can play a part, too, since the Triple Crown contender runs with a bulls-eye on his back. "Theyre all going to try and beat him," Smith said. "If you have him in your sights, youre certainly not going to let him out any sooner than you would in any other race." Willis McGahee Jersey . -- Casey Martin and his cart are headed back to The Olympic Club for the U. Demaryius Thomas Jersey . Ty Lawson scored 32 points, fellow spark plug Corey Brewer added 18 and the free-wheeling, too-young-to-scare Nuggets forced a Game 7 in their first-round playoff series with a dominating 113-96 win Thursday night. http://www.shopthebroncos.com/von-miller-jersey . Canucks supporters quickly left Rogers Arena in downtown Vancouver following the 4-2 loss to the Kings on Wednesday night, and now statistics from the Vancouver Police Department confirm fans were a well-behaved bunch. Shannon Sharpe Jersey . - The Chiefs have signed free agent offensive tackle Tony Ugoh to provide depth along the line. Steve Atwater Jersey . Its the fourth career win for Peters, who overtook Ron Hornaday Jr. with 10 laps left to become the third pole-sitter to win a trucks race in four events in Iowa.Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and set up the winner as the Halifax Mooseheads edged the visiting Sherbrooke Phoenix 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. The 17-year-old has an eight-game point streak going, which includes 10 goals and 16 points. In 12 games this season he now has 14 goals and 22 points, good for fifth in QMJHL scoring. Matthew Boudreau also scored twice for the Mooseheads (11-1-0), who have now won nine straight contests, while Andrew Ryan and Luca Ciampini each chipped in with two assists. Alexandre Comtois and Vladislav Lysenko had a goal and an assist each for the Phoenix (2-9-1) and Cole Hawes added a single goal. Zachary Fucale made 21 saves for the victory as Jacob Gervais-Chouinard stopped 37-of-41 shots in a losing effort. Neither club could produce on the power play as they both went 0-for-3. Elsewhere in the QMJHL, it was: P.E.I. 5, Moncton 0; Acadie-Bathurst 5, Cape Breton 1; Victoriaville 6, Quebec 3; Val-dOr 7, Gatineau 4; Baie-Comeau 5, Blainville-Boisbriand 4 (SO); Saint John 4, Chicoutimi 3 (SO); Rimouski 4, Shawinigan 0 and Drummondville 5, Rouyn-Noranda 4. At Halifax, Boudreau and MacKinnon scored 1:05 apart to give the Mooseheads a 2-0 lead less than seven minutes into the first period. Hawes responded for the Phoenix at 11:09, but MacKinnon restored a two-goal lead for Halifax at 12:27. Comtois scored shorthanded at 12:14 of the second period for Sherbrooke, however Boudreaus second goal of the game gave the Mooseheads a 4-2 lead after 40 minutes of play. Lysenko added one more goal late in the third period for the Phoenix.. Peyton Manning Youth Jersey. --- Rocket 5 Wildcats 0 At Moncton, N.B., Maxime Lagace stopped all 30 shots he faced and Ben Duffy scored twice as P.E.I. (8-4-0) blanked the Wildcats (5-7-0). --- Titan 5 Screaming Eagles 1 At Bathurst, N.B., Zach OBrien had two goals and two asssists as the Titan (6-4-3) handed Cape Breton (2-7-4) its fifth straight defeat. --- Tigres 6 Remparts 3 At Victoriaville, Que., Angelo Miceli, Petr Sidlik, Philippe Halley and Carl-Antoine Delisle all scored in the third period as the Tigres (5-5-3) came from behind to beat Quebec (9-2-0). --- Foreurs 7 Olympiques 4 At Val-dOr, Que., Anthony Mantha and Vincent Dunn each scored twice as the Foreurs (5-7-0) defeated Gatineau (4-7-0). --- Drakkar 5 Armada 4 (SO) At Baie-Comeau, Que., Petr Straka had a goal and an assist in regulation time and then scored the shootout winner as the Drakkar (6-4-1) slipped past Blainville-Boisbriand (8-2-2). --- Sea Dogs 4 Sagueneens 3 (SO) At Saguenay, Que., Jonathan Huberdeau scored once in regulation and followed that up with the shootout winner as Saint John (6-6-0) edged Chicoutmi (6-5-2), who lost for the first time in four outings. --- Oceanic 4 Cataractes 0 At Rimouski, Que., Philippe Desrosiers earned the games first star by making 30 saves and the Oceanic (8-3-1) scored twice on the power play as they blanked Shawinigan (2-8-1), who have lost six straight contests. --- Voltiguers 5 Huskies 4 At Rouyn-Noranda, Que., Tomas Torok scored three times, including the game winner, as Drummondville (7-5-0) beat the Huskies (8-3-1) for their third straight victory. 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