After Aaron Ekblad, Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett said they never wanted to leave South Florida, they got their wish. Days after locking up Bennett long term, the Panthers agreed to re-sign Ekblad and Marchand.
Ekblad agreed to an eight-year deal worth $48.8 million. Marchand agreed to a six-year deal, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the signings.
The deals got done before the start of NHL free agency on Tuesday, and had either Ekblad or Marchand hit the open market they could have received offers for much more than the Panthers had the ability to pay, even with the salary cap going up a record amount.
“Aaron is a pillar of our defense who has consistently excelled at both ends of the ice as one of the best defensemen in the NHL over the past decade,” general manager Bill Zito said of Ekblad. “From a Calder-winning rookie campaign to two Stanley Cup championships, Aaron’s consummate leadership on and off the ice has been integral to our team’s success. After cementing his place in Panthers history, we are thrilled that he will continue his career in South Florida.”
Ekblad and Marchand became the ninth and 10th players under contract with the Panthers through at least 2030 or beyond, joining Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart, Gustav Forsling, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Seth Jones and Bennett — the playoff MVP who signed an eight-year, $64 million deal last week.
That was the question about the Panthers heading into the summer: Could they keep some combination of Bennett, Ekblad and Marchand, all of whom were set for free agency?
The answer was yes — to all of them.
D-man deals
Ekblad was not the only defenseman to re-sign Monday.
Edmonton, which lost to Florida in the final each of the past two seasons, got an important deal done with Evan Bouchard for $42 million over four years, an annual cap hit of $10.5 million.
Columbus agreed to terms with Ivan Provorov on a seven-year contract worth $59.5 million, according to a person with knowledge of the extension. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized.
The New York Islanders signed Alexander Romanov to an eight-year contract that another person with knowledge of the extension said is worth $50 million. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because terms were not disclosed.
Washington signed recently acquired Declan Chisholm for $2.6 million over the next two years and opted not to tender Alexander Alexeyev a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Busy Red Wings
Detroit re-signed winger Patrick Kane to a one-year deal with a $3 million salary plus performance bonuses. General manager Steve Yzerman was optimistic over the weekend about keeping Kane.
The Red Wings cleared the space needed for Kane by trading Vladimir Tarasenko to Minnesota for future considerations. Tarasenko, 33, has one year left on his contract at a salary cap hit of $4.75 million.
The Wild, Tarasenko’s sixth team in four seasons, are counting on a bounce-back performance out of him after he had just 11 goals and 22 assists with Detroit, his lowest point total for any season of his career in which he played at least half of the games.
“He’s a player in need of a fresh start,” general manager Bill Guerin said. “The contract and the money and everything just kind of fits. We’re a place that Vladdy can come and hopefully get back to the form he’s had his past years. I just think there’s a lot we can do to help him.”
More Trades
Utah traded young forward Matias Maccelli to Toronto for a conditional 2027 third-round pick. It turns into a second-rounder in 2029 if Maccelli has 51-plus points and the Maple Leafs make the playoffs next season.
Carolina also acquired the rights to goaltender Cayden Primeau from Montreal for a 2026 seventh-rounder.
___
AP Sports Writers John Wawrow and Dave Campbell contributed.
]]>His family said Sunday that Lukas died Saturday night at his Louisville, Kentucky, home. Lukas had been hospitalized with a severe MRSA blood infection that caused significant damage to his heart and digestive system and worsened pre-existing chronic conditions.
“Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry — developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the game by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle,” his family said in a statement. “Whether he was boasting about a maiden 2-year-old as the next Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of advice before a big race, Wayne brought heart, grace, and grit to every corner of the sport. His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he chose peace, family, and faith.”
Lukas won 15 Triple Crown races, including the Kentucky Derby four times. Only good friend Bob Baffert has more Triple Crown victories, and Lukas owns a record-tying 20 in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.
“The whole secret of this game, I think, is being able to read the horse: Read what he needs, what he doesn’t need, what he can’t do, what he can do,” Lukas said in May before his 34th and final Preakness Stakes. “That’s the whole key. Everybody’s got the blacksmith, everybody’s got to the same bed available, the feed man. We all can hire a good jockey. We all can hire a pretty good exercise rider if we’ve got the means, so what the hell is the difference? The horse is the difference and what we do with him in reading him.”
Lukas was affectionately known around the barns and the racetrack as “Coach” because he coached high school basketball before his professional career with horses began. Even with months to go before his 90th birthday, he would get up on his pony in the early morning hours and go out to the track himself, rather than letting his assistants do the day-to-day work.
“The Maryland Jockey Club mourns the loss of legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a true titan of Thoroughbred racing,” said Bill Knauf, president and general manager of TMJC. “His unmatched accomplishments, unwavering dedication, and enduring influence on the sport have left an indelible mark on racing history. With seven wins in the Preakness Stakes, D. Wayne was not only a champion on the track but a mentor and inspiration to generations of horsemen and women. We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and the entire racing community. His legacy will forever be part of Maryland Racing and the Preakness Stakes.”
Born Darnell Wayne Lukas on Sept. 2, 1935, in Wisconsin as the second of three children, he rose to prominence in the sport with quarter horses in races that are effectively sprints. He moved into thoroughbreds in the late 1970s and won his first Preakness with Codex in 1980.
Lukas has 4,967 documented victories in thoroughbred racing, with his horses earning more than $310 million from more than 30,600 starts.
“Today we lost one of the great champions of Churchill Downs and one of the most significant figures in Thoroughbred racing over the last 50 years,” Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said. “We will miss his humor, his wisdom and his unmatched capacity to thrill the fans with the performances of his horses on our sport’s biggest days.”
Achieving something of a career renaissance over the past decade, one he credits to finding the right owners willing to spend money on horses, Lukas won the Preakness last year with Seize the Grey. Asked what motivates him to keep doing his job well into his late 80s, he gave a pep talk fit for a locker room before a big game.
“If you have a passion, you eliminate all the excuses,” Lukas said. “That’s how it works. You get up early. You go without a meal. You drive. You go without sleep — as long as you got the passion. Don’t let that sofa pull you down. It’s a little easy when that alarm goes off to say, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know if I really want to do this today.’ Erase that. The most important decision you’ll ever make in your life is your attitude decision. Make it early, and make the right one.”
]]>They announced the deal Friday in Los Angeles before the first round of the draft. It still needs to be ratified by the Board of Governors and the full NHLPA membership.
Two games are being added to to the regular season, the maximum length of contracts players can sign is being shortened and a salary cap will be implemented in the playoffs for the first time, two people told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The NHL and NHLPA began negotiations in earnest this spring after agreeing at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February to jointly hold a World Cup of Hockey in 2028. With revenue breaking records annually and the cap increasing exponentially in the coming years, Commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Marty Walsh voiced optimism about reaching an agreement quickly. There were no disagreements on a host of major issues like in previous bargaining talks.
The extension through 2030 provides the sport extended labor peace since the last lockout in 2012-13, which shortened that season to 48 games.
Here is what is changing.
Longer season
Going from 82 to 84 games beginning in 2026-27 — making the season 1,344 total games — is also expected to include a reduction in exhibition play, to four games apiece for the 32 teams.
The additions would be played within divisions, evening out the schedule to ensure four showdowns each season between rivals like Toronto and Boston, Dallas and Colorado and Washington and Pittsburgh. Currently, there is a rotation that has some division opponents facing off only three times a season.
That imbalance is coming to an end, and this is not the first time the NHL has had an 84-game season. The league experimented with that in 1992-93 and ’93-94, when each team added a pair of neutral site games.
Shorter contracts
Since 2013, players have been able to re-sign with their own team for up to eight years and sign with another for up to seven years. Under the new CBA, each would be reduced by a year, to seven for re-signing and six for changing teams.
Top players, given the injury risks in the sport, have preferred the longest contracts possible. The same goes for general managers, eager to keep talent in the fold as long as possible. Nathan MacKinnon, Sebastian Aho, Leon Draisaitl, Jusse Saros, Travis Konecny, Matthew Barzal and, within the past few months, Mikko Rantanen are all among the top players who have signed mammoth eight-year deals.
But with the salary cap getting its biggest increases season by season over the next three years, the thinking had already begun to change. Auston Matthews re-signed for only four years with Toronto last summer, and Connor McDavid could also opt for a short-term contract extension with Edmonton.
Playoff cap
Currently, teams with players on long-term injured reserve can exceed the salary cap by roughly the amount of the players’ salaries until the playoffs begin.
Several times over the past decade, Stanley Cup contenders have used LTIR to activate players at the start of or early in the playoffs after they missed some or all of the regular season.
Florida did so with Matthew Tkachuk before winning the second of back-to-back titles, Vegas has done it with Mark Stone on multiple occasions, Tampa Bay with Nikita Kucherov and Chicago with Patrick Kane.
The rule has been criticized as an unfair loophole, a way to stockpile talent and then add even more for the postseason. After he and Carolina were eliminated by the Lightning in 2021, Dougie Hamilton quipped that the Hurricanes “lost to a team that’s $18 million over the cap.” Tampa Bay went back to back, and players wore T-shirts with that saying on it during their Cup celebration.
That will no longer be possible, though it’s not exactly clear how it will work.
]]>Jake Walman gave the Oilers their first lead with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third period, before Sam Reinhart scored with 19.5 seconds left to send it to overtime. Three of the first four games of this Final have needed extra time to be settled, the first time that has happened since 2013 and fifth time in NHL history.
Draisaitl’s goal 11:18 into OT — the fourth session of extra hockey between these teams — sent the series back to Western Canada all even. Game 5 of what’s turning into a classic back-and-forth series between two hockey heavyweights is Saturday night in Edmonton, Alberta.
The Oilers became the first road team to rally from down three to win a game in the final since the Montreal Canadiens against the Seattle Metropolitans in 1919. Only six teams have come back from down three in the Final in NHL history, the last time in 2006.
The Oilers are very much in it now, even after it looked like they would be blown out of the series. The Oilers fell behind 3-0 in the first period on a pair of goals by Matthew Tkachuk and another with 41.7 seconds left from Anton Lundell, which could have been a back-breaker.
Coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner after his starter allowed those three goals on 17 shots in the first, when the ice was tilted against him and his teammates did not have much of a pushback. In went Calvin Pickard, the journeyman backup who won all six of his starts this playoffs before getting injured.
Pickard made some acrobatic saves, stopping the first 18 shots he faced and paving the way for a once-in-a-century comeback. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on the Oilers’ first power play, Darnell Nurse beat Sergei Bobrovsky with another shot up high and Vasily Podkolzin made it 3-all with less than five minutes left in the second.
With Draisaitl in the penalty box to start the third, Oilers were on their heels for several minutes and relied on Pickard to keep the score tied. He turned aside every shot he faced until Walman fired the puck past Bobrovsky to silence a vast majority of the crowd and incite a roar out of the Oilers fans among those in attendance along with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Panthers fans had one more chance to cheer when Reinhart tied it late. Then Draisaitl quieted them again.
With Hockey Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist also in the building, the Oilers made sure they would not go quietly and fall behind 3-1 in the final like they did last year. They forced Game 7 then but ultimately fell short, with the Panthers winning the Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Now each of these teams is a couple of victories away from being champions.
]]>Derby winner Sovereignty and runner-up Journalism, who won the Preakness two weeks later, headline the field of eight in the Belmont. Add in Baeza, and the top three finishers from the first Saturday in May are involved.
“We’re delighted to have the first three horses out of the Derby challenging each other again,” said Michael Banahan of Godolphin, which owns Sovereignty. “It’s a quality race. … It should set up well, and may the best horse win.”
Journalism opened as the 8-5 morning line favorite with Sovereignty the second choice at 4-1. Journalism won the Preakness run without Sovereignty after owners and trainer Bill Mott opted to give their horse extra rest.
The intent was to focus on the Belmont rather than chase the chance for Sovereignty to become the sport’s 14th Triple Crown champion and first since Justify in 2018.
“We felt that the best thing for him and to have a career through the whole season, and maybe into next year as well, was spacing his races a little bit,” Banahan said. “Bill Mott, who’s trained horses for us for a long time, is very judicious about where he wants to place his horses. And we put a lot of faith in the recommendations that he would give us.”
Michael McCarthy-trained Journalism is the only horse running in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. And he is the favorite for a reason.
“Journalism is a very tough horse,” said John Shirreffs, who trains Baeza. “One thing about Journalism, (if) he runs his race (like in) Kentucky, Pimlico, he’s very tough. He’s solid. So, it’s going to be a very difficult horse to beat.”
Shirrefs said Baeza is emerging and developing, hoping the half-brother of last year’s Belmont winner, Dornoch, can stride along and get past Sovereignty and Journalism this time.
“Hopefully we get out of the gate well and get a nice pace,” Shirrefs said. “It’s just the how the race unfolds and him not getting into any trouble.”
Long shot Heart of Honor is running again after finishing fifth in the Preakness three weeks ago. New to the Triple Crown trail are Hill Road, Uncaged, Crudo and Rodriguez, who was scratched from the Derby with a minor foot bruise that also caused him to miss the Preakness.
Banahan expects Rodriguez to go to the lead, as so many of Hall of Fame and two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert’s top horses do, and provide the main speed.
“That horse is going to be ready,” Chad Brown, trainer of Hill Road, said of Rodriguez. “You can be assured of that. And it sure looks like he’s by far the fastest horse in the race.”
Brown has won the Preakness twice but never the Belmont. After going to Saratoga with his parents while growing up and getting into horse racing as a result, he’s hoping to end his drought at his home track.
“We have a very unique time in history where there’ll be three Belmont Stakes run total at Saratoga before you’ll never see another one again,” Brown said. “So, to be part of history with that, that would be extra special.”
]]>“Last year, I was kind of looking at it with googly eyes,” goaltender Stuart Skinner said. “ This year seeing it, it’s: ‘I was here last year, I saw it. It’s time to get back to work and do my thing.’ It definitely felt completely different.”
The Oilers made the start of the series completely different, erasing a multigoal deficit to beat the defending Florida Panthers 4-3 on Wednesday night on Leon Draisaitl’s power play goal in overtime. A year since falling behind three games to none, Edmonton has a lead in the rematch and is one step closer to flipping the script.
“It’s huge,” said Skinner, who made some big stops among his 29 saves. “The way that we showed up right from the get go and the way that we continued to keep on going, even though we were down by two, that shows a lot of character by us.”
Draisaitl provided the heroics, scoring on the power play with 31 seconds left in the OT period after Tomas Nosek’s penalty for putting the puck over the glass. The goal was his third in overtime this year in the playoffs, tying the record for a single postseason, after Draisaitl had six during the regular season.
“He’s invaluable,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who set up the tying and winning goals. “He does so many good things: clutch, faceoffs. You name it, he does it.”
For a while, it appeared the Oilers would lose Game 1 this year as well. Draisaitl’s goal 1:06 in was followed later in the first period by Sam Bennett deflecting a shot past Skinner after falling into him.
Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference, with the NHL’s situation room ruling that the Oilers’ Jake Walman tripped Bennett into Skinner. The resulting penalty paved the way for Florida’s Brad Marchand to score the go-ahead goal on a power play.
Bennett scored his second of the night early in the second period to put the Panthers up 3-1. They entered 31-0 over the past three playoffs since coach Paul Maurice took over when leading at the first or second intermission.
“I mean, they pushed,” Marchand said. “They obviously are a very good team, and doesn’t take much for them to score. So, not surprising, the push they did. They’re a great team. We’ve just got to keep going.”
Fourth-liner Viktor Arvidsson brought the crowd back to life early in the second, and fellow Swede Mattias Ekholm — playing in just his second game back from an extended injury absence — tied it with 13:27 remaining in regulation off a perfect pass from McDavid.
Florida counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky’s made some incredible saves, including one to rob Trent Frederic earlier in overtime. In between, he was greeted with derisive chants of “Ser-gei! Ser-gei!” that followed goals he allowed.
At the other end, Skinner made a handful of saves that were vital to keeping the Panthers from extending their lead or going back ahead late in the third, getting friendlier chants of “Stuuuu! Stuuuu!” every time he turned aside a difficult shot.
“He was great again,” McDavid said. “He gave us a chance.”
Up next
Game 2 is Friday night in Edmonton before the series shifts to Sunrise, Fla., for Games 3 and 4.
]]>D. Wayne Lukas said to Michael McCarthy, “I think, Mike, it’s your race to lose.” Bob Baffert jokingly piled on, “Yeah, Mike, it’s your race to lose.”
McCarthy’s Journalism is the 8-5 morning line favorite to win the 150th rendition of the Preakness on Saturday after finishing a strong second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby. Sovereignty is not running after his team decided to skip it for extra rest and aim for the Belmont Stakes next month, a notable absence that makes the Derby runner-up the top choice in a field of nine.
“There’s some other very talented horses, but the horse to beat without a doubt is Journalism,” said Mark Casse, trainer of Preakness contender Sandman, who opened at 4-1 and is set to be ridden by accomplished jockey John Velazquez. “Everybody’s got to beat Journalism. It’s how everybody can rebound and come back in two weeks.”
Preakness 2025: Pimlico is being rebuilt. What’s changing and where is the race next year?
Journalism, Sandman and Lukas’ American Promise are the only Preakness horses who ran in the Derby two weeks ago. Sandman was seventh after struggling with mud getting kicked up into his face, and American Promise finished 16th after running into trouble early and late in the 19-horse race at Churchill Downs that is typically chaotic.
Baffert has won the middle leg of the Triple Crown a record eight times and would make it nine if Goal Oriented gets the job done from the inside No. 1 post. Lukas has seven victories in this race and can tie Baffert if American Promise helps him go back-to-back in the Preakness after winning last year with long shot Seize the Grey.
“He’s better this week than he was the week before the Derby,” the 89-year-old Lukas said of American Promise, a son of 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify, who was trained by Baffert. “Whether that helps us or not, I don’t know but we got no excuses in this barn. It might be when Journalism gets down with us. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
In his next breath, Lukas said, “I think Journalism is beatable.” How so?
“Well, we don’t know how he’s going to bounce back in two weeks,” Lukas said. “That’s the first thing, but it’s a different race. It’s nine [horses]. It means everybody will probably have a shot at him. It’s a different surface. Obviously it’s shorter. It may not fit him too well.”
The Preakness at 1 3/16 miles is slightly shorter than the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby, but there’s optimism about close-to-normal conditions after nearly a week’s worth of rain fell on Baltimore and mucked up the dirt track at Pimlico Race Course. After Journalism galloped through the mud earlier this week, McCarthy quipped of the surface, “I think everyone would hope it’s better by Saturday.”
Journalism did just fine in the slop in Louisville two weeks ago, and everything from his pedigree — he’s a son of 2007 Preakness winner Curlin — to his wins in major stakes races in California make him a worthy favorite.
“I have a lot of confidence in my horse,” McCarthy said. “He’s coming back in two weeks. Sometimes with good horses, it’s a lot harder to tell when they’re not on top of their game because they can handle it and they handle these things so easily. We’ll see on Saturday, but my gut tells me we’re in for good things.”
Casse’s War of Will in 2019 is the most recent horse to win the Preakness after running in the Derby. The past five, including McCarthy-trained Rombauer in 2021, did not, though Seize the Grey had the same two-week turnaround last year from racing on the undercard on Kentucky Derby day.
The new faces on the Triple Crown trail in the Preakness are Todd Pletcher-trained River Thames (9-2), Steve Asmussen’s Clever Again (5-1), Jamie Osborn’s British import Heart of Honor (12-1), Brendan Walsh’s Gosger (20-1) and local long shot Pay Billy (20-1). Pletcher has never won the Preakness.
Rombauer pulled off an upset at 11-1 four years ago, and McCarthy called him and Journalism “two totally different types of horses.” This time, there’s the weight of expectations for Journalism, again ridden by regular jockey Umberto Rispoli, with the pressure on.
“I think it’s a great spot to be in,” McCarthy said, noting he’d love to have a Kentucky Derby victory under his belt to go with this. “But it’s a tough race to win. Any of these Triple Crown races, they’re not easy to win. We’ve brought a horse here who seems like he’s good enough to get the job done on Saturday.”
]]>Andre Svechnikov scored the go-ahead goal with 1:59 left, and Carolina beat Washington, 3-1, in Game 5 on Thursday night to move on to the Eastern Conference final for a second time in three years.
“We’ve been in playoffs in those kind of games for quite some time, and the guys trust our game and I think that’s the biggest thing,” said Staal, whose goal was his first of the playoffs. “When you believe in what you’re going to do, that it’s going to work out, it just becomes more calm and more consistent that, eventually, if we continue doing what we’re going, we’re going to win the game and it looks like the guys did that.”
The Hurricanes improved to 10-5 in potential close-out games in seven trips to the postseason with coach Rod Brind’Amour. They will face either Florida in a rematch of the 2023 East final or Toronto in a reminder of 2002, and the Panthers are up 3-2 with the chance to eliminate the Maple Leafs as soon as Friday night.
“We’ve already been in a conference final, and we know what’s going to happen there,” Svechnikov said. “It’s not going to be easy there and we’ll see who we’re going to play against, but this is the time for us to take a relaxed little bit and get ready for the next games.”
They’re able to play more games thanks to Frederik Andersen stopping 18 of the 19 shots he faced, including a few from Alex Ovechkin and a Grade-A scoring chance by Pierre-Luc Dubois early in the third period when the score was tied. Then, after a give-and-go with Sean Walker, Svechnikov’s shot got through Logan Thompson from a bad angle to put Carolina ahead.
“Terrible goal to give up to end the season. I’ve got to wear that,” Thompson said. “I’m an adult. That’s on me. I can be better.”
Seth Jarvis sealed it with an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds remaining.
The Capitals’ season is over despite an unassisted goal by Beauvillier and some important saves from Thompson among his 18, though the two goals he allowed were not pretty.
“Credit to Freddie Andersen: I thought he was the better goalie this series,” Thompson said. “I think I could have been better and made a couple saves in Raleigh and definitely tonight.”
Washington started strong, got a few quality scoring chances but could not get through tight-checking defense to prolong the series.
“It was tight out there,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “Liked a lot of what we did tonight. Just didn’t do enough of it.”
And thus ended the Capitals’ most successful season since they won the Stanley Cup in 2018. They made the playoffs a year ago — barely — and were swept immediately by the New York Rangers. Not much more was expected in 2024-25, but Washington celebrated its 50th anniversary season in style, finishing atop the Eastern Conference standings and helping Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record.
The Capitals dispatched Montreal in five games before facing a Carolina team that pressured them from the start and never allowed Washington to get comfortable.
“It’s tough obviously. We had a special group,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t think we played bad hockey. We had lots of great chances to get the lead. It’s tough.”
Ovechkin scored one goal in the series against Carolina after contributing four in the first round and 44 during the regular season.
“For him to come back this year and play the way that he did, chase down this record, start that he had, breaking his leg, coming back from that, and just continuing to not only do the things he did individually statistically, but lead our team,” Carbery said. “It’s why people are going to look at this team and go, ‘How did this team do so well? How did they win the East?’ He’s a big part of that.”
Ovechkin turns 40 in September. Carbery was asked if he expects his star back next season.
“My understanding is he’s under contract so he’ll be back next year,” Carbery said.
Assuming that’s true, the Capitals will likely be taken more seriously as contenders next season than they were at the beginning of this one.
“This is one of the greatest seasons that I’ve ever been a part of as a coach or a player,” Carbery said. “What we went through as a group this year and what they accomplished and O’s record and everything that went into this season — I will never forget this group. Really, really memorable year.”
]]>The band has returned the favor.
Front man James Hetfield met the horse at Churchill Downs before the Kentucky Derby, and he and the rest of Metallica filmed a video for Casse and Co. wishing Sandman well in the Preakness this weekend.
“We’re excited to cheer on the people’s horse, Sandman, who’s heading to Pimlico Race Track in Baltimore this Saturday for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown,” Hetfield said. “Metallica would like to wish Sandman and his awesome team good luck for a safe and winning trip at Preakness 150. Enter Sandman!”
Metallica also sent shirts to outfit the entire Casse Racing operation. Casse sent a hat signed by Hetfield to a friend and received in return a pair of Metallica-logoed underwear.
“I will be wearing them,” Casse said. “There’ll be no stone unturned.”
Sandman could use luck turning in his favor after finishing seventh in the Derby. Accustomed to being in the back of the pack, he struggled in the slop as he had more mud kicked back in his face than normal because of the 18 horses ahead of him.
“He just never got comfortable,” Casse said. “That’s why we’re here. We’re going to throw that one out. Hopefully we get a better track on Saturday, and even if we don’t, we’re only going to have eight horses throwing mud back at us.”
Calm River Thames
Todd Pletcher-trained River Thames was one of the latest-arriving Preakness horses, getting to Baltimore on Wednesday. The strapping colt took to the track at Pimlico for the first time Thursday morning, galloping a mile under exercise rider Nick Merritt.
“Just trying to keep him happy for the race, essentially,” Merritt said. “Chill, chill horse. He’s taking it all in.”
Pletcher has won the Derby twice and the Belmont Stakes four times. A Preakness victory is the last thing missing from his Triple Crown resume, and River Thames opened as the 9-2 third choice on the morning line after 8-5 favorite Journalism and Sandman at 4-1.
Baffert and Lukas
The far corner of the stakes barn at Pimlico during Preakness week has seen many Hall of Fame trainers, including good friends Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas chatting, telling stories and, often, giving each other and anyone within earshot a hard time.
They took their buddy comedy on the road for the annual Alibi Breakfast, roasting and poking some fun at fellow trainers. Lukas said he tried to talk Mike McCarthy out of having Journalism in the No. 40 stall usually reserved for the Kentucky Derby winner.
“That’s the kiss of death — you can’t put him in there,” Lukas said. “I told him to go over and get him into another stall. Bob said: ‘No, no, leave him there. Leave him there.’ Don’t make him feel comfortable. He’s already got the favorite.”
Baffert responded: “The best horse wins the race, Wayne. It doesn’t matter what stall he’s in.”
Lukas and Baffert then turned their attention to Casse, who is based in Ocala, Florida, but is the most accomplished trainer at Woodbine Racetrack outside Toronto.
“We’ve got to watch out for this Mark Casse; he’s won the Sovereign Award as leading trainer in Canada about 35 times or something,” Lukas said.
“What happens in Canada stays in Canada,” Baffert quipped. “It’s like Vegas, OK?”
Lukas chimed back in: “It doesn’t count. Mark, nothing counts in Canada.”
]]>“It was a scary accident,” Mena recalled Wednesday. “I broke 24 bones in all my body, and I was in a coma for five weeks.”
Now 33, Mena has a mount in a Triple Crown race for the first time. He will be aboard local long shot Pay Billy in the 150th Preakness Stakes this Saturday, the apex of his up-and-down career that also included a broken femur, which not long ago led him to consider retirement.
“I said to (my wife) Jaqui maybe if I don’t make it in five years — I’m just going to take five more years — if I don’t make it, I’m not going to ride horses anymore because it’s very painful and it’s stressful,” Mena told The Associated Press. “But I think if you keep pushing forward, you never know when you can be part of a race of the Triple Crown.”
That would not have been imaginable in the immediate aftermath of his spill at Valparaiso Sporting Club Viña del Mar. When he woke up from the coma, Mena realized he had broken six vertebrae, six ribs, both shoulders, his collarbone and more.
One doctor told him he would never ride again.
“A couple months later, the doctors say maybe you’re going to be OK walking, but try to find a new job,” Mena said. He was given 18 months to heal. Eight months later, not yet 20 years old and determined to keep going, Mena returned to the track.
“I wasn’t 100% to ride the horse, that’s for sure,” Mena said. “When I came back, I wasn’t feeling really good, but I was young and I was doing it.”
Mena moved to the U.S. in November 2014 and started his path to success. He set a career high for wins in a season in 2019, then won $1.78 million in purse money in 2021 and eclipsed that figure with $1.83 million last year.
Pay Billy qualified for the Preakness by winning the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel Park in Maryland last month, with Mena aboard for trainer Michael Gorham.
“He’s a hard worker and he’s got determination, takes care of himself and keeps himself in excellent shape,” Gorham said. “If he wants to do it, he does it.”
Journalism hits the mud
Preakness favorite and Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism took to the track at Pimlico Race Course for the first time Wednesday morning, getting in a light, mile-long gallop on a muddy track following over an inch of rain overnight.
“I think he was fine,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “He’s an easy read. … He was just kind of having a look around. We certainly weren’t looking for anything spectacular.”
Journalism was installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite after finishing second to Sovereignty in the Derby. Sovereignty’s owners and trainer opted to skip the Preakness, citing the short two-week turnaround.
Three Derby horses are running: Journalism, seventh-place Sandman and 16th-place American Promise. McCarthy wanted to see the right signs in his horse before deciding to go to the Preakness.
“I just didn’t want to commit without having laid my eyes on him first for a couple of days,” McCarthy said. “My guys have been telling me all week how good he was doing. There’s a lot of moving parts. There’s multiple (owners) and things like that, so everybody needs to be kept abreast and on the same page.”
Blinkers cut back?
After taking all six of his horses he brought to Pimlico to the track in the rain and the mud, 89-year-old Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas was pleased with how Preakness entrant American Promise and Princess Aliyah — who’s running in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes for 3-year-old fillies Friday — handled the slop.
“Exceptionally good,” Lukas said from his usual seat in the corner of the stakes barn. “There was a lot more moisture in the track than I thought there would be. I didn’t know it rained that much.”
It might’ve also given him an idea for the Preakness if the conditions are similar. American Promise races with blinkers on his face to keep his eyes focused ahead of him, but those might get adjusted to reduce the amount of mud obscuring the horse’s vision.
“I may cut them back a little bit,” Lukas said. “It just packs in there, so what I do is, if it’s raining like this, I just nip them back.”
]]>