LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The owners of California Chrome are putting all their hopes into the chestnut colt to win the Kentucky Derby. After all, hes the only horse they own. California Chrome, based at lesser-known Los Alamitos racetrack in suburban Los Angeles, is the early 5-2 favourite for Saturdays 140th Derby with good reason. He has won four straight races by a combined 24 1/4 lengths under Victor Espinoza, who won the Derby in 2002 with War Emblem. "Hes so light on his feet," Espinoza said. "He just does things so easy and makes my job easy." California Chromes owners, Steve Coburn and Perry Martin, are no Kentucky blue bloods. Theyre a couple of working stiffs who live near Reno, Nevada. A trainer called them "dumb asses" for getting into the racing game, inspiring the duo to put the letters DAP on their silks, which stands for Dumb Ass Partners. "Were going to go down in history," Coburn predicted. California Chrome is the product of an $8,000 mare and a $2,500 stallion. Hes earned more than $1 million already, making it somewhat easier for Coburn and Martin to turn down a pre-Derby offer of $6 million for a 51 per cent stake in the horse. "Weve been blessed with this colt," Coburn said. "The first time we saw him, we knew it was going to be something special." If their tale seems improbable, well, its happened before at Churchill Downs. Mine That Bird, a 50-1 shot owned and trained by two guys from New Mexico mocked as cowboys, pulled off the stunning upset in the 2009 Derby. At 77, Art Sherman, who oversees California Chrome, would be the oldest trainer to win. His colt would be the first California-bred to wear the garland of red roses in 52 years. "Hes feeling good and hes doing good," Sherman said. "Hes coming up to this race right." Rosie Napravnik wants to grab history, too. No female jockey has won the Derby, although she came closest -- fifth last year. Napravnik will ride 20-1 shot Vicars In Trouble. Her husband, Joe Sharp, works closely with the Louisiana-bred colt as assistant to trainer Mike Maker. "The story would almost be too good if we won it," she said. Wicked Strong is the early 6-1 second choice. The colt is named for the victims of last years Boston Marathon bombings and is trained by Jimmy Jerkens, who has his first Derby horse. Trainer Todd Pletcher has four horses in the Derby -- Danza and Intense Holiday are both 8-1 while his other two are longer shots, 30-1 Vinceremos and 50-1 We Miss Artie. Danza is named for "Taxi" actor Tony Danza, who planned to attend the Derby. Maker will saddle three horses, all long shots. Besides Vicars In Trouble, he has 15-1 General a Rod and 50-1 Harrys Holiday. "When those gates open, anything can happen," Maker said. Three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert is down to 20-1 shot Chitu after being forced to scratch early second favourite Hoppertunity because of a minor foot problem. "California Chrome has proven hes a really good horse," Baffert said, adding, "Theres a lot of parity in this field. Everybody might have a chance." Getting the ideal trip in the 1 1/4-mile Derby is important, especially with the traffic from 19 horses making a chaotic charge into the first turn. Jockeys want to avoid anything that would prevent their horse from getting into rhythm, like being bumped, cut off or blocked. Sherman believes the key is the first 70 yards. "You want to get out and get yourself some position," he said. Trainer Steve Asmussen takes a shot with Tapiture, who started three times at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old. Asmussen is under investigation by Kentucky and New York racing officials after an animal rights group alleged he and his former assistant mistreated horses in their care. The forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 73 degrees, with a crowd of at least 140,000 expected. Keep an eye on jockey Calvin Borel. He and 15-1 shot Ride On Curlin will break from the No. 18 spot in the starting gate. Borel will try to hustle the colt over to his favourite path on the track -- the rail. The rider nicknamed "Bo-rail" for his fence-skimming rides has three Derby wins in the last seven years.
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Pablo Sandoval Jersey .com) - Sixth-seeded Feliciano Lopez was a first-round winner on Monday at the Delray Beach Open tennis event.LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida - However you slice it, the Blue Jays need to add two starting pitchers before the season starts on March 31 in Tampa Bay. Whether the return to health of Brandon Morrow and the emergence of one of the clubs pitching prospects – Drew Hutchison, Kyle Drabek, Sean Nolin, Marcus Stroman – add up to two arms or whether acquisitions are made via trade or through free agency, the rotation must improve in order for Toronto to contend. With the wrap up of this mass gathering of owners, executives, media and the odd player, general manager Alex Anthopoulos hopes now is the time he can truly get down to business. “I actually get relieved when we leave the winter meetings,” said Anthopoulos. “I find we can get back to work a little bit when we get back home. Theres too much going on here with every team. Theyve got agent meetings, clubs and I think people, including us, can just get paralyzed.” Despite his feeling toward the three day event, Anthopoulos believes hes laid the foundation for possible moves. “Similar, I would say,” said Anthopoulos when asked to compare his work to that of past winter meetings. “There are some things that we could do. Were trying to do more than one thing, especially on the trade market. We have so many assets so were trying to figure out, okay, how can we divide up all these assets and make sure that we get these two or three things rather than just use too many assets to get one and then were stuck.” Despite a disappointing 2013 and the expectation of a bounce back next year, he doesnt feel rushed to make a move and wont be pressured. “Were comfortable going into any time,” said Anthopoulos. “Theres no timeline of December, January. Whenever it happens, it happens. We did the Vernon Wells deal in late January.” KNUCKLING UP One-time Blue Jay Tomo Ohka is back in the fold, signing a minor league contract. Ohka, 37, is attempting to follow the path of R.A..dddddddddddd Dickey and reestablish his career as a knuckleballer. “The one thing is hes a good athlete,” said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. “Hes got a repeatable delivery and he was a strike thrower, which is a pretty good combination. How much success he has, how it works, too hard to tell but he does have some of the ingredients and he has a will, he has a will to do it.” Anthopoulos has approached R.A. Dickey about tutoring Ohka and Dickey has agreed to be of help where he can. Dickey successfully transitioned from being a conventional pitcher to a knuckleballer. Expect Ohka to begin the 2014 season with Double-A New Hampshire. Ohka made 10 starts for the Blue Jays in 2007, posting a record of 2-5 with a 5.79 ERA. He spent three-and-a-half seasons with the Montreal Expos, winning 27 games, before moving with the franchise to Washington for the 2005 season. RULE 5 DRAFT The Blue Jays selected left-hander Brian Moran from the Seattle Mariners but promptly traded him to the Los Angeles Angels for international cap space. The deal affords the Jays a higher monetary ceiling in the pursuit of young, draft ineligible international free agents. CURBING COLLISIONS The push is on to ban collisions between base runners and catchers at home plate. “I dont have a strong feeling one way or the other, I could go either way,” said Anthopoulos on whether home plate collisions should stay in, or be removed from, the game. “Theres more money involved. Salaries are going up. Its tough when you lose these guys with collisions and things like that. I think thats a big factor, obviously. You just cant afford to have some of your star players going down.” A draft document detailing the new rule will be ready in January, at which point it will require approval from the rules committee, owners and the Players Association. Fines and suspensions are expected to be among the penalties for offenders in home plate collisions.
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