Tag Archives: Kentucky Derby

Espinoza Rides American Pharoah to Triple Crown Greatness

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Victor Espinoza has jockeyed his way into the history books…

American Pharoah, with the 43-year-old Mexican jockey at the reins, won the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

Victor Espinoza
Affirmed had been the last horse to win the Triple Crown, taking the most coveted prize in horse racing in 1978.

American Pharoah lived up to expectations on Saturday, pulling away from its challengers in the last stretch of the 147th Belmont Stakes and becoming just the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown.

“It’s very emotional,” American Pharoah’s trainer, Bob Baffert, said. “What a feeling. It’s probably going to take a few days to sink in.”

The horse, which is owned by Zayat Stables, won the Kentucky Derby on May 2 and the Preakness Stakes two weeks later, taking the first two legs of the Triple Crown.

Baffert and Espinoza had come up short in five previous bids between them to win the Triple Crown.

“He walked into the gate amazing,” Espinoza said. “He was ready today. As soon as I sat in the saddle, there was so much power and so much energy this horse had. He trained perfect, just unbelievable coming into the race.”

American Pharoah ended the longest streak without a Triple Crown winner in the history of American horse racing, with 13 horses losing in the Belmont Stakes after winning the first two races in the series.

The previous longest stretch without a Triple Crown winner was 25 years, spanning the time from Citation’s victory in 1948 to Secretariat’s win in 1973.

“It’s just an amazing thing. It’s just unbelievable how things work out. It’s just an amazing horse like American Pharoah. I was coming to this race with so much confidence the last two times. It’s just unbelievable,” Espinoza said.

Espinoza won the first two legs of the Triple Crown with War Emblem in 2002 and California Chrome last year, but he came up short each time at Belmont.

Triple Crown Winner Cabrera Earns ESPY Award for Best MLB Player

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He may have lost the ESPY for Best Male Athlete to the Miami Heat’s LeBron James. But Miguel Cabrera didn’t come empty-handed.

The  30-year-old Venezuelan baseball star, a third baseman for the Detroit Tigers, was named for Best MLB Player at the 21st ESPY Awards show on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera earned the award after becoming the first Triple Crown winner (.330 average, 44 home runs, 139 RBIs) since 1967 and winning the American League MVP title.

Meanwhile, Joel Rosario was named the year’s Best Jockey. The 28-year-old American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey won the award after riding the colt Orb to a win at the Kentucky Derby.

Rosario also won the world’s richest horse race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in March, aboard the US-based stallion Animal Kingdom.

ESPY Award is short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award.

Fan voting, conducted online, was based on performances spanning the past 12 months.

The awards show, which celebrates the year’s best athletes and moments in sports, was hosted by Mad Men star Jon Hamm.

Messi Named Best International Athlete at ESPY Awards

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The people have spoken… And, they’ve named Lionel Messi the best of the best…

The 25-year-old Argentine fútbol star—who claimed his third straight Ballon d’Or in January—was named Best International Athlete during Wednesday night’s ESPY Awards, which celebrate the year’s best athletes and moments in sports.

lionel-messi-barca

Messi, who plays for Futbol Club Barcelona in Spain’s La Liga, beat out some of the world’s biggest sports stars for the title, including tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng and his Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

During his record-breaking season, Messi scored 50 goals in La Liga and an unmatched 73 goals in all competitions. He also finished as the UEFA Champions League‘s top scorer for a fourth consecutive season with 14 goals.

But Messi wasn’t the only Latino athlete recognized…

Mario Gutierrez, who rode I’ll Have Another to victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, won as best jockey.

The 25-year-old Mexican jockey beat out Javier Castellano, Ramon Dominguez
 and John Velazquez for the trophy.

Award winners are selected exclusively through online fan voting from the list of candidates selected by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee.

Velazquez Rides Union Rags to Victory at Belmont Stakes

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The first time’s the charm for John Velazquez…

Riding Union Rags for the first time, the 40-year-old Puerto Rican jockey led the 3-year-old colt to victory at Saturday’s 144th Belmont Stakes.

John Velzquez & Union Rags

Union Rags determinedly budged through a narrow opening on front-running Paynter‘s left flank with eight strides to go and snatched a dramatic neck victory in the Triple Crown finale in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 85,811 showed up at Belmont Park.

“I waited for a hole to open up, and I got lucky,” said Velazquez. “The horse did it all. … If it happens, it’s brilliant. If it doesn’t happen, you’re a bum, basically.”

John Velzquez & Union Rags

Velazquez set up the move by putting Union Rags in Paynter jockey Mike Smith‘s blind spot. But he still could only hope that Paynter would move ever so slightly off the rail. With Atigun making a run on the outside, Smith switched to his left-hand stick — and Velazquez seized the opportunity.

“I said this could be my chance,” he said. “… At first the hole was pretty tight.”

Smith said he didn’t see Velazquez until too late.

“I could have tried to make a difference, but you don’t want to let the stewards (decide) the outcome of a race like this,” he said. “If I tried to do anything, I was going to put him in harm, and I certainly didn’t want to do that, either.”

John Velzquez & Union Rags
“I thought he rode a brilliant race,” Union Rags’ trainer Michael Matz  said of Velazquez. “Whether he got up there or wouldn’t, he still rode a great race. … He’s a strong rider, he knows Belmont, and those were some of the things that went into picking John.”

Velazquez, who will be inducted into racing’s Hall of Fame in August, now has won three Triple Crown races, and all came after rider changes. He won the 2007 Belmont with Kentucky Oaks winner Rags to Riches, after jockey Garrett Gomez had a prior commitment for the race. He won last year’s Kentucky Derby on Animal Kingdom after Robby Albarado was kicked in the face by a horse.