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Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
Kobe Bryant hit a baseline jump shot with 4.2 seconds left and the Los Angeles Lakers wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding on to beat the Raptors 94-92 on Sunday, their eighth victory in nine meetings with Toronto
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
AP
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Nick Zito, go ahead and book a reservation for the first Saturday in May.
Undefeated War Pass gave the Hall of Fame trainer an entry into next year’s Kentucky Derby with a 4½-length victory in Saturday’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
The colt led all the way, beating Pyro by 4½ lengths, for Zito’s first victory in racing’s richest event since 1996.
“I always say it’s like the mini-Derby, this race,” Zito said. “So far we’ve got a mini-Derby. We’ve got to get a big Derby.”
War Pass improved to 4-0 and stamped himself as the winter Derby favorite, the traditional mantle assumed by every Juvenile winner. It wasn’t until this year that a Juvenile winner actually captured the Derby, with Street Sense breaking the jinx.
Famously superstitious, Zito said he was “absolutely” glad that Street Sense disposed of the curse.
Zito trained Derby winners Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go for Gin in 1994. He had a record five starters in the 2005 Derby, including favored Bellamy Road, but none of them finished in the money.
“It’s funny because it’s a sore spot,” he said. “I had a big team in there and didn’t make it. But sometimes just luck isn’t always in your corner. But today it was.”
Champagne Stakes winner War Pass covered 1 1-16 miles over Monmouth Park’s sloppy track in 1:42.76. He paid $6.40, $3.80 and $2.80.
Pyro returned $4.60 and $3.60, while Kodiak Kowboy was another 12 lengths back in third and paid $6.40 to show. Steve Asmussen trains both horses.
War Pass was running off three weeks’ rest and going around two turns for the first time in his burgeoning career.
The victory likely earned him another big honor as the nation’s best 2-year-old colt, an award given to Street Sense last year after his Juvenile win.
Zito praised his colt for being “as good as everything I’ve ever had. He just keeps getting better. He’s had tons and tons of talent.”
Owner Robert LaPenta of Westport, Conn., nearly sold War Pass before the Breeders’ Cup, getting what Zito called “a tremendous offer” on the colt.
“Now he would have a very high price on him,” said LaPenta, chairman of a company that provides services to protect personal identities and assets.
“But once they get to the tracks, once they prove they are racehorses, we don’t sell them. We are here to race.”
LaPenta couldn’t put a price on his emotions Saturday.
“It’s just amazing,” he said. “I hope I don’t wake up tomorrow morning and find out that this is a dream.”
War Pass has earned himself a long winter’s rest, with his next race possibly in February.
“We’re going to do everything we can come Derby day that he get that mile and a quarter,” Zito said. “It will be an interesting task.”
Zito’s only other Breeders’ Cup victory was in the Juvenile Fillies with Storm Song in 1996. The 59-year-old New York-based trainer is now 2-for-31 in the Breeders’ Cup.
Saturday’s eight Breeders’ Cup races started off on a winning note for veterans Zito and three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert. Juvenile Fillies champion Indian Blessing gave Baffert his first BC winner in five years.
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.