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.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
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.
Eleven shots separated Phil and Tiger Sunday at Pebble Beach as Lefty secured his 40th Tour win. Jason Sobel had 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.
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - By virtue of his victory in the Florida Derby on Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Quality Road has emerged as the No. 1 seed for the Kentucky Derby from the Southeast Regional.
Over the next few weeks, the last round of Derby preps will be held in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, and New York, the results of which will determine not only who the main contenders are to face Quality Road in the Derby, but also whether he will again have to face some of those he beat on Saturday.
Dunkirk, who finished second in the Florida Derby in only his third lifetime start, and Theregoesjojo, who was third, are taking different paths over the next five weeks. Even though Dunkirk is in a precarious position in terms of graded stakes earnings, Dunkirk "will absolutely not run" again before the May 2 Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher said.
If more than 20 horses enter the Derby, which has become the norm in recent years, graded stakes earnings is the criterion for a berth in the field. This year, only 19 spots will be available if Mafaaz, the winner of the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes at Kempton, utilizes his guaranteed spot in the Derby. Dunkirk has $150,000 in graded stakes earnings, which right now puts him on the bubble. But there are a number of horses who will race in upcoming weeks who could leapfrog past him.
"He's going to stay at Palm Meadows, where I'll prepare him as if he is going to run in the Derby," Pletcher said. "If not, we'll go to Plan B, which would be the Peter Pan or Preakness. I thought he ran a big race Saturday. He's obviously a very nice horse who we've asked to do a lot in a very short period of time."
Theregoesjojo, however, could race once more before the Derby, in either the Blue Grass Stakes or the Lexington Stakes, both at Keeneland, according to trainer Kenny McPeek. Theregoesjojo is below Dunkirk on the graded earnings list.
"I'm keeping my options open as far as running Theregoesjojo again," McPeek said. "Possibly the Lexington, but I won't rule out the Blue Grass either. I think he might really like the Polytrack."
The Blue Grass is April 11, the Lexington April 18.
Quality Road will not race again before the Derby. He is likely to remain at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida for the time being, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said after the Florida Derby.
Quality Road got a Beyer Speed Figure of 103 in the Florida Derby. Big Drama got a 108 for crossing the wire first in the Swale Stakes - before being disqualified in favor of This Ones for Phil - on the Florida Derby undercard. Even though Big Drama has enough graded stakes earnings to make the Derby field, he will not be sent down that path, trainer David Fawkes said Monday.
Jerkens said Quality Road was going to be a late nominee to the Triple Crown. The deadline for that was last Saturday night, at a cost of $6,000, after a clerical error resulted in him not being nominated for $600 in January. Musket Man, the Tampa Bay Derby winner, and Win Willy, the Rebel Stakes winner, are others who were expected to have been late nominees. The late nominees, which usually number about a dozen, will be announced officially this week.
The Florida Derby was one of two Derby preps on Saturday that carried significant graded stakes earnings implications. Halfway around the world in Dubai, Regal Ransom held off stablemate Desert Party in the United Arab Emirates Derby, potentially giving Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin Racing two Derby starters.
"Regal Ransom has improved a lot, and both will now go for the Kentucky Derby," trainer Saeed bin Suroor was quoted as saying on Godolphin's web site. "I was happy with them, though I think we will see Desert Party run better races in the future. The fact that they finished 15 lengths clear of the third shows they are two very good horses."
Simon Crisford, Godolphin's racing manager, was quoted on the website as saying, "We are planning to send both the first and second to America for the Kentucky Derby if they come out of this all right.
"Both horses ran super races, and they are legitimate contenders for the Kentucky Derby," Crisford said. "They will ship to Churchill, and we will wait until closer to the Kentucky Derby to decide if both run or we leave one for the Preakness Stakes, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it."
The Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, is May 16 at Pimlico.
Regal Ransom got a Racing Post Rating of 112 winning the UAE Derby, 7 points higher than the rating Desert Party got in the UAE 2000 Guineas on Feb. 12.
The $800,000 Sunland Derby, which is not a graded stakes race, was won on Saturday by Kelly Leak, who got a Beyer Figure of 87.
There are three important preps this week, all, like the Florida Derby, at 1 1/8 miles. In California, Pioneerof the Nile and The Pamplemousse are expected to top the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby. Musket Man is heading to Hawthorne for the Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby. And in New York, I Want Revenge takes on Imperial Council in the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
Danger to Society, who was scratched from the Florida Derby and was expected to go to the Wood, will now run in the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 11, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said.
The first of three pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins its three-day run on Friday and the bet's opening scenario is very similar to each of its opening pools since the wager was created in 1999.
It's first time that Classic will be broadcast in primetime on Nov. 3.
DAILY RACING FORM |
 |
 | INTERACTIVE |
 |
 | Slideshow |
 | Derby celebs Plenty of stars from the entertainment and sports world attend the 136th Kentucky Derby. more photos |
| INTERACTIVE |
 | Triple Crown winners The horses that have won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in the same year. |
 | Slideshow |
 |
The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos |
Zambia has won the African Cup of Nations, beating pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 8-7 on penalties in a dramatic final at Stade de l'Amitie.
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.
NBC Sports TV and livestream listings