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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.
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
NEW YORK - This ride was as smooth and impressive as his Preakness win was harrowing.
Scattering rivals with a stunning move on the far turn, Afleet Alex rolled to a seven-length victory in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, the last and longest of the Triple Crown legs.
Jockey Jeremy Rose turned him loose on the turn for home and Afleet Alex responded with locomotive-like power to blow away Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and nine helpless rivals.
“He’s a beast, he’s a freak of nature, he’s made out of steel,” Rose said. “He’s the best 3-year-old in the country.”
With no Triple Crown at stake, 62,274 racing fans at Belmont Park had to settle for watching an amazing colt who averted disaster by a whisker last month at Pimlico when he tangled with another horse and was nearly knocked to his knees.
Rose somehow managed to hang onto his mount in that ride; this time, he was just along for the ride.
“The only thing that was going to get him beat was me, so I just tried to just stay out of his way and let him do his thing and help in the last part,” Rose said.
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Rose blamed himself for his colt’s lost shot at racing immortality.
“He should be a Triple Crown winner, but I messed up,” Rose said, referring to Afleet Alex’s third-place finish at Churchill Downs, where he was beaten by two long shots.
But, hey, two out of three ain’t bad, with Afleet Alex becoming just the 11th thoroughbred to win the Preakness and Belmont after running — but not winning — the Derby. Among the elite group are Native Dancer, Nashua and Damascus, each of whom just missed in the Derby, too.
Afleet Alex easily won his rubber match with Giacomo, who finished seventh in the field of 11 3-year-olds. Andromeda’s Hero was second and Nolan’s Cat was third.
“I thought I had a good chance to win, but Afleet Alex went by me too fast,” said jockey Edgar Prado, who was aboard fourth-place finisher Indy Storm.
Afleet Alex dropped back early as long shot Pinpoint towed the field through a moderate pace. Giacomo, with Mike Smith aboard, was right off the leaders and made his move on the final sweeping turn. But just when it looked as though the Derby winner was going to roll to victory, Afleet Alex burst through and stormed into the lead.
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Giacomo never mounted another threat and faded in the stretch, while trainer Nick Zito finally hit the board in this year’s Triple Crown series with Andromeda’s Hero. It was Zito’s sixth runner-up finish in the Belmont, and a year after he won with Birdstone.
Winning time for the race was 2:28.75, well off Secretariat’s record of 2:24 in 1973. Afleet Alex finished so strongly, he ran the final quarter mile in 24.50 seconds, a half-second faster than Secretariat. To keep things in perspective, however, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths.
Nolan’s Cat, winless in five previous starts, was 6¾ lengths behind Andromeda’s Hero. Indy Storm was fourth, followed by A.P. Arrow, Chekhov, Giacomo, Southern Africa, Watchmon, Reverberate and Pinpoint.
Smith said Giacomo had a breathing problem during the race. “He flipped his palate real bad, you can hear it. He made a loud, roaring noise.”
Sent off as the even-money favorite, Afleet Alex returned $4.30, $3.60 and $3. Andromeda’s Hero, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, paid $8.20 and $5.80. Nolan’s Cat, with Norberto Arroyo Jr., paid $7.20 to show.
Afleet Alex became just the second favorite in the last 10 years to win the 1½-mile Belmont, where four of the previous six races produced huge payoffs. Last year, Birdstone spoiled Smarty Jones’ Triple Crown try and returned $74 for a $2 win ticket. In 2002, Sarava won and paid $142.50.
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Afleet Alex, again June 11: Watch the Belmont Stakes as jockey Jeremy Rose and Afleet Alex rally to win. |
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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.
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