Hilfestellungen » Downey/Nichols matchup could be one

There is an old-fashioned reliability about California Chrome that is taken for granted in this age of speed figures and big-day performances.Put it this way: In a career of 23 races dating to his maiden special weight debut at Hollywood Park on April 26, 2013, California Chrome has never missed a start while under the training and management of Art Sherman and his crew.The only time California Chrome had to bow out of a commitment was at Royal Ascot in June 2015, when he had been removed from the Sherman stable and trained in Newmarket, England. California Chromes scratch from the Prince of Waless Stakes was a humiliating blow for Sherman, whose name was still associated with the champion despite an absence of more than two months from his care.Once California Chrome was returned to the Sherman stable last October, Sherman laid out a campaign for 2016 by the seasons, each season geared toward winning a major prize. The winter aimed for the $10 million Dubai World Cup with a comeback in the San Pasqual at Santa Anita and a minor prep in Dubai. Bulls-eye. The spring was for World Cup recovery, followed by two races during the summer at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap and the $1 million Pacific Classic. Nailed them both.Now comes the autumn and Shermans two-step to the $6 million Breeders Cup Classic on Nov. 5. Step 1 comes Saturday in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, a race the trainer does not take lightly, even though he could if he wanted. Facing basically the same West Coast horses he has tamed three times this year, Sherman was asked if he was torn between letting California Chrome coast to a conservative score or uncork a doozy in hopes of scaring off Breeders Cup competition.I dont know -- what do you think? he replied, keeping his cards close. Im just hoping the race goes. The racing secretary said hed run if he had to.No doubt, Sherman has been blessed with a superior racehorse of intrinsic soundness, robust health, and strong recuperative powers. But the trainer takes nothing for granted.I think weve done a lot to make sure he stays the way he is, Sherman said last weekend, shortly after California Chrome turned in his final work at Los Alamitos for the Awesome Again. The double-wide stall he loves. The attention he gets from all our people. After every race, he gets X-rayed to make sure nothings changed. We take blood all the time to tell us if what we see is the real thing, because the good ones will sometimes fool you, and we dont want something sneaking up on us.The Awesome Again, a 1-1/8-mile race under allowance weight conditions, used to be a handicap called the Goodwood. The name was easy to lose since there was no reason to continue to honor the relationship between the Oak Tree Racing Association and Goodwood Racecourse in England once Oak Tree had been booted from its lease at Santa Anita Park.Oak Tree persists as a charitable entity by sponsoring meets at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, Calif., so it is out of the big-race business. Goodwood, on the other hand, continues to run the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes during its Glorious Goodwood meet in late July, further evidence as to why there will always be an England.Everyone appreciates that Awesome Agains 1997 record of six wins in six starts -- including the Stephen Foster, the Whitney, and the Breeders Cup Classic -- should have earned him some kind of recognition beyond a place in the Canadian Hall of Fame. And no one has anything but admiration for Awesome Again as a stallion who boasts sons and daughters like Ghostzapper, Game On Dude, Ginger Punch, Round Pond, Awesome Gem, and Oxbow.We also get it that Frank Stronach raced Awesome Again and stands him at his Adena Springs Farm in Kentucky, and Santa Anita is Stronachs racetrack. Still, the renaming would have gone down a whole lot easier if Awesome Again had run at least once at Santa Anita, which he did not.You could slap the name of Trump University on Saturdays race, and it wouldnt make any difference to California Chrome. The last time he failed to fire his best shot was in the 2014 Pennsylvania Derby, when the size of the purse and the bonuses attached got the better of his people. Given the rare chance of campaigning a mature, 5-year-old stallion, Sherman awakens each day like a man with the weight of the game on his shoulders.Hes so honest, so straightforward, you just want to always do right by him, and for his fans, Sherman said. I think we have, but weve got a couple more challenges to go.Sherman stared off in the direction of California Chrome as he headed back to the stables after a work, then turned to his phone and punched in the clockers number.Thats what I got, Sherman said, and then hung up.The clocker told me Im getting better at the poles, Sherman said with a wink. He even offered me a job. Who knows, I might need one after Chromes gone. But I dont want to think about that just yet. Homme Air Max TN Plus Ultra Bleu/Blanc . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Nike Air Max TN Plus Ultra Betrue Blanc . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. http://www.airmaxtnplus.fr/air-max-tn-femme.html . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Nike Tn Requin Pas Cher Livraison Gratuite . Denis Coderre, the former federal MP who was elected mayor on Nov. 3, has drawn the ire of some Montreal Canadiens. During last nights game he tweeted: "Hello? Can we get a one-way ticket to (minor-league) Hamilton for David Desharnais please. Nike Tn Pas Cher Homme . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. After failing to make a 3-pointer in a game for the first time since 2011, Virginia head coach Tony Bennett wasnt too concerned with his teams shooting performance after the Cavaliers dispatched of St. Francis Brooklyn 72-32 on Tuesday night.In fact, Bennetts mood was very positive, mostly due to Virginias stellar frontcourt play and a balanced scoring attack that saw six players score at least eight points.I think we are going to have to continue to be balanced, Bennett said. I think this is more of a balanced scoring team, and I like that. It is nice to have guys that when you need a bucket can go get one.No. 8 Virginia will be looking for their 22nd straight win at John Paul Jones Arena Sunday afternoon against Yale.Like the Cavaliers, the Bulldogs have begun the 2016-17 campaign 2-0 and have had some impressive offensive numbers to show for it. After knocking off a talented Washington team on the road 98-90 to start the season, Yale proceeded to hang 89 points on Lehigh in an overtime win Thursday night.The two teams will clash with different styles of play as Yale will look to speed up a Virginia team that currently leads the country in scoring defense at just 41 points per game.I think this team understands that we are going to have to be so good defensively, Bennett said. That is going to be our ticket. We said that is mandatory for us and we know what we have to do.The Cavaliers will have to deal with Yale forward Sam Downey, who is leading thhe Bulldogs with an average of 19.dddddddddddd5 points per game while playing 39 minutes. Downey and his fellow frontcourt mates will have to deal with a deep Virginia team that boasts five players currently fighting for two spots underneath.Memphis transfer Austin Nichols saw his first game action with the Cavaliers on Tuesday after being suspended for Virginias opener against UNC Greensboro. Nichols put in 11 points in just 16 minutes and showed why he is widely considered as one of the best big men in the country.A Downey/Nichols matchup could be one to keep an eye on as the Bulldogs play their first of two straight games against an ACC opponent (Pittsburgh on Nov. 22).Virginia currently boasts six players who are averaging at least eight points per game through the first two games. Guard Marial Shayok leads the Cavaliers at 11.5 points per game.Much like Bennett and Virginia, Yale head coach James Jones knows the key to his teams success is balance.The best part of our team through the first two games is that weve gotten contributions from everybody in both games, Jones said. When you get contributions like that especially off of the bench, it makes your team that much better.Virginia will be the first ACC team Yale has played since the second round of last seasons NCAA Tournament where the Bulldogs fell 71-64 to Duke. ' ' '