according to the Sabres website. Buffalo struggled with penalties in the loss to Boston. Youve got to stay composed, whether youre mad about it or not or you dont agree. Weve got to keep our compos

As noted in this space last week about the strongly run Breeders Cup Juvenile by Classic Empire and Not This Time, there is much optimism for this years class of 2-year-old males. More encouraging signs came Saturday in stakes victories from Mastery and Gunnevera.Mastery, a most eye-catching debut winner at Santa Anita just two weeks before the Breeders Cup, won the Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar, a springboard to the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity on Dec. 10. Mastery was supposed to win the Bob Hope. He was 1-5. So it says something about Mastery that he also managed to impress.Mastery absolutely toyed with runner-up California Diamond through the stretch run of the Bob Hope. The official win margin was 1-1/4 lengths, but it would have been significantly larger if Mastery had been asked to run. The thing that was most striking about the stretch run of the Bob Hope, however, was the contrasting profiles of the two protagonists.California Diamond might not be the second coming of Hindoo, but he had seven starts before Saturday; he won five, four of which were stakes, including three straight stakes scores. California Diamond had all the seasoning that Mastery lacked, and yet Mastery performed through the stretch as though hes been doing this racing thing forever.If there is one caveat regarding Masterys victory Saturday, it was that the pace he set was slow -- in fact, the slowest of the five main-track races on the Del Mar card -- and by a significant margin. But there are a couple of points that might mitigate the slow fractions. For one, even though he was in front, Mastery still shut himself off, which I take as a strong indicator that he will successfully rate off the early lead.The other consideration is how Mastery finished. If he didnt finish well after that slow pace, then there wouldnt be nearly as much to get excited about. But Mastery went his seventh and final furlong in 11.61 seconds, which is fast, and strongly suggests stretching out will be no issue for him.Gunneveras win in the Delta Downs Jackpot was more of an in your face performance. He lagged early off a fairly strong but contested pace, and overwhelmed his field with a move at least five wide on the far turn that eventually carried him to the lead and then on to a near six-length romp.Gunneveras Delta Jackpot was flashy, but it is important to put his effort in some context. Gunnevera was the only member of the 10-horse field to have won a graded stakes race (he won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August), and he was also the only one in the field to have prior Grade 1 stakes experience (he finished fifth in Keenelands Breeders Futurity in his most recent outing).That said, one of the several things to like about Classic Empire even before he won the Breeders Cup Juvenile is he won the Breeders Futurity despite stretching out to two turns for the first time in his first representative start in three months; Im not counting his Hopeful appearance, when he wheeled coming out of the gate as the favorite as a representative outing. It should be noted that Gunnevera was in a similar position when he ran in the Breeders Futurity.The Breeders Futurity was Gunneveras first start in two months, and it was also his first start around two turns. He wasnt able to overcome those hurdles the way Classic Empire did. Gunnevera was put to a heavy drive on the far turn at Keeneland, yet he gave a little ground and position through the Breeders Futurity stretch run. But while that says Gunnevera has quite a bit of improving to do before he can be considered on the same level as Classic Empire, the outing in the Breeders Futurity worked perfectly for Gunnevera in the context of the Delta Jackpot.Unfortunately, the 2-year-old filly division this year hasnt been as compelling as the juvenile males has been, but that may begin to change after the smashing victory from Shanes Girlfriend in the Delta Downs Princess Stakes one race before the Jackpot.Shanes Girlfriend, a romping if surprising (she was 8-1 in a field of nine) debut winner at Santa Anita late last month, shipped and stretched out for the Princess, and ran off to score by just over 13 lengths. Now, it must be noted that there was not one graded stakes winner among the nine opponents she crushed Saturday, yet I still feel Shanes Girlfriend upstaged Gunnevera.The Princess was run at a mile, the Jackpot was at 1 1/16 miles; thats close enough to make pace comparisons. When you do, youll find the Princesss pace was faster to the first quarter (23.06 to 23.18) and substantially faster to the three-quarter mark (1:11.71 to 1:12.52). Shanes Girlfriend did what she did being right on top of that faster early pace, a pace that was actually the strongest sustained pace (emphasis on the word sustained) all day at Delta, and all day at Delta Saturday was 11 races.And for the record, Shanes Girlfriend completed her mile in 1:37.98. Gunnevera got his mile in 1:38.64. Yes, I know Gunnevera had another sixteenth to go after that mile split, but he certainly wasnt speeding up late, even if he was drawing away.Seattle Mariners Store . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Mitch Haniger Mariners Jersey . Self was acquired from the Buffalo Bandits in a trade for Alex Hill midway through last season, and made his debut in Rochester on March 16, 2013. https://www.cheapmariners.com/1715k-ricardo-sanchez-jersey-mariners.html . 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. Domingo Santana Mariners Jersey . -- If this was Aaron Gordons final home game at Arizona, and it almost certainly was, then he went out in style. Stitched Mariners Jerseys . Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2.BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo Sabres goalie Robin Lehner took care of business against his former team already once this season and will look to do so again when the Ottawa Senators come to town Wednesday night.Lehner is hitting his stride after missing one week earlier this season due to illness. In the 2-1 victory over Ottawa on Saturday, he was the clear standout with 32 saves -- including several highlight-reel stops.He was the one guy that, for the full 60 minutes, he gave it his all and was really a big reason why we won that game, Sabres forward Sam Reinhart said after Buffalos Saturday win over Ottawa, according to the Sabres team website.Hes a battler, Sabres forward Kyle Okposo said following the win, according to the Sabres website. Early in the season, you could see that his game was coming. He made some really good stops and the last few games that hes played, hes just been battling for us and making big saves. He made so many huge saves and his athleticism is really good. Its allowing him to make some of those saves.Lehners best stop in that game came with 5:06 remaining in the first period. The goalie charged out of the net and as Jean-Gabriel Pageau went wide to his left, Lehner sprawled on the ice and extended his arm to stop the puck with his blocker.The Sabres sent a first-round pick to the Senators to acquire Lehner last summer. In nine games, the goaltender has a record of 4-4-1 and a save percentage of .925.Buffalo willl be looking for a better team performance compared to their last outing.dddddddddddd. Following the win over Ottawa on Saturday, the Sabres had a clunker against the Boston Bruins on Monday and lost 4-0.Weve got to keep our cool no matter whats going on out there, Sabres captain Brian Gionta said, according to the Sabres website. Buffalo struggled with penalties in the loss to Boston. Youve got to stay composed, whether youre mad about it or not or you dont agree. Weve got to keep our composure. Thats what happens. The game gets running from you. You start reeling, you start getting frustrated and you get away from what you need to do to get back in the game.The Senators are coming off 3-1 loss to Nashville on Tuesday night.Goalie Craig Anderson has flourished between the pipes for Ottawa while at the same time coping with the news that his wife, Nicholle, had recently been diagnosed with cancer.Hes a strong person -- him and Nicholle both, and their two boys, Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki said, according to the Ottawa Citizen. I cant even imagine some of the emotions that hes feeling and what him and his family have to go through on a day-to-day basis. For him to show the kind of commitment hes not only shown to our team, but to his wife, its pretty special to see. Its a testament to him as a person. ' ' '