placed RHP Brandon McCarthy on the disabled list Saturday because of right | Forum

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Saucony Shadow 5000 Og . - A trainer flooding the field with five horses. A black jockey trying to make history, and a woman rider, too. Louisville coach Rick Pitino seeking a double — champions in racing and basketball. Hes sure in the right place. The 19-horse field for Saturdays Kentucky Derby is balanced, with no definitive favourite. Orb is the pre-race choice, just barely. Nearly overshadowed is his trainer, Shug McGaughey, who really, really wants this race. Doug ONeill trying to win back-to-back. And then theres the threat of rain, which has done in some of the best-laid plans on race day. It sure looks like a topsy-turvy Derby. "I dont think weve got Secretariat in this bunch, even Seattle Slew," four-time Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas said, "so I think its going to boil down to the trip and the pace and a lot of other things." Todd Pletcher will saddle a record-tying five horses — undefeated and early second choice Verrazano, Revolutionary, Overanalyze, Palace Malice and Charming Kitten. "We laid out a plan to get here with them, and its all come down pretty much like we hoped," said Pletcher, who has one Derby win with 31 previous starters. Verrazano is 4-0 in his young career, not having run as a 2-year-old. Hell be trying to disprove an old Derby jinx: no horse since Apollo in 1882 has won without racing as a juvenile. Relative unknown Kevin Krigger will be aboard Goldencents, trying to become the first black jockey to win since Jimmy Winkfield in 1902. "Im going to ride us the race that should get us to the Kentucky Derby winners circle," Krigger said. The colt is partly owned by Pitino, whose Cardinals won the NCAA championship last month. The coach recently got elected to basketballs Hall of Fame, so a Derby win would complete the ultimate trifecta. Rosie Napravnik wants to grab history for herself, too. No female jockey has ever won the Derby, although she came closest, with a ninth-place finish in 2011. Napravnik will ride 15-1 long shot Mylute. "He feels great, hes acting great and Im very confident heading into the Derby," she said. Orb was the narrow 7-2 early favourite for the 139th Derby. He comes in on a four-race winning streak for McGaughey, the 62-year-old trainer whose Hall of Fame resume lacks a Derby victory. Hes making his second appearance since 1989, when he finished second with Easy Goer. "I hope the track is fast and safe for everybody and nobody has any excuses, and let the best horse win," McGaughey said. Goldencents will be trying to deliver for more than Krigger and Pitino. Hes trained by ONeill, who put unknown Mario Gutierrez aboard Ill Have Another last year and won. The trainer is following the same script this time, giving Krigger a big break while trying to become the first trainer to win back-to-back Derbies since Bob Baffert in 1997-98. "We think it is our time," ONeill said. "We think it is us." Dont look for the white-haired Baffert on Saturday. The three-time Derby winner isnt saddling a horse this year, but like everyone, he had an opinion. "Whoever has the heart will win it," he said. The forecast calls for an 80 per cent chance of rain and a high of 59 degrees. The last Derby run on a sloppy track was in 2010. "Itll make the Derby that much more wide open," said trainer Ken McPeek, who has two starters, Frac Daddy and Javas War. Javas War and Golden Soul are Canadian-bred and owned by 66-year-old Edmonton native Charles Fipke. Lukas has two horses — Oxbow and Will Take Charge — ready for his 27th Derby. The four-time winning trainer planned to sleep soundly the night before. "I dont get uptight, dont even get excited when they go in the gate," he said. At 77, Lukas would be the oldest trainer to win. Oxbows jockey, Gary Stevens, will be pulling double-duty Saturday. Hell ride in his first Derby since ending a seven-year retirement earlier this year, and then return to his job as a racing analyst on NBCs telecast. The 50-year-old rider has won the race three times. "You go out there with the highest hopes," he said. "Ive walked back too many times after the Kentucky Derby and its a disappointment if they dont run their race. If were fortunate enough to win it, I know how to celebrate." Calvin Borel is one jockey always worth watching in the Derby. He and Revolutionary will break from the No. 3 spot in the starting gate, putting Borel near his favourite path on the track — the rail. The rider nicknamed "Bo-rail" for his fence-skimming rides has three Derby wins in the last six years. "This is his home court," Lukas said. "He does better here than anywhere else." Normandy Invasion can count on his own rooting section among the expected throngs at Churchill Downs. The colt named for the Allied assault on Normandy in World War II has four D-Day veterans backing him. They were flown in for the race by owner Rick Porter, and met the colt up close on Friday. Saucony Grid 9000 Premium Pack . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Saucony Grid 9000 Keys Open Doors . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. http:///...0-premium-black.html . -- Hunter Smith scored the winner with just 12 seconds remaining in the third period as the Oshawa Generals edged the host Sarnia Sting 5-4 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. CHICAGO -- Paul Goldschmidt cleared his head after being overpowered by Jeff Samardzija in his first three at-bats. Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 12-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night. Arizona starter Ian Kennedy (3-3) allowed four runs on three hits in seven innings and retired 20 of the final 21 batters he faced to help end Chicagos five-game winning streak. Gerardo Parra led the game off with a home run and Jason Kubel hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh inning for the Diamondbacks, who won for just the second time in 12 games at Wrigley Field. Nate Schierholtz hit a solo shot and an RBI double, but the Chicago bullpen couldnt hold a 3-1 lead for Samardzija, who was relieved after throwing 115 pitches. With the scored tied at 4 in the eighth inning, Parra hit what looked to be a go-ahead RBI double off Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol (2-3), but the ball got stuck in the ivy in the centre field wall, resulting in a ground-rule double. Willie Bloomquist, who was running on the pitch and wouldve easily scored from first, was sent back to third base. After a walk to load the bases, Goldschmidt hit a long shot off Marmols slider to centre field for his first career grand slam, giving the Diamondbacks an 8-4 lead. Goldschmidt struck out in his first three at-bats against Samardzija. "You can have three bad ABs, I dont even know if that qualifies as bad ABs. Samardzijas stuff was really good, but you get a chance to win the game in the eighth or ninth you cant live in the past," Goldschmidt said. "Its a game of failure. Its what the game is all about." Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson knows the feeling of rebounding after a few bad at-bats. "You are there, you are striking out, the fans are yelling at you, youre disappointed that youre letting the team down, but it is a great feeling when you come through. It happened to me many times," Gibson said. The Diamondbacks scored a season-high 12 runs and had a season-high 17 hits. Trailing 3-1 in the seventh inning, Goldschmidt worked a walk against Samardzija to put runners on first and second and end Samardzijas outing. After retiring the first batter he faced for the second out, Cubs reliever James Russell walked Martin Prado, and Kubel followed with a double to clear the bases and give Arizona a 4-3 lead. "One thing we did good against him we got his pitch count up. Then we got into their bullpen we got some big hits and won the game," Gibson said. After retirinng 17 straight batters, Kennedy was tagged by Schierholtz for a home run leading off the bottom of the seventh. Shadow Original Cruel World 2. . It was Schierholtzs seventh of season. "It was probably only the second time I shook off Miggy (Miguel Montero) all game. He called a great game," said Kennedy. "It was one of those things, Gosh darn it, I should have stayed with it." Samardzija showed flashes of his dominant performance against the White Sox on Monday, but was pitching in and out of trouble most of the night. He allowed three runs and seven hits, while striking out 11 and walking three. In his previous outing against the White Sox, he pitched a two-hitter while striking out eight. The Cubs bullpen gave an up nine runs and 10 hits with four walks in 2 2-3 innings. "The bottom line is, you walk eight guys, youre not going to win too many games, no matter what, when you walk eight guys. It basically came down to the walks. Obviously they got a couple big hits to bust the game open. But the walks were the difference in the game," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. After a 2-hour, 21-minute rain delay, Parra led off the game with a home run to right. It was the fourth time in his career he led off a game with a home run and it was his fifth of the season. "Theyre a fastball-hitting team, theyre really aggressive. I knew they were on it, especially after Parras first at-bat, so I started making better pitches. Used my slider to get ahead in the count and kind of got back on track there. Splitter was good. Just avoid those walks in the seventh," Samardzija said. With no outs in the first inning, the Cubs loaded the bases. David DeJesus scored on Alfonso Sorianos sacrifice fly then Schierholtz hit an RBI double down the right field line. Anthony Rizzo scored on Welington Castillos ground out to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead. Sveum was ejected by home plate umpire Joe West in the second inning after arguing a close call at first base. It was his second ejection of the season. Kennedy was back on the mound after missing his last start because he cut his right index finger while washing a knife. NOTES: Arizona 3B Eric Chavez is expected to miss two to three weeks after an MRI revealed a minor tear of his right oblique muscle. ... Diamondbacks placed RHP Brandon McCarthy on the disabled list Saturday because of right shoulder inflammation and recalled RHP Randall Delgado from Triple-A Reno. ... In his first game of the season, Bloomquist was 3 for 4. He was activated from the DL on Friday with an oblique injury. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys' ' '