.Weve got a great opportunity this year and we dont want to let it slip so sometimes | Forum

Cupid broke from the rail and made a beeline for the center of the track. Cheap Falcons Jerseys China . He raced wide on the first turn, wide on the backstretch, wide on the second turn, even wider through the homestretch. In other words, everything went according to plan in the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Saturday at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. Cupid won by four lengths.It was obvious from early on the card that the Mountaineer main track had a deep, tiring rail. Trainer Bob Baffert could see it all the way across the country at Del Mar. Rafael Bejarano rode Cupid to his instructions.I told him hed better stay wide, Baffert said. He got him out there.Baffert likes to say hes been on the dirt-road derby trail this year. Maybe, but its a road with a gold shoulder. American Freedom won the $250,000 Iowa Derby, and Cupid captured the $500,000 Indiana Derby three weeks before taking down the $446,250 winners share of the West Virginia Derby purse.Cupid cost his owners, Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier, $900,000 at auction, but even though his 3-year-old campaign went awry in late spring and early summer, he now has earned more than $1.3 million.Cupid delivered one of the most impressive Kentucky Derby prep performances of 2016 when he won the Rebel Stakes in March, but he lost his air finishing 10th in the Arkansas Derby, and wound up having throat surgery rather than racing in the Kentucky Derby. His next race, a dull fourth in the Easy Goer at Belmont, was only a small step back in the right direction, but Cupid got back on track at Indiana Grand, and might have run even better Saturday.He was actually doing better coming into this race than the last one, Baffert said. Hes starting to fill out. His bodys getting stronger. Mentally, hes getting better. Hes an improving horse. That throat issue, we were lucky we jumped on that right away.Mo Tom and Economic Model were scratched from the race, and Economic Model looked like one of two entrants that might run early with Cupid. The other was No Distortion, and when he failed to show any early speed, Cupid was off to the races. Clear of his rivals, Bejarano steered right, sacrificing ground loss to get on the better part of the surface. Cupid went a quarter-mile in 23.57, a half in 47.97, three-quarters in 1:11.69, and turning for home wound up closer to the outside fence than the inner rail.We told Bejarano to stay off the fence, but man, Baffert said. The horse got a little lost way out there in the stretch.Indeed, Cupid ($5) for a brief moment appeared to be wandering, but Bejarano kept him to his task, and Cupid was much the best. He ran 1-1/8 miles in 1:50.54 while giving Baffert his third win in the West Virginia Derby. Whateverybodywants, a 74-1 shot, tracked the pace while racing fairly close to the rail and finished second, two lengths in front of Name Changer. Anaximandros was fourth, and Suddenbreakingnews, the 2-1 second choice, came from a distant last to finish a non-threatening fifth, two lengths ahead of third-choice Forevamo.Cupid, bred by JKG Thoroughbreds, is by Tapit and out of the Beau Genius mare Pretty n Smart. His career record now stands at 8-4-1-0. Baffert said the logical next stop for Cupid would be the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby in September at Parx Racing. Cheap Matt Ryan Jersey . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Cheap Falcons Jerseys Authentic . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. http:///...p-julio-jones-jersey . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan has accused his side of getting swept up in their record-breaking winning run and march toward a potentially historic NRL finals series.After having their club-record 15-game winning streak broken by a draw with Gold Coast, the Sharks four-month run without a loss came to an end against a red-hot Canberra last week.For many of the clubs long suffering fans, it was the loss they had to have, and Flanagan said he was hopeful it would help them refocus just four weeks out from the semi-finals.He said he felt his team were losing sight of what was important in the weeks leading up to their defeat against Canberra, which saw them surrender top spot to Melbourne.We were in a little bit of a holding pattern two or three weeks ago where we knew we were going to be in the semis and we had to continue to win games on the way home, Flanagan said on Friday.I think we were looking too far ahead to the semi-finals and its hard to keep their heads down and work really hard when they know theyre going to be in the semi-finals.The players coming back from Origin, right across the game in all clubs, struggle a little bit when they come out of Origin and they see daylight and they seee the semi-finals coming. 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Of course theyre quality players and they kick into gear and play really well in the last few rounds heading into the semi-finals.Flanagan was confident of a rebound when they face struggling St George Illawarra in a local derby on Saturday night.He admitted to giving his side numerous sprays in the lead up to last weeks loss after noticing his team getting caught up in the hype.Veteran skipper Paul Gallen on Thursday told Triple M that Flanagan had unleashed an award-winning dressing-down at halftime during their win over Newcastle three weeks ago.When asked about the incident, Flanagan said he had unleashed so many verbal tirades lately he found it hard to remember them.I cant remember them too much, they all sort of blend into each other, he said.But Ive had a couple lately.Weve got a great opportunity this year and we dont want to let it slip so sometimes young blokes think that things are going okay and even (skipper Paul Gallen), at this stage of his career, thought things were going okay and needed to be pulled into line. 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