ARCADIA, Calif. -- Fort Larned is back to defend his title in the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic, a race he led all the way in winning as a 9-1 long shot last year. He is one of a total of 172 horses, including nine defending champions, which were pre-entered Wednesday for the $27 million, 14-race Breeders Cup world championships at Santa Anita on Nov. 1-2. Thirteen horses were pre-entered for the 1 1/4-mile Classic, which will be shown live in prime time next Saturday on NBC. Trainers Bob Baffert, Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher have two each. Baffert has Game On Dude and Paynter; Mott has Flat Out and Ron the Greek; and Pletcher has Graydar and Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice. Besides Fort Larned, the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in last years Classic will take another shot. "Looks like a heck of a field," Pletcher said. Defending Horse of the Year Wise Dan was pre-entered in the $2 million Mile. Royal Delta will defend her title in the $2 million Distaff, which has reverted to its original name after being called the Ladies Classic since 2008. Final entries and the post position draw will be Monday at Santa Anita, which is hosting the event for the seventh time. Twenty-four foreign horses were pre-entered. Chad Brown had a leading 11 horses pre-entered, including Last Gunfighter in the Classic. Pletcher was second with nine. Baffert had eight entries, followed by Doug ONeill with seven. Kentucky-based Ken and Sarah Ramsey had a leading seven pre-entries among owners. Co-owned by retired Dodgers and Yankees manager Joe Torre, Game On Dude is 5-0 this year, including Grade 1 wins in the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic. Hell try to win the Classic for the first time after getting nipped at the wire by Drosselmeyer in 2011 and fading to seventh as the favourite last year. Mike Smith, the leading Breeders Cup jockey with 17 victories, will ride him. "Its a very competitive race," Baffert said. "Youve got to bring your A game and you need racing luck." Fort Larned has been inconsistent this year, with just two wins in five starts. He will try to join Tiznow in 2000-01 as the only two-time winners of the Classic. Mucho Macho Man is coming off a win in the Awesome Again Stakes last month at Santa Anita, where he has been training for the Breeders Cup after coming from the East Coast. Mott, who won the Classic with Cigar in 1995 and Drosselmeyer two years ago, will saddle Flat Out and Ron the Greek, who finished third and fourth, respectively, last year. Flat Out is coming off a third-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont last month. Sent off at 21-1 odds, Ron the Greek won the Gold Cup by 6 3/4 lengths in a stark reversal of his recent form. Two talented 3-year-old colts, Palace Malice and Will Take Charge, were set to run in the Classic. Palace Malice followed up his Belmont win with a victory in the Jim Dandy. Will Take Charge, trained by 78-year-old D. Wayne Lukas, won the Travers and the Pennsylvania Derby. Besides Palace Malice, Pletchers other entry is Graydar, winner of the Donn and New Orleans handicaps. Among the other pre-entries in the Classic are Juddmonte International winner Declaration of War, trained by Irishman Aidan OBrien, and Ireland-bred Planteur, third in the Dubai World Cup. There will be nine races Nov. 2, including the $2 million Juvenile. Pletcher, Baffert, ONeill and Dale Romans have two entries each. The two-day event will open Nov. 1 with five races, highlighted by the Distaff. Royal Delta will face five foes: Authenticity, Beholder, Close Hatches, Princess of Sylmar and Street Girl. A maximum of 14 are allowed in each race, except the Dirt Mile, which is capped at 12. . Dillon Brooks scored 26 points on 9-17 shooting for Canada while pulling down six rebounds and picking up six steals. Teammate Chris Egi had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. . -- Andy Dorman and Kelyn Rowe scored in the second half to lead the New England Revolution to a 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinals series on Saturday night.
http://www.cheapchargersjerseysonline.c ... sey-online. -- Fantasy football owners and Denver Broncos fans can rest easy: Peyton Manning is back. . -- The Chicago Bears say they have agreed to a one-year contract with centre Roberto Garza. . But luckily for the Canadian squad, one goal was all it needed. Winnipegs Sophie Schmidt scored the winner off a Diana Matheson corner kick to seal Canadas third-place spot in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino in Brazil on Sunday.PITTSBURGH -- Solid starting pitching. A couple of defensive gems. Just enough hitting to make a difference. For a night, the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates managed to recapture a little bit of their 2013 magic. Do it a few more times and maybe their miserable start to 2014 will become a memory. Edinson Volquez allowed one run in six sharp innings, Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison made a splash both at the plate and in the field, and the Pirates edged the Washington Nationals 3-1 Thursday night. Volquez (2-4) ended a three-game losing streak by limiting the Nationals to three hits, walking two and striking out four. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his eighth save. McCutchen drove in two runs for the Pirates and made a sliding grab with two on in the ninth to end the game. Josh Harrison added two hits for Pittsburgh and added a run-saving catch of his own for the Pirates. "Thats what were known for, just playing routine baseball, not doing anything too out of the ordinary," McCutchen said. "(Just) getting in scoring position, getting some runs home and having pitching shut it down for us." Ian Desmond hit his eighth homer of the season for the Nationals, but Washington left 10 runners on base. Rookie Blake Treinen (0-2) struggled with his command in his second career start, giving up two runs on four hits in 5 2-3 innings, striking out four and walking five. The Nationals have lost three of four. "Our approach was fine," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "They made some really nice plays. That happens. Its big league baseball. They get paid to do that." Volquez had been a pleasant surprise during the seasons first month, but scuffled through his previous four starts, going 0-3 with a 10.19 ERA as part of a slide that had the Pirates well off the pace in the NL Central a year after making the franchises first post-season appearance in more than two decades. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle wondered if Volquez -- who led the National League in walks per nine innings last season -- was suddenly throwing too many strikes. The former All-Star did a better job mixing location and speed against Washingtons patchwork lineup. His only real miscue came on a 2-0 fastball in the fourth that Desmond sent iinto the seats in centre field that briefly tied the game at 1.dddddddddddd It was the 10th home run Volquez has surrendered this season, but he responded by retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced. "Just keeping the ball in the strike zone, keeping the ball in the ballpark," Volquez said. "I did it for a couple innings and Desmond hit a homer. A solo shot cant beat you, its only one run. You stay in the game and keep pitching." Treinen, who faced Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw in his previous major league start, wasnt quite as crisp. He retired the first eight batters he faced thanks in part to a sinker that topped out at 97 mph before getting loose in the third. He loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a single by Harrison before hitting McCutchen with an 80 mph changeup to force in a run. Trouble surfaced again in the fifth thanks in part to Harrison, who has provided a spark in right field even as the Pirates mark time until the likely arrival of highly touted prospect Gregory Polanco next month. Harrison walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a fly to centre before streaking home on a sharp single up the middle by McCutchen. Harrison is 13 for 37 (.351) since being moved into the leadoff spot earlier this month. Washington loaded the bases in the eighth off Tony Watson, but the left-hander retired Scott Hairston on a fly to shallow left field to get out of it and Melancon survived despite putting two runners on with McCutchens sliding grab on a sinking liner by Anthony Rendon sealing it. NOTES: The Pirates claimed right-handed reliever Josh Wall off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday and assigned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. Wall is 1-1 with a 15.15 ERA in 15 career major league games. To make room for Wall on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated RHP Phil Irwin for assignment. ... Nationals 1B Adam LaRoche went 0 for 2 in a rehab start for Class A Potomac on Thursday night. LaRoche has been on the disabled list since May 10 with a strained right quadriceps. LaRoche is eligible to come off the DL on Sunday. ... The series continues Friday night when Washingtons Jordan Zimmerman (3-1, 3.70 ERA) faces Pittsburghs Charlie Morton (0-6, 3.45). ' ' '
