Kentucky
Baeza looking to right a Kentucky Derby wrong by besting favorites at Belmont Stakes
SARATOGA SPRINGS — While many horse racing fans are expecting Saturday’s Belmont Stakes to be a rematch, it just might turn into a threematch.
Baeza made a late rush from the back of the pack in the May 3 Kentucky Derby, coming up less than two lengths short of winner Sovereignty, with Journalism in between.
Journalism then won the Preakness two weeks later, while Sovereignty rested.
Now, in the second Belmont Stakes to be conducted at Saratoga during Belmont’s renovation, Baeza is the third-favorite at 4-1 to get his slice of the Triple Crown pie.
“I had a hard time finding him [in the Derby] because it was so muddy that day, but once he got out and made his move, he was obviously finishing faster than any horse in the race,” trainer John Shirreffs told The Post. “After the race, [jockey] Flavien [Prat] said he didn’t get all the run he could have out of Baeza had he had an opportunity to get out a little sooner.”
Shirreffs is best known for training 2005 Kentucky Derby champion Giacomo and 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Zenyatta.
Prat has two Triple Crown wins — the 2019 Kentucky Derby aboard Country House and the 2021 Preakness with Rombauer.
Baeza himself is in position to claim a place in history.
With a victory on Saturday, his broodmare, Puca, would become the first to have produced three Triple Crown race champions, and she would have done it in consecutive years.
Mage won the Kentucky Derby in 2023 and Dornoch captured the Belmont Stakes last year.
Both were by Puca and Good Magic.
Baeza was sired by McKinzie. Like Mage and Dornoch, Baeza spent his first year and a half of life at Runnymede Farm in Paris, Ky.
“[Baeza is] a dream to train. I mean, there’s nothing I would want to change about that horse,” Shirreffs said. “He’s the perfect weight. He’s the perfect size. He’s got a beautiful stride. He’s got this great appetite. He’s the total package.”
Baeza is named after Hall of Fame jockey Braulio Baeza, who in 1963 became the first Latin American rider to win the Kentucky Derby aboard Chateaugay.
Owner Mike Repole, the billionaire benefactor of St. John’s basketball, has a Belmont Stakes championship with Mo Donegal in 2022 and a second place with Mindframe last year.
On Saturday, he sends 30-1 Uncaged to the post with trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Luis Saez.
Saez won last year’s Belmont Stakes aboard Dornoch.
Repole’s Fierceness will be hunting for an automatic bid to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile when he runs in the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap, Saturday’s eighth race.
Fierceness won the Travers Stakes in 2024, the signature event of Saratoga’s summer meet.
Giants board director Chris Mara made it to the winner’s circle on Friday.
He’s part of the ownership group of Bellacose, who won the first race for jockey John Velazquez and trainer Wesley Ward.
Jim Obergefell talks LGBTQ+ rights 10 years after Supreme Court ruling
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide, looks back on its impact 10 years later.
Happy Pride Month!
About 9% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual, and some places are safer for and more welcoming of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s how Kentucky ranks compared to other states.
How Kentucky ranks for being welcoming, safe for LGBTQ+ members
Kentucky ranks No. 35 out of 50 states for being welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Out Leadership’s State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index. While the commonwealth has climbed eight spots since 2019, it earned about 41 out of 100 possible points, receiving a B- grade.
The report comes as national scores continue to decline. The average state score has fallen for four consecutive years and now sits at 53.1, with 26 states scoring below 60, Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told USA TODAY.
The index suggests acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has declined in recent years, reversing progress that once improved the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ communities, Sears said.
“When we started this index eight years ago, the goal was to show Americans the issues that were still live but invisible — HIV criminalization, conversion therapy, where state legislators actually stood — because once marriage equality passed, a lot of people assumed the work was done. It wasn’t,” Sears said. “What we’ve documented since is a genuine regression.”
This year, Out Leadership added 12 new indicators measuring the effects of policies affecting LGBTQ+ people, including restrictions on bathroom access, pronoun and name use and gender-affirming care for adults. Sears said the additions were made to better capture policies that have increasingly affected LGBTQ+ residents and their families.
“For the last several years, we simply weren’t capturing forces that were already hitting LGBTQ+ citizens and their families,” Sears said.
SafeHome.org also ranks Kentucky on the lower side for LGBTQ+ safety. The state ranks No. 27 out of 51 jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and received a score of 80.7 and a B- grade.
The rankings are based on a score that combines state laws affecting LGBTQ+ residents and hate crime data. Researchers evaluated laws across several policy areas using input from a survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ people and paired the results with FBI hate crime statistics before calculating the final scores.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY Network. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
Kentucky got consecutive home runs from Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell to take a 9-6 lead over West Virginia. Chase Alderman and Nile Adcock combined to record five consecutive scoreless innings. The Bat Cats were three outs away from reaching — and hosting — a super regional.
West Virginia had other plans.
Free passes, a balk, and a three-run home run from Paul Schoenfield plated five runs in the ninth. It was absolute chaos in Kendrick Family Ballpark. Kentucky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That sets up one final game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers again, but this one could sting for some time. Jeff Drummond and myself are reacting to the crushing loss by taking a look at what went wrong, how it got off the rails so quickly. and what could be on the horizon for tomorrow.
Smash that play button.
More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel
Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.
Want more coverage of the Cats? Join KSR+
KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Now is the perfect time to join our growing online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard and House of Blue, the most vibrant message board communities in Big Blue Nation.
JOIN HERE
There is a ton of stress right now in Lexington as Mark Pope and the staff are trying to land Milan Momcilovic, but this recruitment is being stretched out, which isn’t good for Kentucky. It sounds like the Wildcats have the highest offer NIL money wise, but he still hasn’t committed which has Kentucky fans scratching their heads.
Since Momcilovic pulled his name out of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, Kentucky fans have felt pretty good about him being a Wildcat, but with the Wildcats being the hot name in the recruitment, fans wanted this done sooner rather than later. The other schools that are involved in this recruitment are Louisville and Arizona.
Louisville has spent a ton of money this offseason, but it sounds like they still have more in the tank, knowing their offer isn’t far off from Kentucky’s, according to reports. Arizona hasn’t offered as much as these two schools, so if Momcilovic were in it for the money, one would imagine that he ends up at Louisville or Kentucky.
When it comes to his system fit at these two schools, he fits in well with what both Pope and Pat Kelsey want to do. These teams want to shoot the three-ball a ton, and Momcilovic is the best shooter in college basketball. Both Kentucky and Louisville are in need of some shooters, so he would be a massive addition to either of these rosters.
Knowing the Wildcats had a ton of early momentum in this recruitment, Big Blue Nation wanted this to be a done deal late last week or early this weekend. It is midday on Sunday, and there is no word on his recruitment. It is head-scratching for Kentucky fans knowing that the Wildcats have a massive offer on the table, but he still hasn’t picked Kentucky.
While I do believe he will end up in Lexington, it is definitely a little bit concerning that he hasn’t done it already, knowing the Wildcats have thrown a ton of money his way. Pope knows how important adding a player like Momcilovic is to the upside of this team, so if he isn’t able to land him, things could get ugly next season in Lexington.
There is a world where he could commit later this evening, but if this keeps drawing out over the next few days, it really seems like Momcilovic might not want to be a Wildcat unless he is looking for more NIL money.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and YouTube for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
-
News9 minutes agoRemains of Los Alamos National Laboratory employee missing for nearly a year found in New Mexico forest | CNN
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoSticker shock not just affecting World Cup match ticket prices, but parking costs too
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoFrankie Valli cancels tour. Why Four Seasons won’t be back in Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoLive From Microsoft Build 2026 San Francisco
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas Cowboys Full OTA Schedule Ahead Of 2026 NFL Season
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoThese Miami pizza spots rank among America’s best
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoNew England’s most welcoming towns and best summer escapes
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoA Writer Goes Down the Rabbit Hole at Denver’s First Microdosing Cafe
