Sports
Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan headlines Santa Anita opening day on Thursday
Santa Anita Park is opening its 90th season Thursday filled with the kind of cautious optimism that is common in most sports. Make no mistake, this is a big — some might say make-or-break — year for the storied Arcadia track that many consider the most beautiful horse racing facility in the United States.
The track is fighting for its future, struggling to get a foothold in a national racing landscape that is supported by supplemental gaming income. But not in California, at least not now.
This opening day has something the track hasn’t had in a while — the reigning Kentucky Derby champion. running . You have to go back to 1997 when Derby winner Silver Charm ran in the Malibu Stakes after winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown before finishing second in the Belmont. The difference? He was based at Santa Anita.
No doubt about it, Mystik Dan, winner of this year’s Derby, is the centerpiece for what is possibly the best day of racing during the almost six-month season. He’ll be going in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, one of six graded stakes on the 11-race card.
Getting Mystik Dan and trainer Kenny McPeek to commit to the race was a lot easier then actually getting the horse to Santa Anita.
Among racing’s many problems is that there are no dedicated air shipping companies that make moving horses around the country easy. Racing uses FedEx — yes that FedEx — which suspends horse shipping in early December so it can more easily move holiday packages.
“The logistics were complicated,” McPeek said. “The last and only plane was going out of Florida on Dec. 9 and we are based in New Orleans. We would have had to ship him to Miami and then Miami to L.A. We didn’t want to go that early and we weren’t committed to the race yet.
“I needed to get a gate workout out of him and needed to make sure he was good and in a routine.”
All of that worked out just fine, and Mystik Dan was headed to California with Santa Anita picking up the shipping costs.
Those who travel during the holidays are used to long trips, but only the hardiest would try a 1,900-mile van ride. Yet that’s how it worked out.
Assistant trainer Dermot Magner and Greg Morehead, director of operations for McPeek, took turns doing the driving for the first two days with a stopover at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.
“He got a good night’s rest and then vanned the rest of the way the next day,” McPeek said, making sure to thank officials at Zia Park for their hospitality. “He’s a good traveler. It was easy. He had plenty of room to lay down if he wanted. He could eat, we had buckets and tubs [of food] in there. There was plenty of space. It was uneventful.”
Mystik Dan settled into Barn 54 at Santa Anita last Wednesday and on Sunday the colt did a three-furlong speed workout to ready him for the race. Barn 54 also is occupied by trainer Karen Headley. Her father, the late Bruce Headley, and McPeek were longtime friends and Headley’s barn is where McPeek would stable his horses when running in California.
The Malibu Stakes is an odd choice for the Kentucky Derby winner because of the low purse amount of $300,000, the minimum required for a Grade 1 race.
McPeek is looking at the long game.
“It’s the last Grade 1, 3-year-old race of the year,” McPeek said. “I think as a stallion prospect, a lot of people who breed want to see the horse be a fast sprinter. We’re pretty confident he has that kind of talent. He broke his maiden gong 5½ [furlongs] and he’s perfectly capable of sprinting. It takes a very good horse to do this. I think it’s a good opportunity to prove that he can.”
Mystik Dan hasn’t raced since the Belmont Stakes, the third Triple Crown races in five weeks. He won the Derby in a blanket finish by a nose then came back two weeks later to finish second behind Seize the Grey in the Preakness. Mystik Dan then finished eighth in the Belmont.
“He campaigned pretty steady for almost a year,” McPeek said. “Coming out of the Belmont, Brian [Hernandez Jr., jockey] didn’t think he liked Saratoga’s surface. So, we only had the Travers [at Saratoga] and Pennsylvania Derby to point to. So, I thought let’s give him a break and let him fill out. We’ll regroup and point him to later in the year.”
Mystik Dan has had nine timed workouts since returning to the track.
“I fully expect him to win,” McPeek said. “Absolutely he’s ready to run. He’s had a nice series of breezes. He’s been on a steady routine. He hasn’t missed a step. The hardest part of this trip was getting him there.”
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. gets a high-five from trainer Kenny McPeek while aboard Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle.
(Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)
Crazy as it sounds, Mystik Dan is not the most celebrated 3-year-old in McPeek’s barn. He also has Thorpedo Anna, a filly who won six of seven races this year including the Kentucky Oaks and Breeders’ Cup Distaff. She is a lock to win the Eclipse Award for best 3-year-old filly and certainly has the résumé to win horse of the year.
Mystik Dan, if he wins the Malibu, is likely to make the final three for the Eclipse for 3-year-old male, although Fierceness is the favorite.
There is another Eclipse candidate in the McPeek barn and that is the trainer. The favorite for the award is Chad Brown, who has put up impressive numbers. But McPeek did something that hasn’t been done since 1952, winning the Kentucky Oaks for fillies and the Kentucky Derby on consecutive days.
“It would be a pleasant surprise,” McPeek said. “I certainly don’t have Chad Brown’s depth of talent and quality. What I’m most proud of is we don’t have million-dollar yearlings floating around all the time. We’ve been doing it with working-class horses. Thorpedo Anna was 40 grand and Mystik Dan was a homebred that I actually did the mating on.
“I do a lot of picking my own yearlings and I’m really proud we’ve been able to compete at the highest level.”
Bill Finley, a respected columnist for the Thoroughbred Daily News, even made the case for McPeek to win the Eclipse for top trainer. (The Times does not vote in the Eclipse Awards.)
“While he’ll never equal Brown’s numbers, McPeek had a year that was truly special, one that captivated the sport and reminded us there is more to this than raw numbers,” Finley wrote. “McPeek made every right move, many of which were ‘good for the game.’”
In a sport that retires its stars instead of running them, McPeek is very much looking forward to Mystik Dan’s 4-year-old campaign. The first possibility for Mystik Dan, providing everything works out well in the Malibu, is the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream, at $3 million the second-richest race in the U.S. behind only the Breeders’ Cup. But that’s chump change, if such a thing can be said of seven-figure purses, compared to the $20-million Saudi Cup and $12-million Dubai World Cup.
“We’re going to consider the Pegasus and the Middle East,” McPeek said. “We’ll let him tell us. He’s not run against older horses yet. We’ll wait and see.”
Mystik Dan’s racing career will end before McPeek’s training career. In fact, McPeek, 62, has a timetable.
“I’ve said all along, I’ll do this until I’m 70 or 72,” he said. “Maybe 10 more years. It’ll be 50 years of training if I do it until I’m 72.”
As for his bucket list before retirement, it’s extensive, with a strong international flavor.
“I’d like to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Dubai World Cup, the Saudi Cup, the Arc de Triomphe, the English (Epsom) Derby and the English Oaks,” he said with a chuckle.
But if he had to pick one?
“I really do want to win the English Derby. I’ll do that before I retire.”
For now, he’ll be happy with a win Thursday.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
Thousand-dollar tickets and hundreds of dollars in fees shocked some hopeful Olympic fans this month, but they did not keep LA28 from boasting strong sales in the committee’s first ticket drop.
LA28 announced Thursday that it sold more than 4 million Olympic tickets during the first ticket drop. The private organizing committee will have a second ticket drop in August with “refreshed inventory across all Olympic sports at a range of price points.”
But after the popularity of the first purchasing period, many of the lower-priced tickets have already been scooped up.
LA28 said roughly half of the total 1 million $28 tickets were sold during the locals presale, which was limited to people living near venue cities in Southern California and Oklahoma City.
The average price per Olympic ticket is less than $200, which includes a mandatory 24% service fee, and LA28 said about 75% of all tickets, including final events, will be under $400. The premier seats at high-demand events command more than $1,000 per ticket, but the highest priced categories make up about 5% of the total ticket inventory.
Artistic gymnastics sold out the quickest in Drop 1. Four new Olympic sports — flag football, lacrosse, softball and squash — sold all their available inventory for the first drop. After five days of local presale, global ticket sales opened and drew fans from 85 countries and all 50 states and U.S. territories. The largest international sales came from the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and Japan.
For the first female-majority Olympic Games, LA28 reported that women’s Olympic sessions outsold men’s 93% to 88% during the first drop.
“The response to our initial on-sale was nothing short of historic. Fans from near and far have spoken: the world wants to be part of the LA28 Games,” LA28 chief executive officer Reynold Hoover said in a statement. “The success of Drop 1 is about more than momentum — it reflects LA28’s commitment to delivering a fiscally responsible Games that create a lasting legacy for Los Angeles and its communities.”
Drop 2, which will begin in August, will have additional tickets across all Olympic sports, including those that may have sold out during the first purchasing windows. The registration period for Drop 2 opened Thursday and will continue until July 22. Fans who registered for the first drop of tickets but did not receive a time slot and fans who did not buy their maximum 12 general ticket allotment will automatically be entered into the random lottery Drop 2. The new registration period is only required for anybody who did not sign up for the initial drop.
Fans are still limited to 12 Olympic tickets and up to 12 soccer tickets that don’t count toward the general maximum. There is a four ticket per ceremony limit for the opening and closing ceremony that count toward the 12-ticket maximum, which is cumulative across all LA28 presales and ticket drops.
LA28 will have multiple ticket drops with assigned purchasing time slots before ticket sales move to a first-come, first-served format closer to the Games, which open on July 14, 2028. LA28 began its ticketing process earlier than most other Olympic Games with tickets going on sale more than two years in advance of the opening ceremony. The early timeline has created excitement for the first Summer Olympics in the United States since Atlanta 1996, but also prompted concerns about scheduling. Fans clamored for tickets with little information about which teams or athletes would be competing in most sessions.
Tickets are not refundable, but fans can opt for verified resale when LA28 launches its official resale system in 2027. AXS and Eventim is the official secondary ticket marketplace of the LA28 Games and Ticketmaster and Sports Illustrated Tickets have also signed on as additional verified resale platforms.
LA28 will have 14 million tickets available for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which would eclipse the record of 12 million tickets sold for the Paris Games. Paris 2024 sold an about 9.5 million tickets for the Olympics, but used a different ticket system than LA28. For Paris, 3.5 million tickets were sold during the first phase, during which fans were required to buy tickets to at least three different sports instead of the option for single-event tickets available during LA28’s Drop 1 process.
Tickets for the 2028 Paralympics, which will be the first in L.A.’s history, will go on sale in 2027. Ticket sales and hospitality are expected to cover about $2.5 billion of LA28’s expected $7.1 billion budget for the first Games in L.A. in more than 40 years.
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An envoy for President Donald Trump has reportedly asked FIFA to replace Iran with Italy in the 2026 World Cup this summer.
The Financial Times reported the plan is an effort to repair the relationship between Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which soured after the former’s comments against Pope Leo XIV regarding the war with Iran.
United States special envoy Paolo Zampolli suggested the idea to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
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President Donald Trump receives the FIFA Peace Prize from FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 5, 2025. (Emilee Chinn/FIFA)
“I confirm I have suggested to Trump and Infantino that Italy replace Iran at the World Cup. I’m an Italian native, and it would be a dream to see the Azzurri at a U.S.-hosted tournament,” Zampolli told the outlet. “With four titles, they have the pedigree to justify inclusion.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital.
Italy had a chance to be in the World Cup already, but it lost in a penalty shootout to Bosnia and Herzegovina in a qualifying playoff final.
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Italy became the first World Cup-winning team to miss three consecutive tournaments after the 4-1 penalty shootout loss earlier this month.
“We still don’t believe it that we’re out and that it happened in this manner,” Italy’s Leonardo Spinazzola told reporters at the time, according to the New York Post.
“It’s upsetting for everyone. For us, for our families and for all the kids who have never seen Italy at a World Cup.”
While Zampolli told Infantino about his proposed plan, FIFA’s president said Iran “for sure” will play in the World Cup despite the conflict involving the U.S.
Mehdi Taremi of Iran celebrates after scoring a goal during a 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Group A game against Uzbekistan at Azadi Stadium in Tehran March 25, 2025. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu)
“The Iranian team is coming, for sure,” Infantino said during the CNBC Invest in America Forum earlier this month in Washington, D.C.
“We hope that, by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. That would definitely help. But Iran has to come, of course. They represent their people. They have qualified. The players want to play.”
Infantino visited the Iranian national team in Turkey, which is where it has its training camp.
All three of Iran’s group stage games are scheduled to be played in the U.S. That remains the case after Iranian government officials suggested to FIFA that their games be moved to Mexico because they could not travel to the U.S.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum revealed FIFA’s rejection of Iran’s request, and it is insisting Iran play where it’s scheduled — SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and Lumen Field in Seattle. Iran said earlier this month it would only decide on its team’s participation once it heard from FIFA regarding its relocation request.
Iran is scheduled to play at SoFi Stadium against New Zealand June 16 to begin its tournament. It will also play Belgium at the stadium before finishing group play against Mo Salah and Egypt in Seattle June 26.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends an international friendly between Mexico and Portugal at Banorte Stadium in Mexico City March 28, 2026. (Antonio Torres/FIFA/Getty Images)
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Trump wrote in a Truth Social post last month that Iran would be welcome to compete in the World Cup as scheduled, though it might not be “appropriate” considering the conflict.
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup, but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety,” he wrote.
Trump also told Politico, “I really don’t care,” when asked about Iran’s participation in the tournament. Infantino, who has a strong relationship with Trump, said Trump has “reiterated” to him that the U.S. welcomes Iran’s team to compete.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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