ARCADIA, Calif. — There was chaos on the Kentucky Derby trail Saturday, with bumping down the stretch and close finishes from coast-to-coast on the last weekend of major prep races before the Triple Crown begins next month.
The winners were separated by a mere quarter-length.
Practical Move held off Japan’s Mandarin Hero by a nose to win the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby in California. At Keeneland, Tapit Trice won the $1 million Blue Grass by a neck over Verifying. At Aqueduct, 59-1 shot Lord Miles survived an inquiry to win the $750,000 Wood Memorial by a nose in New York.
Each of the winners earned 100 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, which puts the trio in the field of 20 horses on May 6.
Trainer Tim Yakteen won the Santa Anita Derby for the second straight year, this time with a horse he developed.
“It’s a great feeling to go back-to-back in this race,” Yakteen said. “The rush you get, that’s why you get in the game.”
Last year, he won with Taiba, who was trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert but moved to Yakteen’s barn because Baffert was serving a two-year ban by Churchill Downs Inc. Yakteen also had another Baffert horse, National Treasure, who finished fourth on Saturday.
But Practical Move is all Yakteen’s. The colt was coming off a decisive win in last month’s San Felipe Stakes. He had to work a lot harder Saturday.
Practical Move was third after a half-mile and then drifted out a bit in the final furlongs, but fought off Mandarin Hero.
“I thought we got him at the wire,” said Kazushi Kimura, Mandarin Hero’s jockey. “Today he was a totally different horse. He was very aggressive in company. It looks like we’ll be headed to the Kentucky Derby.”
Ridden by Ramon Vazquez, Practical Move ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.69. Sent off as the 4-5 favorite, the 3-year-old colt paid $4, $3 and $2.20.
Mandarin Hero returned $6.60 and $4. Skinner was another half-length back in third.
At Keeneland, Tapit Trice and Verifying dueled through the final furlongs with Verifying’s jockey Tyler Gaffalione claiming foul for interference in the stretch. The stewards did not change the order of finish.
“I feel like he (Verifying) came out and touched my horse to try to get a foul,” winning jockey Luis Saez said.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Tapit Trice ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.00 to earn his fourth consecutive victory. The colt paid $5.28 to win. Pletcher also has the likely Derby favorite with Forte.
Blazing Sevens was another 5 3/4 lengths back in third.
At Aqueduct, Lord Miles, 8-5 favorite Hit show and Dreamlike were bouncing off each other in the stretch, with second-place jockey Manny Franco claiming foul to go with a stewards’ inquiry for interference. But no changes were made.
“The one (Dreamlike) came out and Franco (aboard Hit Show) was looking for room and so he bumped into my horse,” winning jockey Paco Lopez said. “My horse stayed in line all the time and stayed fighting for the line. It was a tight race.”
Franco believes the contact cost him the victory.
“I was right in between those horses like a ping pong ball. They hit me on both sides,” he said.
Lord Miles ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:51.17 and paid $120.50 to win. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., the colt is a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.
“At the eighth pole, I was thinking go get second and then, wait a minute, and there it was,” Joseph said. “He was a horse we thought a lot of and he showed up today when it counted most.”
The lone remaining Derby prep is next weekend’s Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, which offers 20 points to the winner.
The days leading up to the 2025 NHL trade deadline were a furious final sprint as contenders looked to stock up for a postseason run while rebuilding clubs added prospects and draft capital.
After the overnight Brock Nelson blockbuster Thursday, Friday lived up to expectations, with Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand and other high-profile players finishing the day on different teams than they started with. All told, NHL teams made 24 trades on deadline day involving 47 players.
Which teams and players won the day? Who might not feel as well about the situation after trade season? Reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the biggest winners and losers of the 2025 NHL trade deadline:
There are some who saw what the Carolina Hurricanes did at the trade deadline — or perhaps failed to do after they traded Mikko Rantanen — and believe they’re cooked when it comes to the Stanley Cup playoffs. However, based on the projections from Stathletes, the Canes remain the team with the highest chances of winning the Cup, at 16.7%.
Standing before them on Sunday are the Winnipeg Jets (5 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The Jets had a relatively quiet deadline, adding Luke Schenn and Brandon Tanev, though sometimes these additions are the types of small tweaks that can push a contender over the edge. As it stands, the Jets enter their showdown against the Canes with the sixth-highest Cup chances, at 8.7%.
Carolina has made two trips to the Cup Final: a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 2002 and a win over the Edmonton Oilers in 2006. The Canes have reached the conference finals three times since (2009, 2019, 2023). Winnipeg has yet to make the Cup Final, and was defeated 4-1 in the 2018 Western Conference finals by the Vegas Golden Knights in the club’s lone trip to the penultimate stage.
Both clubs are due. Will this be their year?
There is a lot of runway left until the final day of the season on April 17, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide detail on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 43 Regulation wins: 12 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 17 Points pace: 54.3 Next game: vs. NSH (Tuesday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 8
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Sitting No. 1 on the draft board for this summer is Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters.
Hintz extended his stick toward Henrique, whose wrist shot sent the puck under Hintz’s visor during his club’s 5-4 loss to the Oilers. He was on the ice, with his face in a towel, as the team’s medical staff assessed him and helped him skate toward the dressing room.
After the loss, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said Hintz was at a local hospital, receiving tests. The coach added that the initial report was fairly optimistic for Hintz, 28, who has 25 goals and 52 points.
“Everyone’s optimistic that it’s not ‘serious, serious,'” DeBoer said. “But we won’t know until we get testing.”
The short-handed Stars rallied from a 5-1 deficit before eventually losing. Trade deadline acquisition Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his debut for Dallas, which had its four-game winning streak stopped. Wyatt Johnston, Jamie Benn and Matt Dumba also scored for the Stars.