Forte opens as 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Todd Pletcher-trained colt Forte and Brad Cox’s filly Wet Paint are the morning line favorites respectively for the 149th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
Forte, the 2-year-old champion whose 190 points led the Derby qualifying trail, drew the No. 15 post at 3-1 odds on Monday for the $3 million premier race for 3-year-olds. He brings in a five-race winning streak and has won six of seven starts including last month’s Florida Derby won by a length over Mage, who will start from the No. 8 post at 15-1 odds.
Stablemate Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice after drawing the No. 5 post on Monday, with Cox’s Angel of Empire (154 points) the 8-1 third choice after drawing the No. 14 post.
Wet Paint will lead Friday’s $1.25 million Oaks from the No. 7 post at 5-2 odds. One of three fillies trained by Louisville-born Cox among 14 entrants for the 1 1/8th mile race, she has won all three starts this year and enters with consecutive Grade 3 stakes wins in the Fantasy and Honeybee respectively at Oaklawn Park.
Stablemate Botanical is the 4-1 second choice from the No. 6 post with trainer Norm Casse’s Southlawn the 8-1 third choice from the No. 4 post.
Any suspense over where Forte would start the 1 1/4-mile race was gone quickly when the son of Violence and Queen Caroline by Blame was called out with the first pill drawn. That also relieved Pletcher, a Hall of Famer, of stress after Mo Donegal and Known Agenda started the last two Derbys from the rail. They finished fifth and ninth respectively.
The two-time Derby winner had no complaints either with draws for Tapit Trice and Kingsbarns, a 12-1 choice from the No. 6 post. Both are 3-0 as 3-year-olds and coming off wins in the Blue Grass (Keeneland) and Louisiana Derby respectively.
“I do think it’s different with the one (post) with the new starting gate,” Pletcher said. “But still, I felt like it cost us a position or two last year and the year before. So, just happy to get out of there and pretty pleased with all three post positions.”
Meanwhile, Cox hopes strength in numbers earns his first outright Derby victory just over 15 months since Mandaloun was elevated to the 2021 win following Medina Spirit’s failed postrace drug test.
Angel of Empire certainly has the credentials after his 4¼-length victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. He has two wins and a second as a 3-year-old and a solid post just two spots right of stablemate Jace’s Road (15-1). Those posts might offset Cox’s dread after Hit Show (30-1) and Verifying (15-1) drew the Nos. 1 and 2 posts, forcing both to avoid getting bunched against the rail out of the gate.
Wet Paint and Botanical have decent spots in the Oaks, offering Cox two good chances to win that race for the third time in six years.
Post time for the Derby is 6:57 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Oaks goes off Friday at 5:51 p.m. ET.
Virginia Tech has fired coach Brent Pry, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Sunday. Pry is set to be owed more than $6 million in his buyout.
The move comes a day after a 45-26 home loss to Old Dominion in which the Hokies were booed loudly while heading to the locker room for halftime.
Saturday’s loss dropped Virginia Tech to 0-3 on the season and 16-24 through four seasons under Pry.
The hot-seat talk bubbled up around Pry in November last season, and if the Hokies had lost to Virginia to end the season, a change may have been made at that point. But Virginia Tech defeated Virginia, and Pry’s second consecutive 6-6 regular season landed him in a bowl game.
But as the offseason included personnel changes, the talk around Pry’s status didn’t fade. He entered Year 4 with a new defensive coordinator — Sam Siefkes, a former linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals — and a staff that included former longtime Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster as an adviser/analyst.
It did not work in the early going. Though the Hokies played hard in a season-opening loss to South Carolina, they were pushed around by another SEC team, Vanderbilt, in Virginia Tech’s home opener a week later. The Commodores scored 34 consecutive points to close out a 44-20 win in which they trailed by 10 points at halftime.
That loss, however, proved to be just an opening act to Saturday’s stunning loss to in-state foe Old Dominion.
“Clearly, it starts with me,” Pry said after the loss to the Monarchs. “Coaches, players, everybody is accountable here. We’ve got to get back to the basics and find a way to be closer to the team we can be.”
Virginia Tech will host Wofford on Saturday before beginning ACC play the following week at NC State.
NEW YORK — The Texas Rangers got a key player back for their playoff push Sunday, when outfielder Adolis García was activated from the 10-day injured list.
García, who missed 10 games with a strained right quad, was set to bat fourth and play right field in the series finale against the New York Mets.
The IL stint was the second in a month for García, who was sidelined by a sprained left ankle from Aug. 13-22. The former All-Star and Gold Glove winner is batting .235 with 18 homers and 73 RBIs this season, but he hit .368 with two homers, nine RBIs and three steals in as many attempts in nine games following his return from the ankle injury before getting hurt while beating out a potential double-play grounder against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 1.
“It’s always good to get one of your core guys back,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He was really swinging the bat well when he got hurt.”
Despite dealing with a litany of injuries, the Rangers entered Sunday on a six-game winning streak and with the best record in the majors (16-4) since Aug. 23. Texas was two games behind the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners in the AL West race.
Second baseman Marcus Semien (left foot) and pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (right rotator cuff) are likely out for the regular season while shortstop Corey Seager is recovering from an appendectomy.
To make room for García, the Rangers optioned outfielder Dustin Harris to Triple-A Round Rock.
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