Preakness winner draws No. 1 post for Belmont
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Preakness winner Seize the Grey drew post position No. 1 on Monday, and Kentucky Derby champion Mystik Dan will start in post No. 3 for the Belmont Stakes taking place Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.
Kenny McPeek-trained Mystik Dan, who finished second in the Preakness, is the only horse in the field for all three Triple Crown races. At 5-1 and being ridden again by Brian Hernandez Jr., he is the third choice behind favorite Sierra Leone, who opened at 9-5, and Mindframe at 7-2.
McPeek favored his inside post position, and Mystik Dan co-owner Lance Gasaway had his eye on the No. 3 post.
“Lance Gasaway sent me a message this morning, ‘Go there and get post No. 3,'” McPeek said. “He said it’s his lucky number, I guess. We’re thrilled with that. I think that was great. It’s out of our control now. It’s up to Brian.”
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ Seize the Grey is right behind Mystik Dan with 8-1 odds after a wire-to-wire win in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
Sierra Leone, who drew the No. 9 post position in the 10-horse field, was second in the Derby, losing to Mystik Dan by a nose. Trainer Chad Brown hopes to get a similar run out of the horse this time, with a jockey change to Flavien Prat.
“He bounced out of the Derby, which can obviously be a tough race on horses,” Brown said. “He’s bounced out well. … He’s trained really good here. Just hoping for a good trip. Obviously, we have half as many horses to run down, so that should be hopefully a little easier on him.”
Brown has had success with Prat onboard.
“Hopefully Flavien can sort of survey the inside and just pick his spot where he wants to be in the first turn and just be prepared for him,” Brown said. “As long as we’re prepared for him and he runs straight, he should run big.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher is saddling the most horses in the 1 1/4-mile race at Saratoga. His trio of colts is led by undefeated Mindframe, who will start from the outside No. 10 post. Mindframe’s résumé is short with just two starts and two wins, but it was enough to push him ahead of the Preakness and Kentucky Derby champions in the odds.
“He’s a very talented colt,” Pletcher said. “His two races have been very impressive. … Of course, we’re giving up a lot of seasoning, a lot of experience to some really good horses, so that’s the main concern.”
Pletcher also has No. 5 Antiquarian (12-1) and No. 7 Protective (20-1).
“He needs to continue to move forward,” Pletcher said of Protective. “We think he’ll appreciate the added distance: the first opportunity to run a mile and a quarter. He shows up, he tries hard every time.”
The Carolina Hurricanes have reached a three-year, $9.5 million extension with forward Taylor Hall through the 2027-28 season.
The team announced the signing Wednesday, a day after the Hurricanes closed out the New Jersey Devils in their first-round playoff series. It marked the seventh straight year that Carolina has won at least one postseason series.
Hall, 33, acquired in a blockbuster January deal that included Mikko Rantanen‘s arrival, scored the first of Carolina’s four second-period goals that helped it erase a 3-0 deficit before winning in double overtime. He’s a 15-year veteran who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in the 2017-18 season.
“Taylor has proven to be an outstanding fit for our team, and we are thrilled that he is excited to make Raleigh his home for another three seasons,” general manager Eric Tulsky said in a statement. “He’s been a solid veteran presence in the locker room and a difference maker on the ice.”
Hall had 18 goals and 24 assists in 77 regular-season games between Chicago and Carolina, and also had two assists in the five-game series win against New Jersey. He had missed most of the previous season due to knee surgery and was making $6 million this year with free agency looming, then led Carolina skaters with four power-play goals in the regular season after his arrival.
The Hurricanes acquired the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick on Jan. 24 in the three-team deal that snagged Rantanen from Colorado, though they later sent Rantanen to Dallas with forward Logan Stankoven as the primary trade-deadline return when it became clear Rantanen was unlikely to sign long-term to stay with Carolina.
Hall and Tulsky are scheduled to address reporters by Zoom later Wednesday.
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Greg Wyshynski
Utah Hockey Club officials wouldn’t confirm whether “Mammoth” was their new name after it allegedly leaked on the team’s official YouTube channel Tuesday night.
Fans and media noticed that the channel’s handle was changed from “@UtahHockeyClub” to “@UtahMammoth,” on both its landing page and URL. The channel was soon deactivated and remained so on Wednesday morning, but not before screenshots of the name change went viral.
Utah Mammoth was one of three finalists featured in a fan vote at Delta Center to help determine the permanent name of the team, which played its inaugural season in 2024-25 after SEG purchased and relocated the former Arizona Coyotes franchise. Fans voted with iPads located at stations around the arena that featured the names, logos and potential branding for each option.
Originally, the three names voted on were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch, which was quickly swapped out for Utah Outlaws after the team saw early vote returns.
Mammoth made the final four in the initial fan vote last year.
Utah HC executives wouldn’t confirm or deny that Mammoth will be the team’s new nickname.
Mike Maughan, an executive with Utah HC owner Smith Entertainment Group, said on Wednesday that “progress continues on exploring all three of the name options that were chosen as finalists by our fans. We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season and look forward to sharing that with our fans when we do.”
When pressed for an explanation on the alleged YouTube leak, Maughan would only say, “We’re fully on track to announce a permanent name and identity ahead of the 25-26 NHL season.”
One NHL source told ESPN that the revelation for the team’s new name and logo could come before the NHL draft in late June. This year’s draft is a “decentralized” event, meaning that teams will be making selections from their own sites rather than in one central location. That opens the door for Utah to have an event in Salt Lake City with team officials around the draft.
In other Utah HC news, the team announced Wednesday that Delta Center, home to Utah HC and the Utah Jazz, will be undergoing a renovation to optimize hockey sightlines while maintaining the proximity of basketball fans to the court using a state-of-the-art retractable seating system. It’s a multiyear project that will also create a new main entrance and outdoor plaza.
The first-of-its-kind seating system accommodates a nearly 12-foot variance in elevation between rink and court endlines to offer optimal sightlines for both the NBA and NHL. Every seat in the lower bowl will have a complete view of the ice at the start of next season — the team estimates that 400 seats currently can only see one goal net during games.
The new hockey configuration adds capacity behind the goals and above and around the event tunnels on the north and south side of the lower bowl and improves access to seating behind the boards.
When all renovations are complete, seating capacity for hockey will increase from 11,131 to approximately 17,000 — with every seat in the upper and lower bowls having full views of both goals — and capacity for basketball will increase from 18,206 to nearly 19,000 seats.
“Delta Center was built for basketball. When you come and put the size of an ice sheet in that venue with those sight lines, the geometry just doesn’t work. So that’s where you come up with the riser system configuration. You come up with raising the floor 2 feet,” said Jim Olson, president of the Jazz and executive representing SEG on all facilities projects.
“We are absolutely protecting the basketball experience, but then also creating a great hockey experience where all the seats can see all the ice,” he said.
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