TORONTO - A field of 12 Canadian-bred three-year-olds will do battle today at Woodbine in the $500,000 Breeders Stakes, the thir

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TORONTO - A field of 12 Canadian-bred three-year-olds will do battle today at Woodbine in the $500,000 Breeders Stakes, the third jewel of Canadas Triple Crown of Racing. Jarrad Davis Lions Jersey . The 124th edition of the Breeders, at one and one-half miles over the E.P. Taylor Turf Course, can be seen live on TSN at 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. The winner earns $300,000. All horses carry 126 pounds. There is no Triple Crown on the line this year, though. Filly Lexie Lou won the first leg, the famous Queens Plate on July 6, but did not contest the second leg, the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie on July 29, which was won by Coltimus Prime. It marks the 11th straight year without a Triple Crown champion in Canada. Wando was the last to achieve the impressive three-race sweep in 2003. However, there is one horse in this years Breeders who has competed in the first two legs and accredited himself well. That is Ivan Dalos homebred Amis Holiday, who finished a closing second in the Plate, one and one-half lengths behind Lexie Lou, then was third in the Prince of Wales, four and one-quarter lengths behind Coltimus Prime. Although hell making his turf debut, the son of Harlans Holiday-Victorious Ami sizzled five furlongs in a turf workout last Sunday for trainer Josie Carroll, clocked in a bullet 59 1/5 seconds, handily. Said Carroll, a two-time winner of the Queens Plate with Edenwold in 2006 and Inglorious in 2011, "We made a last minute decision to enter him. He worked extremely well on the turf. He really seemed to take to it and we thought he deserved to give it a try. He came out of those last two races really well or we were going to wait for the Ontario Derby (September 21)." Amis Holiday, the 2-1 morning line choice who won last years Grade 3 Grey Stakes, is the fields leading money winner with $448,392 and will once again be handled by jockey Luis Contreras, who won the 2011 Breeders aboard Pender Harbour. Carroll will also saddle another Dalos homebred, Keen Gizmo, a one-time winner in eight starts, who was most recently third in a one mile allowance while making his turf debut, with Omar Moreno named to ride. Stronach Stables impeccably bred Unikat, trained by Brian Lynch and ridden by David Moran, will also command plenty of support at the windows, listed as the 4-1 second choice. The son of Galileo-Dreamtheimpossible enters off an impressive three and three-quarter length score in a mile and one-quarter maiden turf contest on July 9. His only previous starts came on turf at Gulfstream Park in Florida during February and March. Stronach has won three Breeders (Blitzer, 1992; Basqueian, 1994; Royal Challenger, 2006), while Lynch has won two (Royal Challenger, 2006; Miami Deco, 2010). Miami Deco, the last maiden to win the Breeders, was also its highest-priced winner, paying $132.10 to win. Lynch will also saddle J.M. Stritzl Stables Squeeze the King, with Eurico Rosa da Silva up. The son of Niigon, who has been supplemented to the race for $12,500, recently broke his maiden on turf on July 12 after just missing in his career debut in June on Polytrack. Rosa da Silva won last years Breeders on favoured Up With the Birds. Trainer Mark Casse, a six-time Sovereign Award winner who finally celebrated his first Plate win this year with Lexie Lou, will send out Stoneway Farms East Side, as he seeks a second Breeders win following Marchfield in 2007. East Side, a son of turf champion English Channel, with Justin Stein up, is a one-time winner in four outings and was most recently sixth to Coltimus Prime in the Prince of Wales. Completing the field is two-time winner Niigon Express, who finished a credible fifth in the Queens Plate and will have three-time (Wando, 2003; Royal Challenger,2006; Marchfield, 2007) Breeders winner Patrick Husbands aboard; Sine Metu, also a two-time winner for trainer and co-owner Tom OKeefe; one-time winners Bangkok and Big Red Bugsy, another supplemental entry, and maidens Interpol, Milwaukee Flash and Smart Spree, who was most recently fourth in the Prince of Wales and is trained by Mark Frostad, a four-time winner of the Breeders (Charlies Dewan, 1995; Chief Bearhart, 1996; Portcullis, 2002; Irish Mission, 2012). In addition to Amis Holiday, three others - East Side, Milwaukee Flash and Niigon Express will be seeing grass for the first time. Last years Breeders winner, Up With the Birds, who is competing Saturday in the Arlington Million in Chicago, went on to earn Sovereign Awards as Canadas top three-year-old colt and Horse of the Year for 2013. FIELD FOR THE $500,000 BREEDERS STAKESSunday, August 17, Race 9, Post time 5:12 p.m.One mile and one-half, E.P. Taylor Turf Course Post / Horse / Jockey / Trainer / Morning line1 / Keen Gizmo / Omar Moreno / Josie Carroll / 12-12 / Niigon Express / Patrick Husbands / Paul Attard/ 6-13 / Sine Metu / Gerry Olguin / Tom OKeefe / 10-14 / Squeeze the King / Eurico Rosa da Silva / Brian Lynch / 10-15 / Big Red Bugsy / Emma-Jayne Wilson / Ian Black / 12-16 / East Side / Justin Stein / Mark Casse / 20-17 / Bangkok / Gary Boulanger / Phil Gracey / 15-18 / Amis Holiday / Luis Contreras / Josie Carroll / 2-19 / Smart Spree / Steve Bahen / Mark Frostad / 12-110 / Unikat / David Moran / Brian Lynch / 4-111 / Milwaukee Flash / Sheena Ryan / Mike Doyle / 30-112 / Interpol / Jesse Campbell / Sid Attard / 20-1 Brad Kaaya Youth Jersey . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. Brad Kaaya Jersey .com) - Ames, IA (SportsNetwork. http://www.lionsfanspro.com/Black-Jalen-Reeves-Maybin-Lions-Jersey.html?cat=931 . -- Brad Gushue of St.DUNEDIN, Florida – Blue Jays manager John Gibbons knows theres a lot at stake this season. Coming off a disastrous 2013 year, relative to expectations perhaps the most disappointing in franchise history, the club could be dealing with significant upheaval if theres continued, sustained underperformance. Gibbons sat down with TSN.ca before Thursdays Grapefruit League game against Houston to talk about his team, in which he espouses confidence. To listen to the interview, click here. TSN.ca: John, as we sit here, two weeks from tonight you guys will be flying to Montreal for the final two exhibition games of the spring. GIBBONS: Cant wait. TSN.ca: Old stomping grounds for you, right? An ex-Met, did you have some fun in Montreal in your day? GIBBONS: Yeah, you know I wasnt up with the Mets long but I made a few road trips to Montreal. I loved it. I really did. Its a neat city. Its a little different than what were used to or what Im used to but we always had a good time there. Good people. I enjoyed hopping on that subway, riding it to the stadium there so I have some good memories of that place. TSN.ca: Parlez-vous Francais? GIBBONS: Poquito. Oh thats not French, okay. You learn a lot of Spanish around here. Ill put it that way. TSN.ca: Yeah, theres no question about that in your clubhouse. So were three, three and a half weeks in since all the regulars got here. The tone of camp, at least from my point of view, John, is different from last years and there were a lot of mitigating factors with the WBC and whatnot last season. How do you feel camp has gone so far and where do you see your team at today? GIBBONS: I agree with you. I think theres a lot more focus and thats not just coming from the coaching end of it. I think the players are a lot more focused. Last year there was a lot of distraction. A lot of new faces were brought in and the high expectations, much more media coverage so the players were getting dragged in a lot of different directions. We had some celebrities on here. We brought in Dickey coming off a Cy Young. Of course Reyes and those guys coming in and everybody was tugging at all different angles so there were some distractions that way. Good distractions but nevertheless distractions and then of course some guys went off to the WBC and things like that. Its been a much nicer, simpler camp, a lot more low key and weve been able to get some great work in. TSN.ca: As you head into the regular season I think there are some questions about certain positions around the club. The starting rotation, especially the back end, has been a hot topic of conversation. More broadly speaking, the American League East, I think we both agree is always strong but has gotten better. Do you feel you have the quality of starting pitching that matches the quantity of the depth that youll have at Buffalo and in the lower minor leagues. GIBBONS: I think we do. Not a whole lot of change this year other than Navarro. You know, Alex was working all winter trying to bring in a pitcher or two, difference makers. We werent able to do that. It wasnt for a lack of effort. The money, the years, all sorts of things, their desire to go other places hampered that a little bit. There were a couple of trade opportunities but they wanted everybody and their brother top prospects in the minor leagues. After the trades with Florida and the Mets we gave up a lot of our top prospects so, I mean, theres no way you can deplete your whole minor league system to get guys who maybe arent difference makers. We sat tight there. The main reason behind that is we like what we have here. Theres much more depth, like you just alluded to, that we didnt have last year. If somebody falters or if theres an injury weve got some guys, some fallback plans that we think are pretty good that should make a huge difference. As of right now were still looking for that fifth starter. Weve got some guys that are pitching very good. Theres been some good competition down here. Right now, were probably only looking at one spot. J.A. Happ, now, hes been a little bit banged up with his back so at this point, on this day, hes a little bit of a question mark. Hopefully hes going to throw in the next couple of days in a minor league game. If hes fine that should solve some problems there. You know, theres some guys in here that we think are going to have some good big league careers. Now its just are they going to get that opportunity? They may get it as we break camp as we start the season this year. It may come a month in. It may come in two months. Who knows? Weve got some players here who we think are capable of winning in the American League East. Theres some great competitors and well see where it all ends up. TSN.ca: Do you anticipate Drew Hutchison breaking camp with the team? GIBBONS: Well, Im not going to say hes on the team right now but Ill tell you what, hes pitched as well, if not better, than anybody in camp and another thing he has going for him, you know hes really bounced back from that injury, but hes pitched in Toronto before and was pitching very well before he had the injury. Hes got a little experience under his belt. Hes definitely been a standout. Hes always been thought of highly in the organization. Its just basically a matter of time when hes ready again and it sure seems like, you look at it now, he should be ready to go. TSN.ca: Do you believe in the phrase, "Its early?" Especially after last year maybe you dont but getting out of the gate strong, John, aside from having more wins than losses, just setting the right tone I think would be important for you guys this year. Kenny Golladay Womens Jersey. GIBBONS: It was early three weeks ago. Its not so early anymore, a couple of weeks left. Yeah, no question, a quick, fast start is very important to this ballclub. Easier said than done, of course, you know we play some pretty good teams early. I think what it would do is give us confidence and it may quell some of the naysayers out there because until we go out and prove something on the field that were better than we were last year and we actually do have the team that we think can win here, thats always going to be hanging over our heads. These guys, theyve been working hard, theyre very focused and now the key is to come out of the gates with everything clicking. Weve got to get good pitching. Hopefully those bats are going at the right time at the beginning of the season and something thats a constant, one thing you can always control, is the way you play defense and I think that will be much, much better this year. TSN.ca: I wanted to touch on that with you because when we think of winning, youve got to score more runs than you allow and we typically always think of offense, just hit the ball out of the park or piece together runs. We dont always think of run prevention. Well cross our fingers for you guys that you have pretty good health here, and you have so far through camp and that that will carry through. But with Lawrie at third, Reyes and short and it looks like Ryan Goins at second base, as long as theyre all out there on the field at the same time, weve seen some pretty sweet double plays and some pretty nice plays made here, John. Youre going to be able to prevent more runs than you did, especially in the first half of last year. GIBBONS: We think so and we have to. You left out Melky Cabrera, who wasnt moving well at all last year and so that created a big hole out there in leftfield. With the guys you just mentioned, we think we have one of the better defenses in baseball, in our minds. As much as our starting pitching struggled last year, we didnt bail them out, we didnt help them out one bit, especially early in the season. A lot of those games, a play thats made here or there, might have got us out of an inning, a big inning and kept us in the game and we may have come back and won some of those. You look at it, you can go through any sport, if you dont play defense youre not going to win. Boston was a good defensive team last year and they won the World Series. Football, another sport I know well, the Seahawks last year, great defense, the best defense in the NFL. Theres no secret there. We think we have a good one but the key is weve got to keep the right guys on the field the majority of the season. TSN.ca: The Red Sox, maybe they didnt have the best team on paper in the majors last year but they won the World Series and there was that grind it out aspect. When youve walked around the clubhouse, talked to your players or youve had them in here one on one, do you sense that there is an unquestioned willingness to grind it out this year? Kind of a win at all costs mentality? GIBBONS: Yes, I do. Weve got a lot of proud veterans out in that room. Some guys whove had some great careers, some guys on the upswing that are going to end up having real good major league careers but everybody was a little embarrassed, the way things went last year. One thing Ill say about this group last year, through all the different changes, all the guys coming and going, there never was a lack of effort. Thats rare when some seasons go south but our guys showed up to play everyday and I tip my hat to them and thats admirable and thats the way it should be but thats not always the way it ends up. They all know they have something to prove, that were a better team than the way we played last year and I sense that. They talk about that. To get to this level as an athlete, to get to the top at anything, youve got to have some pride. We have a lot of that in that room and I think, I dont want to say necessarily that were going to surprise some people because we think we have a good team on the field, we think we had a good team on the field last year it just didnt pan out, but if we play up to our capabilities we think weve got a chance to win this thing. TSN.ca: Its an everyday game so youre always at the field and youre always thinking about, okay, what do I have to do to win today? But when you get away from the ballpark, do you think give any thought to your future and the fact that if it doesnt go well again this year, John, fairly or unfairly, itll be a hard sell to the fan base to continue with you as manager and the coaching staff? There could be changes here if it doesnt work out. GIBBONS: Oh yeah. Thats to be expected in the professional sports world. I can guarantee you one thing, I wont be here forever. Thats a fact. When that day comes, sooner or later, who knows? I dont give that much thought because I approach my job everyday to do the best job I can. I have a great responsibility to the organization whos given me an opportunity here and theres a lot that goes into that. Thats the reality of baseball. I have some fans out there but I also have a lot of detractors. When the dark clouds show up you start hearing more of those voices. If you get caught up in that kind of stuff itll paralyze you, you cant do your job so I take it all in stride everyday because I know I can do this job, I know I can run a baseball team, Ive got zero doubt in my mind about that. Things dont always work out but I think this year it will. TSN.ca: We appreciate the time, John, and all the best this season. GIBBONS: Thank you, Scott. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '