been a verbeen a very strong starter for us.y strong starter for us.

kkkkIt has been a pretty good week for French horseback riders. In Rio de Janeiro, Astier Nicolas, Thibaut Vallette, Mathieu Lemoine, and Karim Florent Laghouag collected Olympic gold medals in the team competition of three-day eventing, while Nicolas added a silver medal in the individual event category.Meanwhile, in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, a mini-Olympics of sorts will convene on Saturday at Arlington Park, where the 34th running of the Arlington Million tops a juicy 10-race program. French is very much on the menu.Hot-handed Florent Geroux (from Argentan, in Normandy), Flavien Prat (from Melun, 70 miles east of Paris), and veteran Brice Blanc (from Lyon) each have mounts in the $700,000 Beverly D. at 1-3/16 miles on turf. Advantage Geroux in this one aboard Sea Calisi for Chad Brown and Martin Schwartz, although Pretty Girl and Blanc deserve more than a glance, trained as she is by Mikel Delzangles, who knows how to take his game on the road.Prat would be overlooked in the Beverly D. if it wasnt for the outfit hell be wearing atop the French filly Marypop, trained by Mike Stidham. She is owned by Richard Duchossois, the Arlington Park chairman who first presented the Arlington Million in 1981 and then added the Beverly D. seven years later to honor the memory of his wife. Any jock who wins this race for the boss gets the keys to a couple of cities.Geroux, 30, and Prat, 24, have developed a friendly rivalry that transcends the time zones. They communicate often, trash-texting in French, and keep close track of how the other guy is doing. This season, the answer is theyre doing just fine.Prat leads the Del Mar standings with 20 wins through Wednesdays card. His mount earnings of $6.9 million put him 11th in the national standings, while Geroux is sailing along in fifth with $9.4 million.(It should be mentioned that Julien Leparoux, 33, and the third of the three young French musketeers, sits in ninth with $7.5 million and would have been at Arlington on Saturday had he not fractured his wrist in a fall at Saratoga last Sunday.)In the $450,000 Secretariat, at 1-1/4 miles on grass, Geroux is live once again for Brown with Beach Patrol, while Prat rides Arlington Classic winner Surgical Strike for trainer Ben Colebrook. Last time out, the two colts were third and fifth in the Belmont Derby, separated by half a length.The $300,000 American St. Leger, open to all comers at 1-1/16 miles, is led by Geroux and Da Big Hoss, the winner of the lengthy Belmont Gold Cup. Prat is riding Billabong, a 7-year-old with baffling form that includes his most recent race in Qatar, in February, for trainer Pascal Bary. It was Bary who put the 16-year-old Prat on a ton of winners in France as an apprentice, however, so perhaps there will be some magic at work for their reunion.Finally, it will be no surprise that Geroux is in with a big chance in the Million itself. He won the race last year aboard The Pizza Man -- who is back to defend under Mike Smith -- but now goes for two straight aboard World Approval for Mark Casse. World Approval won the American Derby over the course last year and most recently took the United Nations at Monmouth Park.With John Velazquez otherwise occupied at Saratoga, Prat has picked up the ride on Man o War Stakes winner Wake Forest in the Million. If things turn out well, someone might want to mark the day since this will be Prats first ride for Brown.Ive been impressed with his riding from afar, particularly on the turf, Brown said. And he was available.Which doesnt always happen when a jock is leading a meet. For Brown, Prat and agent Derek Lawson were quick to save the date.As of Thursday morning, Prat had yet to knuckle down and study the form of Wake Forest, a German-bred 6-year-old who split the field in last years Million for Andreas Wohler and was then sent to Brown. In addition to his win for Brown in the Man o War on very firm turf, Wake Forest was second in the Pan American and third in the United Nations. Wake Forest is in stall 10 of 13 entered, just inside of World Approval and the likely favorite, Godolphin Racings Tryster.The horse is pretty straightforward, so I wont tell Flavien too much, Brown said of Wake Forest. Just try to work out a good trip from a challenging post.Prat missed a chance to make his debut on the big stage last fall at the Breeders Cup while recovering from fractured vertebrae. He rode Hoppertunity to a solid third-place finish for Bob Baffert in the Dubai World Cup in March, and it appears as if he will be riding Dortmund for Baffert against California Chrome and Beholder in next weeks Pacific Classic.Its what we are looking for, to ride for the big trainers, Prat said. You dont want to feel pressure, no matter who you ride for. But it is exciting, and it is an honor to ride for Chad Brown. I hope we do well.Like Rick said to Louis Renault in foggy Casablanca, it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.Arizona Diamondbacks Pro Shop .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Diamondbacks Jerseys 2020 . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. 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Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans.BOSTON -- With the American League East title already in hand, the Boston Red Sox are focused on celebrating David Ortizs legacy in Sundays regular season finale against Toronto.But the Blue Jays still have some unfinished business.Toronto (88-73) needs a win to lock up an AL wild card spot, as their 4-3 victory Saturday pulled them into a tie for the top spot with the Baltimore Orioles, who lost 7-3 to the New York Yankees earlier in the day.The Blue Jays can still make the playoffs with a loss Sunday, but that could introduce the need for a play-in game against either the Detroit Tigers or Seattle Mariners.Im not worried about that, Toronto manager John Gibbons said. We want to enjoy this one. Theyve been hard to come by, so well let (others) worry about that.Boston (93-68) trails ALDS opponent Cleveland by a one-half game after the Indians bested the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Saturday.The Red Sox won the regular-season series with Cleveland 4-2, so the Indians must finish one game ahead of Boston to gain home-field advantage. If both teams win or lose Sunday, Cleveland must win a makeup contest in Detroit on Monday to get the extra home game.Obviously we would like the home-field advantage, Red Sox utility man Brock Holt said. Well come ready to go tomorrow. Hopefully well play that first game here.Ortiz, meanwhile, will play the 2,408th and final regular season game -- and his 1,014th at Fenway -- of his storied 20-year career.The man affectionately known as Big Papi has put together a resume worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, hitting .286 wiith 541 home runs -- 17th most all-time -- and 1,768 RBI.dddddddddddds they have done all weekend, the Red Sox will honor Ortiz with a pregame ceremony and are asking fans to be in their seats by 2 p.m. ET ahead of a scheduled 3:05 p.m. first pitch.David Price (17-9, 4.04 ERA) has a chance to end an up-and-down inaugural season with the Red Sox as an 18-game winner, but likely wont go deep into the game.Hes (been) under a lot of scrutiny as we know, said Red Sox manager John Farrell, who anticipates limiting Prices pitch count, and yet you look at the body of work that hes put in for us, and hes been a very strong starter for us.Price has been masterful in his career against the Blue Jays, posting a 17-3 record with a 2.44 ERA and 143 strikeouts in 24 career starts.His .850 winning percentage versus Toronto is the highest ever against the team with the minimum of 10 decisions.Despite the lack of team success, Blue Jays sluggers Jose Bautista (.345, 20-for-58, six homers, 14 RBI) and Edwin Encarnacion (.250, 12-for-48, four homers, nine RBI) have given Price fits.Toronto counters with Aaron Sanchez (14-2, 3.06 ERA), who is 1-0 with a 5.19 ERA in three starts against Boston this season and 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA in 13 career appearances (five starts).Jackie Bradley Jr. has hit Sanchez well in a limited sample size, going 3-for-7 with a home run and four RBI. Ortiz is 4-for-9 with a double, an RBI and four walks versus Sanchez. ' ' '