SPORTS FOLDEROL

Lord help me … but once I discovered the English Premier  League several years ago and took  WAYNE ROONEY  as  my favorite futbol player … the next step was to get hooked  on Manchester United. Talk about bad – make that terrible –  timing! … The once-great franchise guided by  SIR ALEX  FERGUSON  was about to became an also-ran during a  parade of coaches … none of whom could live up to the  tremendous pressure … and leading to last year’s eighth- place finish, an all-time low … under  ERIK TEN HAG ,  who would have been fired except the new bosses in town  couldn’t find anyone to their liking … so they gave him  another make-good-or-be-gone contract that extends though  the 2025-26 campaign even if there are no guarantees the  Dutchman will be around that long. Injuries – 60 to be exact – plagued ManU in 2023-24.  Naturally, there were other factors, too, but lack of quality  depth (at least according to ten Hag) was a major problem at  a time when the game has become almost year-rou

  Bummer! …  BOB BAFFERT  will not have a horse in the Aug. 10 Arlington Million at Colonial Downs. Entries for the Gr. I stakes race … as well as the co-featured Gr. II Secretariat and Gr. II Beverly D … closed last week without a Thoroughbred from the Hall of Fame trainer … Maybe he didn’t get notification in time that his two-year-plus suspension by Churchill Downs had been lifted. That’s one explanation … Don’t forget: All tracks owned by CD, Inc., including the one in New Kent County, were effected by the ban after Baffert-trained  MEDINA SPIRIT  won the 2021 Kentucky Derby then was disqualified for having a banned substance. Originally the suspension was for two years but later increased through 2024 for reasons thought to be related to a suit brought by the owners of  MUTH , also trained by Baffert, to compete in this year’s Derby … A Kentucky judge ruled the suit had no merit … Muth was not in the Derby field … and Churchill subsequently decided to cut short Baffert’s ban with

Some opinion, mostly fact: Gotta love it … Week 3 of Colonial Downs’ 2024  Thoroughbred meet gets underway Thursday (July 25) …  with the four top trainers (to date) women … from   BRITTANY RUSSELL  (6 starts, 4 wins) to  MARY  EPPLER  (2 for 2) to  NIALL SAVILLE  (3 starts, 2 wins) to   LYNN ASHBY  (2 for 5) Credit  “DERBY BILL”  WATSON  for the update ... I know, I know … there’s a long  way to go … seven weeks to be exact but … who knows? A  female finishing first in a sport dominated by men? At least  it got our attention … followed by learning about the front- running foursome. Russell, for example, has career earnings  of $21,434,886. In 2,030 starts, her horses have won 494  races, placing 350 times and coming home third 301 … So  far in 2024, the numbers are equally impressive: 345 -- 72W,  48P, and 50 show … operating out of the Fair Hill Training  Center in Elkton, Md … Keep an eye on Russell-trained   NEW EPISODE , who broke her maiden at Colonial  Downs in 2022 and recently

  There is no guarantee, of course, but it seems  likely Thoroughbred Hall of Fame trainer   BOB BAFFERT  will bring a horse or two  … or more (hopefully) … to Colonial Downs  this summer … now that his suspension for  winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby with a  doped-up entry has been removed … You  might recall Baffert became persona non  grata at Churchill Downs as well as all tracks  it owns (like Colonial) after a post-Derby test  found  MEDINA SPIRIT to have an illegal  drug in its system. The three-year-old  Thoroughbred was disqualified … and the 71  year old much-decorated trainer told no horse  in his barn would be allowed to compete at  Churchill or any of its affiliated tracks for  two years … in what was considered an  unusually harsh penalty … especially for  someone who had saddled six Derby, seven  Preakness and four Belmont Stakes winners  including two –  AMERICAN PHAROAH  (2015);  JUSTIFY  (2018) -- who won all  three … If that wasn’t bad enough, Churchill  increased the