Sports
Dirt newcomer City of Troy favored at Breeders' Cup Classic
Oct 31, 2024; Del Mar, CA, USA; City of Troy trains ahead of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Championship at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images The top thoroughbred horses in 14 divisions will be crowned when the racing world convenes for the 41st annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Friday and Saturday at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club outside San Diego.
The highlight will be the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday afternoon, deciding the best horse in the world at the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles on the dirt surface.
Though there has not been a true standout horse this season among the 3-year-old and older roster, the Classic will feature an impressive list of 14 entries, several of whom will be racing out of their normal comfort zone.
The morning-line favorite in the Classic at 5-2 is City of Troy, the world’s best turf horse with three Group 1 wins in Europe this season. Trained by Aidan O’Brien and set to be ridden by Ryan Moore, City of Troy will race on the dirt for the first time as O’Brien looks to win the Classic after 17 misses.
“(City of Troy) has been trained very hard through the summer and then he’s come here on a different continent, different ground, different surface, race and pace, there’s so many different things,” O’Brien said. “Everything is done. We think we have looked under every stone we can.”
Looming large as the second choice at 3-1 is the enigmatic Fierceness, who was last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. The champion 2-year-old male horse of the year in 2023 has captured his past two races, including the Travers Stakes (G1) in his most recent start.
Fierceness has never raced against older horses and has been a feast-or-famine-type runner, finishing 15th as the favorite at this year’s Kentucky Derby. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, likes the way the strapping colt has been training and maturing.
“I think physically, Fierceness has done really well,” Pletcher said. “He’s gotten bigger, stronger, and put on weight. You can see him maturing into a fall 3-year-old. I’m very pleased with his overall condition.”
The Classic field will feature three horses from Japan, two who ran in last year’s Classic (Derma Sotogake and Ushba Tesoro) as well as the uber-talented Forever Young, who finished third by a nose in the Kentucky Derby.
Forever Young has raced once since the Run for the Roses, posting an easy win in the Japan Cup Dirt Classic that has his connections enthused about his chances in the Classic. He is listed as the third choice at 6-1.
Perhaps the most intriguing horse in the Classic is Next. He is currently on a seven-race winning streak, all in dirt marathon races of 1 3/8 miles or longer, with a combined margin of victory of over 90 lengths. He was given morning-line odds of 8-1.
Besides the Classic, the nine-race Breeders’ Cup card on Saturday will feature the $5 million Turf, with Rebel’s Romance the 5-2 morning-line favorite; the $2 million Distaff in which the popular filly Thorpedo Anna is the 4-5 pick to win; the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf, with War Like Goddess the top choice at 5-2; the $2 million Sprint that will send Federal Judge to the post as a 3-1 favorite; the $2 million Mile, with the Irish-bred Porta Fortuna the lukewarm 4-1 favorite; and three $1 million races: the Filly & Mare Sprint, the Turf Sprint and the Dirt Mile.
The Breeders’ Cup begins with Future Stars Friday, with all five races contested by horses in their 2-year-old racing year. The card includes a pair of $2 million races: the Juvenile Fillies and the Juvenile (both on dirt); and three $1 million events — the Juvenile Turf Sprint, the Juvenile Fillies Turf and the Juvenile Turf.
This is the second consecutive year that the Breeders’ Cup has been conducted in California — it was contested at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia last year — and the third time it’s been held at Del Mar. The iconic beachside track will also host the Breeders’ Cup in 2025.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves open four-game set with low-scoring win over Padres
Jul 20, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bryce Elder (55) throws against the San Diego Padres in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies hit solo home runs and Bryce Elder pitched six strong innings to help the Atlanta Braves beat the visiting San Diego Padres 3-2 on Monday in the opener of their four-game series.
It was Atlanta’s first win in four tries against the San Diego. The Braves are 3-1 and the Padres are 1-3 since the All-Star break.
Harris went deep in the fifth to tie the game and Albies homered in the sixth, although their streak of nine consecutive home games with at least five runs came to an end.
Elder (6-6) allowed two runs on five hits and one walk, striking out four. Victor Mederos pitched the final 2 1/3 innings and earned his first career save.
San Diego’s Ty France extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games with a single in the fourth and homered to start the seventh. It was his 15th of the year, the fifth during his hitting streak, and forced Elder to leave the game.
San Diego starter JP Sears (2-3) pitched five innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with three strikeouts. Sears retired the first 10 batters he faced until Albies lined a one-handed single into left with one out in the fourth.
Manny Machado, who caught the Braves off-balance with a bunt single in the first inning, went back to the power game in the fourth when he smacked a hanging breaking ball for a home run and a 1-0 Padres lead. Machado’s 20th homer sailed 402 feet and just cleared the yellow line on the fence in left-center field.
The Braves took a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Harris hit his 18th home run, a 341-foot solo shot that just made it over the top of the brick wall in right field. Mauricio Dubon then reached on catcher’s interference and scored when Joey Bart lined a double into the left field corner.
Atlanta struck again in the sixth off reliever Wandy Peralta when Albies hit a solo homer, his 15th and first since July 3, for what would be the winning run.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cubs place RHP Phil Maton on IL, activate RHP Jameson Taillon
Jun 11, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Chicago Cubs pitcher Phil Maton (88) delivers a pitch in the seventh inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images For the third time in 2026, the Chicago Cubs placed right-handed reliever Phil Maton on the 15-day injured list on Monday due to continuing struggles with right knee tendinitis.
Manager Craig Counsell told reporters before the series opener vs. Detroit that Maton, 33, underwent an MRI and the results were not encouraging.
“We were all optimistic,” Counsell said of Maton’s return to action against Minnesota on Sunday. “He thought, we thought, we were in a pretty good place. … We’re looking at a little bit more extended absence here.”
Maton threw 23 pitches in the eighth inning of the 10-1 victory over the Twins. He hit the strike zone 19 times, but did allow one run, two hits and a walk.
But the 10-year veteran felt a flare-up of the right knee symptoms, according to Counsell.
Maton had last pitched on June 25 and was activated from the 15-day IL on July 11.
He made five appearances in March and April before hitting the injured list for the first time after an April 7 outing in Tampa Bay.
Maton, who pitched to a 2.79 ERA with the Cardinals and Rangers in 2025, signed a two-year, $14.5 million contract this winter to serve in a high-leverage capacity for the Cubs.
In 31 games this season, he is 0-1 with a 6.18 ERA and 1.81 WHIP, fanning 31 batters and walking 16 walks in 27 2/3 innings.
The Cubs added Aaron Civale (5-7, 5.42 ERA) to the roster on Monday after acquiring him on Athletics on Saturday.
In addition, Chicago activated Jameson Taillon (hamstring) from the injured list and he made the start against the Tigers on Monday. Taillon pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on five hits, walking two and fanning six.
To make room for Taillon, the Cubs designated left-handed reliever Drew Pomeranz for assignment.
–Field Level Media
Sports
14 in a row: Red Sox down Orioles on Caleb Durbin homer
Jul 20, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) hits a one run RBI double against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Caleb Durbin hit a solo home run to break a tie score in the eighth inning as the Boston Red Sox extended their winning streak to 14 games by beating the visiting Baltimore Orioles, 6-5, Monday night.
Durbin’s homer came against reliever Tyler Wells (2-2) and broke a 5-5 tie. It was his 10th home run of the season.
Baltimore had runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth, but Tyler O’Neill lined out to shortstop to end the game. Garrett Whitlock (5-1) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the win. Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his 22nd save.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered and Gunnar Hunderson had three doubles for the Orioles, who committed four errors. The loss ended Baltimore’s seven-game winning streak.
Boston received three hits from Willson Contreras.
The Orioles struck first when Henderson and O’Neill hit back-to-back doubles with two outs in the top of the first.
Jarren Duran’s sacrifice fly drove in Contreras to make it a 1-1 game in the second, and the Red Sox added two runs in the third. Ceddanne Rafaela reached base on an error by second baseman Jeremiah Jackson, took third on Wilyer Abreu’s double and scored on a Henderson throwing error from first base. Contreras followed with an infield single that scored Abreu to extend Boston’s lead to 3-1.
Baltimore trimmed Boston’s advantage to 3-2 when Encarnacion-Strand hit a solo home run in the fifth, and Jackson’s RBI single in the sixth drove in O’Neill to tie the game, 3-3. Baltimore went ahead 4-3 on an Encarnacion-Strand single that scored Leody Taveras later in the sixth.
Abreu scored on a Contreras double in the bottom half of the sixth to pull the Red Sox even, 4-4.
Taylor Ward put Baltimore in front 5-4 by scoring from third on an O’Neill groundout in the seventh, but Boston answered in the bottom of the inning when Tsung-Che Cheng scored on a throwing error by Ward in left field.
Durbin’s home run capped the scoring with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Braves open four-game set with low-scoring win over Padres
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