Meister der Farbe » Thats a tough task.Stern said the process of a

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- So, in the wake of Arrogates devastating, track-record, runaway score in Saturdays Travers Stakes, who is the best 3-year-old male in the land?It might well be Arrogate. What he did in the Travers was amazing stuff, setting a fast pace under pressure and running away through the stretch like he went the first half in 50.84 seconds instead of the 46.84 he did post. And as if racking up a 13-1/2-length victory wasnt enough, Arrogate ran the fastest 1-1/4 miles in the history of Saratoga at 1:59.36, smashing General Assemblys 37-year-old track record.Powerful, powerful stuff. Maybe one of the three or four best performances weve seen all year.But where did this effort come from?Its not like Arrogate hadnt demonstrated considerable potential at the launch of his career in Southern California. He finished third sprinting in his debut last April and then won three straight going two turns, victories that earned him a trip to the Travers.However, none of Arrogates prior three scores were in the same universe as what he did on Saturday. I mean, he freaked in the most extreme sense of the term. In fact, his Travers performance, brilliant as it was, was in such contrast to his prior efforts that it seems only reasonable to require some validation.Arrogate might well be the best 3-year-old in the land, and it might not even be close. But I need to see him perform even fairly close to the way he did Saturday before I consider his Travers effort to be something I buy into completely.No question, the biggest disappointment in the Travers was Exaggerator, who was a distant trailer early, made a brief run late on the far turn, and then backed off to be eased under the wire, finishing 11th of 13.This dismal effort by Exaggerator on a fast track, into a fast pace, makes a very strong case that he is indeed not only pace dependent, but also dependent on a wet track to perform at his best. After all, Exaggerators wins in the Haskell, Preakness, and Santa Anita Derby, and his second in the Kentucky Derby (on a track that was plenty wet despite its fast designation) were all set up by pace and surface.But his last two dry-track starts resulted in 11th-place place finishes in both the Travers and Belmont. And all of this begs the question of whether its wise to award a horse who to this point has been a creation of fantastic pace setups and wet tracks.Nyquist, on the strength of honest wins in the Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby and a third in the Preakness that I think was the best performance in that race, might still be the ranking 3-year-old male. But his grasp on the division is very shaky.Which means that perhaps in no small respect, the door is open for Arrogate. But lets see him do what he did in the Travers again. Like in the Breeders Cup Classic.Quick Saturday Saratoga notes* Lady Eli might have been caught late by Strike Charmer in the Ballston Spa for the first defeat in her seven-race career, but she was a winner Saturday in every other sense of the word.Lady Eli ran big considering she was beaten less than a length off a 14-month layoff. She ran huge considering that layoff was due to laminitis. And what she did Saturday was tremendous when you take into account that shes lucky to be alive, let alone racing again, and racing effectively.Lady Eli made a very strong wide run around the far turn in the Ballston Spa, and even if her move was nicely set up by a fast early pace, that move says Lady Eli is still the Lady Eli we remember and will be a force to be reckoned with going forward.* Flintshire is so much the best in the male turf division its silly, and I say that with all due respect to Ironicus, who was a very good second to Flintshire in the Manhattan last June.However, as tremendously entertaining as Flintshires victories at this Saratoga meet were, lets not forget that he wasnt exactly beating horses who will invoke the memory of Manila. The group who tried to box him in in last months Bowling Green wasnt remotely good enough to pull off the gambit.There were no such machinations Saturday in the Sword Dancer - although Flintshire got two rail passes when barnmates Money Multiplier opened the rail for him around the far turn the final time and rabbit Inordinate did the same turning for home - but the competition really wasnt all that much stronger.I do not note this to denigrate Flintshire. He is very, very good, and I am a fan. However, European horsemen will soon get serious about sending real horses over here for the big fall grass stakes, and the competition Flintshire will face will become stronger by many multiples. And he might very well be good enough to meet the challenge. And that, for me, anyway, will be more entertaining than seeing Flintshire again victimize seriously overmatched competition.* If there was any doubt about Cavortings status as the top older dirt female east of Beholder and Stellar Wind, it was eliminated with her better-than-it-looked victory in the Personal Ensign.With a pace that bordered between deliberate and slow, the Personal Ensign quickly became a race that put a premium on tactics. And Cavorting, in her first career start around two turns or at a distance as far as 1-1/8 miles after winning the Ogden Phipps and Ruffian at Belmont in her last two starts, was up against it tactically, trailing early in the solid field of five.Yet despite an unfavorable setup, Cavorting was still able to produce a stretch rally from the outside to get up in time, which is very much to her credit. She was decidedly better than her half-length win margin would suggest.* Likewise, there was little question going into the Forego that A. P. Indian, the winner of his last three starts, including the Alfred G. Vanderbilt earlier in the meet, was the best male sprinter in the East. There was even less doubt after the Forego as A. P. Indian was decidedly best. That said, this edition of the Forego lured a less-than-inspiring field, and the East Coast sprinters are not an especially tough group, at least right now.* No matter what, Drefong was the speediest and best horse in the Kings Bishop. But it would have been nice to see him have to use his speed to prove his superiority. Instead, the Kings Bishop was giftwrapped for him only a quarter of a mile in.Drefong was in front and clear in a flash after the start of the Kings Bishop because he is, well, California speed. But when 23.11 was posted for a first-quarter fraction, it was clear there was no California speed, or any other speed, at work. That was walking for Drefong, and because he is a good horse, he thoroughly capitalized on his good fortune with a clear-cut score.Still, I suggest not penalizing the closers who were soundly beaten by Drefong this time too severely. They had no shot with the way the Kings Bishop was run.* Much credit to Haveyougoneaway, who made the Ballerina her second graded stakes victory of the Saratoga meet (she won last months Honorable Miss). But I do think several Ballerina contestants, for whatever reason, just did not deliver representative performances.Sheer Drama never moved a muscle, and Wavell Avenue barely did better. Carina Mia finished third as the even-money favorite despite being a 3-year-old against older opponents, but she really shouldnt have weakened after contesting a first quarter of 23.39, which was slow for a seven-furlong stakes race on a fast track, and her stretch drift was troubling.* The final times of the three big seven-furlong stakes ranked in predictable order. A. P. Indian went in 1:20.99, Drefong went in 1:21.25, and Haveyougoneaway went in 1:21.63. But frankly, I was a little surprised there wasnt more of a spread between these times.Dan Fouts Jersey .35 million, one-year contract that avoided salary arbitration. Plouffe batted .254 with 14 home runs and 52 RBIs in 477 at-bats last season, his second as a regular in the lineup. Junior Seau Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. http://www.cheapchargersjerseysauthentic.com/ . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Wholesale Chargers Jerseys China . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. LaDainian Tomlinson Jersey . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day.Former NBA commissioner David Stern, a longtime ardent opponent of sports betting legalization, said Thursday that his position has evolved to a point where he now hopes to see legal sports betting expand in the United States.Stern, speaking to a crowd at the American Gaming Associations Global Gaming Expo on Thursday in Las Vegas, said the notion that gambling will lead to bad things is outdated.Lets not talk about the evils of gambling when it comes to sports, Stern said. The industry has come to accept that a properly run gaming association will be protective of sports.Stern now supports amending the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), the federal prohibition on state-sponsored sports betting, which was pushed heavily by the sports leagues, including the NBA. PASPA has stopped the spread of state-sponsored gambling, limiting it primarily to Nevada and, to a lesser extent, Delaware. But Americans are having little trouble finding ways to bet on sports in the U.S.The American Gaming Association estimates $90 billion will be bet on football this season, almost all of it illegally. In comparison, only $1.69 billion was bet on football in 2015 at Nevadas regulated sportsbooks.You wind up with a proposition that says there is this legal gaming, but theres also an enormous amount that is wagered, Stern told ESPN on Thursday in Las Vegas. That amount is not regulated, not taxed, and the profits go to unsavory causes, and thats a good thing to take a look at.Sterns message echoes that of his successor -- current NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Both feel strongly that a federal approach to sports betting would be best, with Congress creating a regulatory framework and allowing states and sports leagues to either opt in or opt out.If a sport says, I dont want to have my games bet on, then they should have the opportunity to opt out, Stern added If a state says, I dont want to have betting for any number of reasons, they dont have to have betting. And I think that makes it a really good situation. Its sort of a coalition of the wanted and the wanting.Supporting the legalization of sports betting represents a dramatic shift for Stern, who had to guide the NBA through a gambling scandal of its own. In 2007, referee Tim Donaghy was found to have supplied information to gamblers while also betting on games he officiated.Stern said the NBA studied betting linee movement and Donaghys call structure closely, but nearly 10 years later, he still isnt sure if a larger regulated sports betting market in the U.dddddddddddd.S. would have produced warning signs of the referees betting activity. An FBI wiretap for an unrelated case ultimately identified the scheme.We looked at it pretty closely, both after the fact and during the investigations, Stern said. We were bedeviled trying to come up with a statistically significant analysis. But you never know.More recently, Stern also fought New Jerseys efforts to legalize sports betting and expressed serious concerns about how expanded legalization would irreparably harm the NBA and its relationship with its fans.The NBA cannot be compensated in damages for the harm that sports gambling poses to the fundamental bonds of loyalty and devotion between fans and teams, Stern wrote in an Aug. 8, 2012, declaration in the New Jersey case. Once that special relationship has been compromised, the NBA will have been irreparably injured in a manner that cannot adequately be calculated in dollars.Stern said that the popularity of daily fantasy sports has helped alleviate some of his concerns about fans having a stake in player performance or game outcomes.Whatever barrier perhaps existed is gone, Stern said, So, to me, if theyre going to be doing daily fantasy, you might as well legalize gambling.To get sports betting legalized, Stern believes more stakeholders need to join forces, including more sports leagues. Silver wrote a 2014 op-ed in The New York Times, calling for the federal prohibition on sports betting to be lifted. The NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball, while showing signs of a softening stance on sports betting, have not followed Silvers lead in coming out in full support.One or two leagues would be fine, Stern said. The others could sit back and watch the results. Thats not upsetting to me. The coming together is really more about getting law enforcement, technology companies and casino companies together with the sports leagues. Thats a tough task.Stern said the process of a getting sports betting legalized could take as long as a decade, but he hopes sooner.My heart says it should be one to three [years], Stern told ESPN. My head says its between five and 10.Cheap Jerseys China NFL JerThats a tough task.Stern said the process of a eys ' ' '