CHESTER, W.Va. — Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird’s classic finishing kick wasn’t strong enough in the West Virginia Derby.
Mine That Bird finished third behind longshot winner Soul Warrior and Big Drama in Saturday’s $750,000 race, the 3-year-old gelding’s first start since a third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes two months ago.
The Derby winner wasn’t the favorite for the 1 1/8-mile West Virginia Derby, with Big Drama the betting choice at 4-5. But it was 23-1 shot Soul Warrior — with substitute jockey Dale Beckner — that won by a neck at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort.
Jockey Mike Smith blamed himself for making his move early with Mine That Bird. “It was just total rider error,” he said. “I don’t like the way I rode him at all.”
Venus overpowers Dementieva
STANFORD, Calif. — Second-seeded Venus Williams was at the top of her game as she advanced to the finals of the Bank of the West Classic, beating third-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-1.
Williams plays France’s Marion Bartoli, who beat Australia’s Samantha Stosur 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in the late semifinal.
• Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko cruised into the final of the Croatia Open in Umag by beating Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-1, 6-1. The Russian will face former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat seventh-seeded Andreas Seppi 6-1, 6-7 (1), 7-5 in the other semifinal.
Footnotes.
The Sabres have reached a one-year deal with free- agent center Cody McCormick. He spent last season with the Avalanche, collecting 12 points on a goal and 11 assists.
• Tony Parker will miss the next game for the French national team in the European basketball championships after the Spurs confirmed a mild right ankle sprain suffered by their guard.
• The Thunder signed free-agent guard Kevin Ollie. Ollie, 36, has appeared in 637 games for 11 teams over 12 seasons.
• A second autopsy performed at the request of former boxer Arturo Gatti‘s family has not ruled out homicide in his death.
• Timothy Bradley (25-0, 12 KOs) defended his WBO 140-pound title by battering Nate Campbell, opening a bloody cut that forced the fight to be stopped after three rounds in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
• In her X Games debut, Ashley Fiolek, 18, who has been deaf since birth, captured first place in Women’s Moto X Super X in Carson, Calif.
• Lauren Jackson had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the host Seattle Storm beat the San Antonio Silver Stars 85-82 in overtime.
• Candice Dupree scored 20 of her 23 points in the first half to lead the host Chicago Sky to an 84-72 victory over the Connecticut Sun.
• Diana Taurasi scored 20 points to lead the visiting Phoenix Mercury over the Minnesota Lynx 87-74.
• Chamique Holdsclaw scored 12 points in the second half as the Atlanta Dream downed the visiting New York Liberty 89-83.
• Candace Parker had 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Los Angeles Sparks’ 59-56 victory over the host Sacramento Monarchs.
The AP
