Ah, time once again for the weekly Post AmSports report, and the huge news over here is the results of last week's Kentucky Derby, where two long shots surprised everyone by finishing one-two, and made a very few betters REALLY happy. Giacomo, with Mike Smith in the saddle, left the gate at 50-1 odds, got off to a slow start and angled his way down the backstretch, followed closely by Closing Argument, which went off at 72-1 odds.

A neat story about the winner is that his sire, Holy Bull, was the favorite in 1994 with Smith aboard, but fell out of the money, while Smith himself was winless in eleven Derby starts, dating back 21 years.

Also of note, there were seven Superfecta wagers that paid off something like $600,000 after Uncle Sam takes his cut. One fella thought he had lost his wagering slip and was rooting through the trash, but went home dejected... until the next day, when the slip was discovered laying next to the clerk's machine.

Coming up on 21 May is the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, and the 'experts' are again saying that Smith and Giacomo have 'no chance' since they're not from one of the big-money stables, or a big-money trainer. Giacomo races for Jerome Hart, a record producer who formerly owned A&M Records, and in partnership with trumpeter Herb Alpert who made the studios a pretty penny in the late 60s and early 70s.

As the story goes, Giancomo is named after the nine-year-old son of Sting, who recorded on the A&M label with the band Police.

In other sporting news, the US hockey team has qualified for the quarterfinals, along with Sweden and the Czech Republic at the world hockey championships in Austria, but that doesn't get 1% of the press coverage... also notable is baseball's Roger Clemens getting his 330^rd career victory, making him the winningest still-living pitcher and adding another exclamation point to his Hall of Fame career.

So, that's another wrap from over here between two huge ponds, along the shores of a vastly smaller pond named Lake Erie, this is several, a/k/a random, over and out.

Wasps scored an impressive win over Sale last Saturday to secure their place in the Premiership final. At half time it looked as if Sale would prevail but Wasps chalked up 26 points in the second half and Sale had no answer.
Wasps 43 - 22 Sale

Meanwhile, the wildcard final sees Gloucester, who defeated Newcastle 23-16 play against Saracens who put Worcester firmly in their place with a 28-10 win.

So, a feast of finals on Saturday:
Gloucester v Saracens 13:00
Leicester v Wasps       15:30

Not much for me to report here except that the headline 'Rampant Arsenal embarrass Everton' made me smile and Dutch pride was restored by old-timer Dennis Bergkamp who, apparently, played an absolute blinder on Wednesday night.

Did I Leave The Iron On? Archive

Several a.k.a. Random 

ShazzPRME

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