Day: May 6, 2017

Always Dreaming splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby by 2¾ lengths Saturday, giving trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez their second victories in the race but their first together.

Pletcher and Velazquez have teamed up often over the years and are the sport’s leading money winners. On their own, they were a combined 2 for 63 coming into America’s greatest horse race. Pletcher won in 2010 with Super Saver; Velazquez won the following year with Animal Kingdom.

Together, they were unbeatable on a cool and rainy day at Churchill Downs.

Sent off at 9-2 odds, Always Dreaming made it the fifth straight year that a Derby favorite has won, the longest such stretch since the 1970s.

Always Dreaming was followed across the finish line by a pair of long shots: 33-1 Lookin At Lee and 40-1 Battle of Midway.

Always Dreaming ran 1¼ miles in 2:03.59 and paid $11.40, $7.20 and $5.80.

Lookin At Lee returned $26.60 and $18.20, while Battle of Midway was another five lengths back in third and paid $20.80 to show.

Classic Empire finished fourth, followed by Practical Joke, Tapwrit, Gunnevera, McCraken, Gormley and Irish War Cry. Hence was 11th, followed by Untrapped, Girvin, Patch, J Boys Echo, Sonneteer, Fast and Accurate, Irap, and State of Honor.

Pletcher also trains Tapwrit and Patch.

Thunder Snow, the Dubai-based entry, didn’t finish. He broke poorly out of the starting gate and began bucking. He was caught by the outrider and he walked back to the barn on his own.
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Thunderstorms and wind had delayed the Hindenburg’s arrival in New Jersey from Germany on May 6, 1937. The father of 8-year-old Werner Doehner headed to his cabin after using his movie camera to shoot some scenes of Lakehurst Naval Air Station from the airship’s dining room.

“We didn’t see him again,” recalled Doehner, now 88 and the only person left of the 62 passengers and crew who survived the fire that killed his father, sister and 34 other souls 80 years ago Saturday.

Doehner and his parents, older brother and sister were returning from a vacation in Germany and planned to travel on the 804-foot-long Hindenburg to Lakehurst, then fly to Newark and board a train in nearby New York City to take them home to Mexico City, where Doehner’s father was a pharmaceutical executive.

The children would have preferred the decks and public rooms of an ocean liner because space was tight on the airship, Doehner said in a rare telephone interview this week with The Associated Press from his home in Parachute, Colorado.

Their mother brought games to keep the children busy. They toured the control car and the catwalks inside the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg. They could see an ice field as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he remembered.

As the Hindenburg arrived at its destination, flames began to flicker on top of the ship.

Hydrogen, exposed to air, fueled an inferno. The front section of the Hindenburg pitched up and the back section pitched down.

“Suddenly the air was on fire,” Doehner said.

“We were close to a window, and my mother took my brother and threw him out. She grabbed me and fell back and then threw me out,” he said.

“She tried to get my sister, but she was too heavy, and my mother decided to get out by the time the zeppelin was nearly on the ground.”

His mother had broken her hip.

“I remember lying on the ground, and my brother told me to get up and to get out of there.” Their mother joined them and asked a steward to get her daughter, whom he carried out of the burning wreckage.

A bus took the survivors to an infirmary, where, Doehner said, a nurse gave him a needle to burst his blisters.

From there, the family was taken to Point Pleasant Hospital. Doehner had burns to his face, both hands and down his right leg from the knee. His mother had burns to her face, both legs and both hands. His brother had several burns on his face and right hand.

His sister died early in the morning.

He would remain in the hospital for three months before going to a hospital in New York City in August for skin grafts. He was discharged in January, and the boy, a German speaker, had learned some English.

“Burns take a long time to heal,” he said.

The family returned to Mexico City, where funerals were held for Doehner’s father and sister, who were among the 35 fatalities of the 97 passengers and crew aboard the airship. A worker on the ground also died.

The U.S. Commerce Department determined the accident was caused by a leak of the hydrogen that kept the airship aloft. It mixed with air, causing a fire. “The theory that a brush discharge ignited such mixture appears most probable,” the department’s report said.

Eight decades later, Doehner is the only one left to remember what it was like on the Hindenburg that night. A ceremony commemorating the disaster will take place at the crash site Saturday night.

“Only two others who ever flew on the airship are alive,” said Carl Jablonski, president of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society. “But they weren’t on the last flight.”

Interest in the disaster remains strong as ever, Jablonski said.

“The internet and social media has exposed and attracted the interest of a younger generation,” he said.

The Hindenburg, Doehner said, is “something you don’t forget.”
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The U.S. Kentucky Derby, the first of three major yearly horse races in the United States, will take place on Saturday with rain in the forecast, adding another variable to an already unpredictable race.

The 20-horse field lacks a clear dominant horse following winter preparatory races, and the 40 percent chance of rain predicted for Saturday could create a sloppy track ripe for an underdog victory.

The last four Derby races have all been won by the favorite. However, without a dominant runner in the race, spectators and betters are also looking at the possibility of a long-shot win this year.

Classic Empire, at odds of 4-1, is the narrow pre-race favorite in the opener of the U.S. Triple Crown, held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Two horses, Always Dreaming and McCraken, are the co-second choices at 5-1.

The underdogs include Patch, rated 30-1, a one-eyed horse who drew starting gate number 20, the farthest outside gate. Patch will not be able to see any of his competition at the start of the race because of his left eye patch and lane draw.  

Patch’s trainer, Todd Pletcher, also has two other horses in the race, 5-1 shot Always Dreaming, and 20-1 odds Tapwrit.

Another trainer, Steve Asmussen also has three horses in the race, all long shots.

Bob Baffert, a four-time derby winner not competing in this year’s event, told the Associated Press there is “a lot of parity” in this year’s race, but it was hard for him to pick a winner.

“I think Classic Empire is probably the best horse in the race. Todd’s horse has brilliance, Always Dreaming. If they can get him figured out, he could steal it. The rest are bombers,” he said.

 
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It is what every aspiring baseball player strives for: a Major League appearance.

“This is what you’ve been working hard for all the years,” 27-year-old South African Gift Ngoepe said. “This is what you dreamed of since you were a little kid.”

Ngoepe’s dream came true April 26 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

At the top of the fourth inning at PNC Park, Ngoepe got the call to take the field, playing second base. He had just been added to the Pirates roster, promoted from their minor league affiliate Indianapolis Indians.

Watch: First Players from Africa, Lithuania Mark New Era for Major League Baseball

“My heartbeat was very hard,” he said in an interview with VOA.

Game day footage shows teammates Josh Harrison and Francisco Cervelli placing their hands over his heart as he took his position on the field.

“And I felt like it was beating a little bit out of my chest,” he said.

Facing All-Star pitcher

Ngoepe said the intensity increased at the bottom of the inning when he was the leadoff hitter facing All-Star pitcher John Lester of the Chicago Cubs.

But Ngoepe did more than just step up to the plate.

With a 3-1 count (three balls, one strike), his bat connected with the ball, driving it into the outfield for a single. With a recorded hit for his first at-bat, Ngoepe entered the history books as the first Major League Baseball player from the African continent.

“It feels great to be a part of history with the Pirates,” Ngoepe said, reflecting on another moment in his remarkable journey in a sport he was born into. His mother, Maureen, worked for the South African Randberg Mets baseball club, and their family lived in a small apartment near the field.

“I rolled out of bed and I was on first base,” he said. “I started playing baseball at the age of 3. I was throwing the ball against the wall. And the coach came up to me and said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a pretty good arm, why don’t you think about joining the team?’” 

Ngoepe moved through the ranks of a sport unfamiliar to many in South Africa.

“Baseball’s not very popular,” he said, “because we compete against three other sports, cricket, rugby and soccer, so the youth development for baseball is not going to be as strong.”

Pirates contract

He developed enough to catch the attention of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who offered Ngoepe a contract at the age of 18. It brought him into the organization’s minor league system, where he formed a friendship with teammate Josh Bell.

“Having the courage to make that first step, to say, ‘Hey, I’m coming over to the states. I’m going to try to learn this game the best I can,’ it’s incredible,” Bell told VOA.

While Ngoepe is the first from the continent of Africa, he is in good company this season. Another minor league teammate, Indianapolis Indians relief pitcher Dovydas Neverauskas, was called up April 24 to join the Pirates in the bullpen at PNC Park, where they faced the Chicago Cubs.

“I got there during the game, and I got to pitch in the game at the same time,” Neverauskas said. “I didn’t have time to think once I got to the field.”

By the time he reached the mound, the Pirates were already losing and never recovered. But Neverauskas pitched two solid innings. He is the first Lithuanian player to appear in a Major League Baseball game.

Born in Vilnius, where his family still lives, Neverauskas learned the game from his father, Virmidas, who played for Lithuania’s first baseball club formed in the 1980s. The elder Neverauskas now coaches the country’s youth national teams, where Dovydas sees the next generation of talent coming up behind him, reinforcing the importance of his career.

“Because if I do good,” he said, “maybe the team will see that there’s potential in Lithuania, and maybe will send more people to look for players.”

Waiting on another chance

But Dovydas Neverauskas pitched one game for the Pirates and is now back with the Indianapolis Indians, waiting for another chance.

“It’s tough knowing that as you play today, there’s another player in every organization trying to take your spot,” said Bell, Neverauskas’s teammate. “I guess it makes it a little bit easier for us to just focus on winning, and focus on the now. And I feel like Gift is a perfect example of that.”

Bell added that he isn’t just a teammate and friend, he’s also a fan.

“I’m sure he’s got shirts being made. I know the moment I have an opportunity to put on a ‘Gift from Africa’ shirt I’m going to buy one for me and my family,” he said.

The Pittsburgh Pirates “gift from Africa” remains with the team, for now, and continues to perform well, both on the field and at the plate, exceeding even his own expectations.

“It’s been unbelievable for me,” Ngoepe said, coming off a stretch of games where he continued to get on base and help the Pirates score runs. “The story just keeps on growing bigger.”

While Gift looks to write the next chapter, another Ngoepe hopes to have his own storybook career. Nineteen-year-old Victor is following in his older brother’s footsteps, also securing a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and playing on a minor league team in Florida where he waits for his own chance to prove himself on baseball’s biggest stage.
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J.K. Rowling is launching a free online book club for fans and newcomers to her “Harry Potter” series.

The Wizarding World Book Club will launch in June in celebration of the 20th anniversary of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” the first in what would become a seven-book series.

The online community “aims to surprise and delight those who have never read a Harry Potter book, as well as returning readers who want to join the conversation,” says Pottermore, Rowling’s digital publishing arm.

The club says its goal is to “create a global community of Harry Potter readers who are communicating with each other as they are reading the same book, at the same time.”
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Eliud Kipchoge was 26 seconds from making history Saturday but the Olympic champion finished just short of becoming the first person to run a marathon in less than two hours. 

Kipchoge ran the 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers) in 2 hours, 26 seconds, beating Dennis Kimetto’s world mark of 2:02:57.

The 32-year-old Kenyan did break his personal best time of 2:03:05, which was set at the London Marathon last year.

Organizers first listed his time as a second faster, then changed it to 26 seconds off the 2-hour mark.

The attempt at Monza’s Formula One race course did not go down as an official world record, sanctioned by the IAAF, because of variables like pacers entering midrace and drinks being given to runners via mopeds. 

And, after three years of planning, Nike’s audacious attempt at breaking the two-hour barrier remained just that, despite the aid of a shoe that designers say will make runners 4 percent more efficient.

Two-time Boston Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa, from Ethiopia, and Eritrean half-marathon world-record holder Zersenay Tadese were also part of the Breaking2 project, which started at 5:45 a.m., but finished well off the pace.

The 32-year-old ran his trademark relaxed style and passed the halfway mark in 59:54, but his average pace of 4:36 per mile was just not enough, despite his final sprint to the tape.
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The Kentucky Derby, the first of three annual major horse races in the United States, takes place Saturday without a dominant runner.

Classic Empire, at odds of 4-1, is the narrow favorite in the opener of the U.S. Triple Crown, as the three races are known.

Two horses, Always Dreaming and McCraken, are the second choices at 5-1.

The 20-horse field lacks a dominant horse following winter preparatory races.

The last four Derby races have all been won by the favorite. However, without a dominant runner in the race, spectators and bettors are looking at the possibility of a long-shot win this year.

The underdogs include Patch, rated 30-1, a one-eyed horse who drew as his starting gate No. 20, the outside gate. Patch will not be able to see any of his competition at the start of the race because of his left eye patch and lane draw.

Patch’s trainer, Todd Pletcher, has two other horses in the race, 5-1 shot Always Dreaming, and 20-1 odds Tapwrit.

Another trainer, Steve Asmussen, has three horses in the race, all long shots.

Weather could play a role in Saturday’s race, with an estimated 60 percent chance of rain Friday night and a 40 percent chance of showers Saturday.
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“Game Of Thrones” stars Lena Headey and Iain Glen are taking a break from swords and intrigue to tackle a real-world crisis in their latest venture: a low-budget, independent film on Europe’s refugees.

Both appear as immigration officers in “The Flood,” which follows the journey of an Eritrean migrant trying to reach Britain.

“You know what’s happening in the world, globally is horrific. And, you know, for it to be dealt in cinematic form, I think is a great thing to do,” said Headey, best known for her depiction of the twisted matriarch Cersei Lannister in the TV series.

Glen plays exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont on the HBO series.

The film’s title is a reference to the often pejorative language used to describe the arrival of large numbers of migrants in Europe.

The film’s producer Luke Healy said he bypassed the usual funding channels and managed to get financial support from a prospective buyer he was showing round his apartment.

“She didn’t end up buying the flat — but she bought the movie. She was our sole investor,” he told Reuters.

 
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