Allgemein » nasty moments near the end, including a clash that

TORONTO -- Lexie Lou will get a shot at winning Canadas most prestigious horse race. Lexie Lou earned a commanding 4 1/2-length win Sunday in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks. In fact, Lexie Lous winning time of 1:49.77 was better than the 1:50.78 posted by Queens Plate favourite We Miss Artie in the $150,000 Plate Trial Stakes earlier. That left Lexi Lous handlers with the question whether to run her against the boys in the Queens Plate on July 6 or chase the remaining two legs of the Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred three-year-old fillies. Conditioner Mark Casse missed Sundays race while attending a horse sale in Florida. But the six-time winner of Canadas top trainer award said he spoke with owner Gary Barber and the decision was made to point the filly towards the Plate. "As long as shes healthy and happy that will be her next stop," Casse said in a telephone interview Sunday evening. Assistant trainer Kathyrn Sullivan represented Casse at Sundays race, however she was unable to call him afterwards with the good news. Thats because Sullivan lost both of her cellphones in the walking race prior to the race. "I havent talked to Kathryn yet," Casse said with a chuckle. "She did text me saying she was a nervous wreck. "But were fortunate to have a lot of great people working with us and I know she did a terrific job." Jockey Patrick Husbands had Lexie Lou, the 2/1 second choice, sitting second behind stablemate Wild Catomine for much of the race before surging into the lead and cruising for her fourth victory in 11 career starts. The $300,000 winners share boosted her lifetime earnings over $630,000. Wild Catomine, also trained by Casse, was second in the nine-horse field, with Llanarmon taking third. Paladin Bay, the 2/1 favourite, was fourth. "We took a good run at her, like we always do, but Lexie Lou found another gear out there, she just took off again," said Gerry Olguin, the jockey aboard Paladin Bay. "I thought I was going to be second . . . she got tired at the end." Sundays race was just Lexie Lous second since being purchased by Barber and first without blinkers. Husbands rode Lexie Lou to a third-place finish in the $150,000 Fury Stakes event May 10 and felt blinkers werent necessary. "The last time she never relaxed," Husbands said. "We worked her twice since the last race without blinkers, no problem. "In the post parade, she was relaxed." Only five Oaks winners have gone on to win the Queens Plate, the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown and this countrys most prestigious horse race. The last was Inglorious in 2011. Sullivan said while Lexie Lou would give away size to the colts in the Plate, shed have the speed needed to compete. "Shes light and just floats on the track and theres definitely advantages to that," she said. "I think youd find some people would say thats the kind of horse youd want and youd find as many other people saying the other (bigger is better). "Shes put on a little weight and sort of filled out a little bit in the last month. Shes just got that big, long, beautiful stride." And theres the matter of Lexie Lou posting a faster time than We Miss Artie did in the Plate Trial, both races covering 1 1/8 miles. "Yeah, I know," Sullivan said with a smile. "Thats also a debate that will rage on." We Miss Artie was the overwhelming 1/5 favourite in the Plate Trial, and with good reason. The Todd Pletcher-trained bay colt was the Queens Plate Winterbook favourite this winter and finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Sundays race was not only We Miss Arties first since the Derby but first-ever at Woodbine. He found himself sitting third, boxed in along the rail at one point but jockey Javier Castellano patiently waited for an opening and when it appeared, he had more than enough horse to respond. "I think I rode the best horse in the race, I think I rode with a lot of patience," Castellano said. "I let him settle . . . when we turned for home we asked (for) a little bit and he give me a good kick." Assistant trainer Ginny DePasquale admitted being concerned about We Miss Arties dire standing late in the race. "There for a moment you get a little nervous but we knew he would come through in the end," she said. "Hes got a big heart and found an opening and went on. "Javier just kind of saved him at the wire a little bit." Sullivan was impressed with We Miss Arties late kick. "Hes a much nicer horse than he is on paper, weve always thought that," she said. "You could see at the top of the turn as soon as he got some room he was full of horse, full of run. "He will definitely be very tough to run against." Majestic Sunset was second in the seven-horse field, with Tower of Texas taking third. Air Max 97 Undefeated China . In this space, I will be writing new and unique pieces about the team that you wont be able to find anywhere else. So naturally, in an attempt to come up with a fresh topic about the Ottawa Senators, I am going to start with a piece about their goaltending. Air Max 97 Have a Nike Day Blue .Brooks, a three-year veteran, was slow to get up after suffering the injury during a 5-yard run by Arian Foster.Brooks limped off the field midway through the quarter and then slowly walked to the locker room a few minutes later. http://www.outletairmax97.com/air-max-97-have-a-nike-day.html . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Air Max 97 Vapormax Cheap . -- On any given day here at his companys Silicon Valley headquarters, Vivek Ranadive is ready to compete against any employee who wants to challenge him to any contest. Air Max 97 China Wholesale . The three Calgary natives will compete after the sport was skipped by the Vancouver Games in 2010 but later included on the program for Sochi, Russia. The fight to include womens ski jumping prior to Vancouver went to the courts only to have the Supreme Court of Canada rule against the athletes appeal in 2009.MONTREAL -- Old rivals Montreal and Boston are going to a decisive seventh game once again. The Canadiens kept up a furious pace and produced their best effort of the playoffs as Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist and Carey Price made 26 saves in a 4-0 victory over the Bruins that staved off elimination on Monday night. The NHL Eastern Conference second-round series is tied 3-3 going into Game 7 on Wednesday night in Boston, where the Bruins will no doubt be looking for the same boost from their fans that the singing, chanting and generally deafening 21,273 at the Bell Centre gave the Canadiens. "Its sudden death now," said Pacioretty. "Everything in the past will be forgotten once Game 7 rolls around. "They like playing in their building. We have to find a way to come out the same. Were a frustrating team when everyones skating like that and everyones on board. We have to find a way to do that again." Pacioretty, who had only one assist in the first five games, scored and set up Thomas Vaneks goal in the second period. Lars Eller scored in the first for Montreal and Vanek added his second of the game into an empty net with 3:56 left in regulation time. "I was just waiting for my time to pitch in offensively," said Pacioretty. "Obviously you wanted it to happen more often in the playoffs. But I feel confident. You want to feel youre helping the team win and I think I did that." It is the same scenario as the last time the teams met in the post-season in 2011, when the Canadiens won at home to force a Game 7. That year, they lost the decisive first-round game in overtime. It is the 34th time overall the teams have faced each other in the playoffs. The game turned in the second period after the Canadiens, leading 1-0, held off a ferocious Boston attack through a five minute 11 second stretch without a whistle. It included killing a minor penalty to P.K. Subban and was highlighted by a Price stop at the doorstep on Milan Lucic. Defencemen Mike Weaver and Josh Gorges shared a nearly three-minute shift in the midst of it. "Youre just buying time," said Weaver. "I think guys at that point, youve just got to be positionally sound. You cant be chasing all over the ice." Not long after, rookie Nathan Beaulieu threw a pass up the middle that Pacioretty chased down and went in alone to score. Boston coach Claude Julien felt that stretch was his teams best chance to make a game of it. "The second goal probably hurt us the most because we were spending a lot of time in their end and we had some great chances to tie the game, but that kind of turned the tide around," said Julien. "I didnt like the way they got their goals tonight. "But we had more lines going than weve had this whole series. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone, but if you hit posts and miss open nets. . . Youve got to bury those chances. Tonight they came back to haunt us." Asked what he expects from game 7, Julien said: "I expect us to win." When Montreal coach Michel Therrien was asked the same question, he said: "Anything can happen in a Game 7. Thats the beauty of it." The TD Garden crowd in Boston is especially hostile to Subban, but the flashy Canadiens defenceman denied feeding off it even if he has had some big moments in that rink, including a late goal in a 4-2 loss in Game 5 on Saturday.dddddddddddd. "I dont give them that credit," he said. "I go and play the game. "I play to win, I dont care whos there. I dont care if theres nobody in the stands. Im going there to win. Its irrelevant to me. I hope that its a hostile environment. It makes it all better." Montreals big move was to bring 21-year-old Beaulieu in to replace the slow-footed Douglas Murray on the third defence pair. The teams 2011 first-round draft pick responded to his first-career NHL playoff start with an assist and a plus-2 performance in only 9:36 of ice time. "I never played at a pace like that before," he said. "It was incredible. It was good to get the first period under my belt and I felt I settled down after that." Montreal busted out of the gate after a rousing pre-game show and the teams played at a frantic pace through the first two periods. Despite having the best of the play in the opening 20 minutes, the Canadiens needed a freak play for the only goal. Kevan Miller lost the puck off his stick behind the Boston net and then inadvertently tripped goalie Tuukka Rask as he tried to smother it, leaving Eller free to score unassisted 2:11 into the game. Beaulieu flipped the puck up the centre of the ice and saw it go off Loui Eriksson to Pacioretty, who won a race with Zdeno Chara and beat Rask between the pads at 15:24. Pacioretty kept a puck alive with his feet amidst a crowd in front of Rask during a power play and saw the puck slide to Vanek for a shot into an open side at 17:39. The Bruins came close at 11:05 of the third when a Chara shot went off Price and dropped behind him, but with Jarome Iginla digging in the crease David Desharnais was on his knees to stop the puck with his stick just as it had almost crossed the goal-line. The no-goal call stood up to video review. There were some nasty moments near the end, including a clash that saw Montreals Andrei Markov jab his stick between Charas legs. Chara, Iginla and Weaver were assessed penalties when the skirmish ended. In Game 5, Bostons Shawn Thornton got fined for squirting water from the bench at Subban. Julien said it wasnt all his teams fault this time. "Were perceived as the bad guys and theyre the good guys," he said. "When Markov trips Chara and then puts his stick between his legs and nothings going to be called, eventually somebodys going to react. "Whether its right or wrong. Zdeno reacted and then everything else started. There was a slew foot before, Desharnais on (Brad) Marchand. A slew foot. Those are things we keep talking about that are dangerous in our game. "Its a rivalry and theres some things going on on both sides. Im not portraying ourselves as innocent here. Im just saying it takes two teams to tangle and thats what happened." Notes: Daniel Briere returned to the lineup for Travis Moen. . . Eller scored during Beaulieus first career NHL playoff shift, making him plus-1 only 2:11 into the game. . . Boston made no changes. . . Shawn Thornton played his 100th career playoff game. ' ' '