There is no denying the cosmic connection of Del Mar and California Chrome. Three years ago, he won his first stakes race at the seaside track, taking down a little number called the Graduation. Two years ago, he showed up in the fall with a roll of the dice on the grass in the Hollywood Derby, which he won for fun to cement 2014 Horse of the Year. This year, it was his bang-zoom double in the San Diego Handicap and the Pacific Classic, a homecoming of epic proportions.Perfect symmetry would require that California Chrome stay in training next year at age 6 and return to Del Mar for a glorious valediction in the 2017 Breeders Cup Classic. Alas, that fairy tale wont come true. So, for now, the game must be content with an appreciation for his few remaining starts, even as the sweet taste lingers from his summer of 16.California Chrome represented the artistic high point of a Del Mar season that was typically schizophrenic. Average daily attendance was down -- if you cant sell summer horse racing at Del Mar, well, what can you sell? -- and casualties were up. The 17 equine fatalities during the meet were spread among illness, accident, and irreparable musculoskeletal damage in both racing and training. Each horse had an owner, a trainer, a groom, and a personal story worth telling, but none of them hit quite as hard as the death of Chasing Aces on the last day of the meet.There are a lot of people who go straight to the monetary loss and try to console you, said Peter Miller, who trained Chasing Aces for a partnership that included Gary Hartunian, Edward Wachtel, and Earle Mack. They tell you not to take it too hard. There will be other chances. I appreciate that, but that was the last thing on my mind. All I could see was that beautiful colt suffering in pain with no chance we could fix him.Chasing Aces, a robust son of Flatter, set a Del Mar track record for five furlongs early in the meet. He was given time to recover from that experience before entering the closing-day Del Mar Futurity, which turned out to have a small field deep in talent. Any one of the first three finishers -- Klimt (by Quality Road), Straight Fire (by Dominus), and Midnight Pleasure (by Midnight Lute) -- would be a treat to own.Chasing Aces figured to be among them at the end of the Futurity, but instead, he was pulled up at the head of the Del Mar stretch by Tyler Baze. Miller rushed to his horse and rode with him back to the barn in the ambulance.He was standing, but he couldnt put any weight on that left leg, Miller said. The vet felt the left knee and said it was probably a slab fracture. I let myself think maybe there was hope. You can repair a slab fracture if its not too serious. But then when they read the X-rays, the vets said theyd never seen one quite so bad.Earlier in the race, Chasing Aces made an awkward deke to the left where the temporary rail leading from the chute to the main track ended, exposing a no-mans gap before the permanent rail resumed. He recovered, took hold of the bit, and rushed into contention, then was bumped and backed out of the fray. By then, the damage was done, and probably getting worse with every stride. Running on adrenalin, a young, vibrant Thoroughbred like Chasing Aces usually wont quit until he cant continue. Now, hes gone.Horse racing persists on a combination of money, romance, and selective memory. Those who make a career of it sign on for the warts as well as the glory. Fortunately, there was enough glory to go around this summer by the sea. Or at least enough to keep nightmares like Chasing Aces at bay, until the next one.Chad Brown won a Breeders Cup race in his first year of training. Mr. Brown, meet Ms. Ruis, Shelbe Ruis, that is, whose summer of 16 should go down in some kind of history.Training the horses owned by her family, Ruis, 25, won with four of 21 starters, with another five hitting the board. They were mostly 2-year-olds (one of them was Midnight Pleasure), and the star of the show was Union Strike, a daughter of Union Rags who upset a handsome field in the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on the meets final Saturday.The 2016 Del Mar summer meet also will go down as the first of many titles predicted for Flavien Prat as he continues to solidify his star status among the nations young riders. Prat, 23, ended up sharing the title with five-time (now six) local champion Rafael Bejarano.Prat took a five-winner lead into the final holiday weekend but saw it disappear by the middle of Sunday afternoon. On Monday, Bejarano landed the first blow by winning the Futurity aboard Klimt. Prat countered by winning the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf on the exciting War Front filly With Honors for Keith Desormeaux to edge in front. Then, Bejarano tied the score at 38 with a romp aboard the Bob Baffert maiden Big Gray Rocket, as Prat watched helplessly for second.They say if youre going to shoot the king, dont miss. Maybe so, but Prat winged him pretty good. Alex Young Jersey .S District Court against Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner and his own union, the MLBPA. Ildemaro Vargas Jersey . Halifax beat the Saint John Sea Dogs 7-5 on the strength of two goals apiece from Nikolaj Ehlers, Matt Murphy and Brent Andrews. Jonathan Drouin also scored and had three assists while Zachary Fucale made 17 saves for the Mooseheads (16-8-0), who led 6-1 after two periods. https://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.us/888l-matt-williams-jersey-diamondbacks.html . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. Stephen Drew Jersey . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Robbie Ray Jersey . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. SOUTHPORT, England -- Bernhard Langer seized a three-shot lead after the third round of the Senior British Open on Saturday, mastering Royal Birkdale with superb links play for a 4-under 66. Langer shared the overnight lead with American Mark Wiebe but birdied three of his first seven holes to jump in front on his own. David Frost of South Africa shot his third straight 68 to sit alone in second place, while Wiebe only managed a 70 to drop into third, four shots back. Langers only bogey came on the 14th, but he finished with two birdies on 15 and 17 to stay in control. "That was as good as I can play," said the German veteran, who is bidding for his second Senior British Open title having won at Carnoustie in 2010. "My ball-striking was almost perfect and I played really well, apart from the mistake at the 14th." His lone bogey came when he hit his tee shot to the back of the green, sent his approach putt long and left and missed the return. He got it back immediately with aa birdie at the long 15th, added another at the long 17th and just missed his birdie chance from 12 feet at the last.dddddddddddd Frost made three birdies in a row from the seventh but then made three bogies came on the 10th, 14th and the 18th, with two other birdies in between. Three players are in joint fourth place, six shots back -- home favourite Sandy Lyle (69), Australian Peter Fowler (70) and first-round leader Gene Sauers of the U.S (70). Colin Montgomerie of Scotland also had a 69 but is tied for 13th at 2 over. Miguel Angel Martin of Spain had the days best round of 65 but is also on 2 over. Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., was at 3 over and tied for 17th after shooting a 70. Defending champion Fred Couples had a 68, his best round of the week, but his out of contention at 4 over. Irelands Mark McNulty shared fourth place overnight but quickly fell back when he dropped a stroke at each of the first four holes and another two at No. 7 and 8. He finished with a 76. ' ' '
