John Clay’s Sidelines

Here at Memorial Coliseum for the Patrick Patterson and John Calipari press conference to discuss Patterson’s decision to stay at UK:

• That’s the end of the press conference.

• Asked about injuries. Said he thinks about it. “These past three years, I’ve had just an ankle injury, but it has played a thought in my mind. . . . I try not to think about it,” he said. “I’ll do whatever I can to keep my body 100 percent.”

• Said that Calipari told him that he was behind his decision, either way. Said Calipari told him what to expect if he did go on the workouts.

• “I can still come back and be me around campus, get all the love and attention from the fans like I always do,” he said. “That played another role in coming back.”

• Said being able to come back and still be a young adult was important to him, too. “Not being out there by myself,” he said.

• Asked if he would be coming back if there wasn’t a coaching change. “I don’t know,” he said. “But there was a coaching change and I am coming back.”

• “I know that the NBA is always going to be there. Hopefully, it will always be there for me,” said Patterson.

• Said he did talk to Eric Bledsoe a lot about staying when Bledsoe was on campus for his visit.

• Said he told Jodie Meeks in a text message. “I didn’t want my decision to weigh on his,” he said.

Continue reading ‘Liveblog: Patterson and (no) Calipari press conference’

Mark Allen holds the Derby trophy. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke)

Here’s unedited version of my column for Monday’s paper:

LOUISVILLE - So how did the owners of Mine That Bird hook up with trainer Chip Woolley?

“I met him through Mark, and I think they’ve know each other a long time,” said Dr. Leonard Blach on Sunday morning outside of winning Barn 42.

“Twenty-five years,” said Mark Allen.

So how did you meet?

Allen simply grinned.

“I don’t know if we can tell that,” said Blach.

“We were in a bar and I started a fight and he helped me out,” said Allen.

Did you win the fight?

“We wound up on top,” said Allen, “but it took us awhile.”

Was that your last bar fight?

“That night,” said Woolley.

Forgive the 18 losing connections if they felt like doing a little drinking, and maybe a little fighting, after a $9,500 yearling purchase, who prepped in New Mexico, of all places, won the 135th Kentuck Derby on Saturday.

After all, there was Todd Pletcher, maybe the world’s most successful trainer, running his Derby winless streak to 0-for-24. There was Sheik Mohammed, with his ridiculously deep pockets, again running up the track. There was trainer Larry Jones, second in the past two Derbys, this time finishing 18th with post-time favorite Friesan Fire.

Continue reading ‘A bar fight turns out right for Kentucky Derby winners’

Larry Jones

The weather and sloppy track are such that you would think it would be a good day for Larry Jones, given that his Friesan Fire, now the Kentucky Derby favorite, won the Louisiana Derby on the slot.

But it hasn’t been Larry’s day so far.

We just finished the seventh race here at Churchill Downs. That was the Eight Belles Stakes, named after the ill-fated filly, trained by Jones, who finished second in last year’s Derby only to be injured and euthanized moments after finishing the race.

Jones had two horses in the Eight Belles. He trained his wife’s Just Jenda, who went off as the 8-5 favorite. And Jones had Warrior Maid, a horse he trains for Russell Welch.

Wouldn’t a Jones win in the Eight Belles be nice? Alas, it was not to be. Steve Asmussen’s Four Gifts took home the victory. Just Jenda finished second. Warrior Maid ran third.

Earlier, in the Churchill Downs Handicap, Jones and Rick Porter’s Kodiak Kowboy ran seventh as $1.70-1 favorite.

Just checked weather.com and the outlook is that it will be 60 degrees, with a 30 percent chance of showers at 6 p.m. Same forecast for 7 p.m. Post time is 6:42 p.m.

Right now, at 11:45 a.m., the track is still listed as sloppy. The turf course is listed as good. The sun isn’t out right now, so I don’t see much chance that the track is going to dry out. The cooler tempartures won’t help in that regard, either. But at lesat it’s not raining.

H-L photo/David Stephenson

Update: Alicia Wincze has more on her blog.

Was driving from the hotel to the media parking lot when heard the news on the radio this morning that I Want Revenge, the Kentucky Derby program favorite, had scratched from the race.

Got up to the press box where they piped in sound from the press conference at the horse’s barn on the backside.

An examination of I Want Revenge this morning revealed some filling in the horse’s left ankle, and a little heat. Digital x-rays did not show any lesions, said the veterinarians, but there was enough concern to sractch the horse.

“When the words came out that running could hurt the horse, I looked at both doctors and said this is no debate,” said David Lanzman, I Want Revenge’s co-owner.

“I’m at a loss for words,” said jockey Joe Talamo. “I’m just glad the horse is ok. It could have been a lot worse.”

Trainer Jeff Mullins said there had been nothing in the horse’s training to lead the connections to think that something might be wrong.

“Most of the things I learned in this business I learned by hard knocks,” Mullins said. “Your biggest dream is to get here, but the biggest nightmare is to get to race day and have to scratch.”

“I want to commend the owners and trainer for doing right by the horse until we figure out what’s going on,” said Dr. Larry Bramlage.

“I’ve never handled a horse of this caliber before,” Mullins said. “I’m just not going to take a chance on hurting him.”

Updates from UK-LSU at the SEC Tournament:

• LSU beats Kentucky 67-58 eliminating the Cats from the SEC Tournament. Sorry for the internet problems.

• It’s 63-53 Tigers with 34.4 left.

• LSU leads 62-53 with 44.9 remaining.

• It’s 58-51 LSU with 1:37 left.

• LSU leads 58-45 with 3:56 remaining. Thornton has 21 and Mitchell 12 for the Tigers. UK is shooting 42.1 percent and has been outrebounded 35-27. Looks grim.

• Cover it Live has died under the slow internet here, so the updates will be on here from now. LSU leads 58-44 with 5:35 as it is looking dire for the Cats.

• LSU holding on to a 37-33 lead with 15:24 left. Tigers are shooting just 34.9 percent but have 18 more field goal attempts than does UK.

• LSU leads Kentucky 28-23 at the half. Thornton leads way with 13 points. UK committed nine first-half turnovers.

• LSU up 26-23 with 1:48 left in first half of a grinding, inconsistent game.

• Marcus Thornton has 13 points as LSU takes a 21-17 lead to 7:57 mark. Thornton is 5-of-8 from floor.

• Kentucky has closed to 15-14 at the 11:24 mark. Cats have made 5-of-9 shots for 55.6 percent. LSU shooting 42.9.

• LSU has used a layup drill to take a 15-7 lead at 14:45 mark. Cats have already turned it over four times. Thornton already has 10 points.

• The Cats are wearing black uniforms today.

• UK’s lineup is same: Meeks, Porter, Patterson, Stevenson and Harris.

• We’re here on press row at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Updated: I’ll be on WSPZ in Birmingham, Alabama at 4:05 Central, 5:05 EST. That’s AM-690, and you can also find it at DandBradio.com.

Here’s what I’ve heard from the local radio call-in shows:

• WVLK-590: Larry Glover welcomes our own Mary Story along with Gary Parrish, basketball writer for CBS Sportsline.

• WLXG-1300: Chris Cross and Mike Cameron will have ESPN’s Pat Forde at 6:05 p.m, followed by Jack Kelly, former head of the World Equestrian Games, and Kevin Horry from the Miracle Baseball League.

Trey Grayson

Apparently Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson wasn’t too happy with Kentucky’s 73-70 loss to LSU on Saturday.

Or he wasn’t happy with one particular player, anyway.

On his Twitter page, Grayson wrote:

Maybe AJ Stewart should consider quitting again if he is going to leave his man wide open for a game winning shot.

You can find Grayson’s Twitter page here. Or click the jump to see a copy.

Continue reading ‘Secretary of State Grayson knocks Stewart on Twitter’