operation as part of an overhaul that saw the organization get stripped to its studs.Th

Earlier this week, Churchill Downs announced two tweaks in its Road to the Kentucky Derby. Anthony Kay Blue Jays Jersey . Thats the series of prep races offering a graduated scale of points to the first four finishers, points that will determine which horses start in the Kentucky Derby should the first leg of the Triple Crown attract more entrants than its 20-starter limit.One of these changes is perfectly sensible, if somewhat innocuous. The other, in the opinion of this corner, is not.The alteration I think almost all of us will agree with and quickly forget about is Churchills replacing the Grey Stakes with the Sam F. Davis Stakes.The Davis is run at Tampa Bay Downs in mid-February at 11/?? miles on dirt. Even though the Davis was won this year by Destin, who later missed by a nose in the Belmont Stakes, the list of winners of the Davis Stakes does not exactly read like a whos who of Triple Crown lore.However, the Davis is the local springboard to the Tampa Bay Derby, which with time is incrementally becoming a higher-profile Kentucky Derby prep. And the Davis fits the profile of a Road to the Derby race far better than the Grey Stakes. The Grey, run in early October, four months before the Davis and seven months before the Derby, has, as Churchill took the effort to point out in its announcement, attracted fields of just six or fewer in three of its past four runnings.Moreover, unlike the Davis, the Grey is run on Woodbines synthetic main track, which resembles the kind of dirt surface on which the Kentucky Derby is run only in the sense that both are shades of brown.So replacing the Grey with the Davis makes sense because it puts the emphasis on 3-year-old dirt form. But in this case, its a slight emphasis. The Davis is a 17-point prep with 10 points to the winner. For purposes of comparison, the final major Kentucky Derby preps offer 10 times the points.The other, far less agreeable change Churchill made in its Derby prep schedule was the introduction of the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby. Apparently taken by the ninth-place finish in this years Derby by the Japanese colt Lani, Churchill has designated two 1-mile dirt races at Tokyo Racecourse (yours truly visited that track many moons ago; if you ever get the chance, go!) as Derby points preps.The first of these will be the Cattleya Sho on Nov. 26, and the second will be the Hyacinth Stakes, to be run on an as yet undetermined date early next year. The typical sliding points scale applies to both races, but the Cattleya Sho is worth a total of 68 points with 40 going to the winner, and the Hyacinth is an 85-point race with 50 going to the winner.Churchill has made the Japan road to the Derby different from the traditional road in the sense that only one spot in the gate will be open to a Japanese contestant, and that would be the one who accumulates the most points over these two designated races.Among the issues I have with this concept is, the Cattleya Sho is by far the most valuable 2-year-old race in terms of Derby points this year. It offers twice as many points to the winner as the Breeders Cup Juvenile and four times as many points to the winner as every other 2-year-old race in the schedule, races that include the Champagne, Breeders Futurity, Remsen and Los Alamitos Futurity.The point value of the Cattleya Sho completely contradicts the proper emphasis placed on 3-year-old form in the traditional Derby points preps. It also guarantees that the winner of the Cattleya Sho will have a spot in the Derby gate if his connections want, and if the first two finishers of the Hyacinth decline. Not even the Breeders Cup Juvenile winner will be able to claim that.As for the Hyacinth, sure, its points must be blended with the Cattleya Sho. But while its not as egregious as assigning 170 Derby points to the UAE Derby, which has yet to produce an even marginally competitive Kentucky Derby starter, Churchill still valued the Hyacinth on the same level as the Risen Star, Fountain of Youth, Gotham, Tampa Bay Derby, San Felipe and Rebel. And I find that astonishing.The only reasonable conclusion to reach here is Churchill really, really wants Japanese participation in the Kentucky Derby.What I fear here is the Japan road to the Derby will actually produce a horse game enough to come, which might very well deny a much better horse a spot in the Derby gate. This scenario already existed with the UAE Derby, but it now increases exponentially with this new concept.Call me na?ve or provincial if you want, but I want the very best horses possible in the gate for the Derby, and there is little reason to think shippers from Japan or the UAE will help achieve that end.Ironically, the introduction of the Japanese road to the Derby would make sense if Churchill were attempting to maximize Japanese simulcast wagering on the Derby. But as colleague Matt Hegarty reported a couple of days ago, Japan, which boasts one of the largest betting markets in the world, does not allow simulcast wagering on the Derby.Perhaps the introduction of the Japan road to the Derby is Phase 1 in an attempt on the part of Churchill to move a step closer toward Japanese wagering on the Kentucky Derby. But it could be years before Japan softens its stance on international wagering. It might never soften its stance at all. And in the meantime, horses that are simply better than others might be denied a shot at competing in the Kentucky Derby. Joe Carter Blue Jays Jersey . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Duane Ward Jersey . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/2536h-tren...-blue-jays.html . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. CHICAGO -- Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts had dinner with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein in Arizona around the start of spring training.If Epstein had any doubt about a contract extension, it ended right there. And on Wednesday, it became official.Chicago announced a five-year extension, rewarding Epstein for an overhaul that has the long-suffering franchise eyeing its first championship since 1908.He started it off by saying some really nice things about me that might have hurt his leverage a little bit, and then I returned the favor by telling him that even if we couldnt work out a contract it would get awkward because I would just keep showing up to work, Epstein said. As an employee, I will. I kept ruining my leverage.The deal comes with the Cubs wrapping up one of the greatest seasons in franchise history and their fans believing this just might be the team to end the 108-year World Series title drought.Chicago reached 100 wins for the first time since 1935 and was a major league-leading 101-56 heading into Wednesdays game at Pittsburgh. The Cubs clinched the best record in the majors with more than a week left in the regular season.In the five years under Theos leadership, he has brought in a strong executive team and acquired and developed some of the best players in the game, Ricketts said. Now, the results are on the field.Terms were not disclosed.It looks like Epstein isnt the only Cubs executive with a new deal. He said contract extensions for general manager Jed Hoyer and senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod will probably be announced in the next day or two.Epstein, who was in the final season of a five-year deal when he left Boston in October 2011, had repeatedly said a new contract was a formality, that there were more immediate priorities. Ricketts had echoed that and indicated in the spring that he was prepared to make him one of the highest-paid executives in baseball.There was never any real drama throughout the summer, said Ricketts, adding the agreement was finalized a few days ago.What took so long?We sat down at spring training, had a nice dinner, talked about getting an extension done, Ricketts said. Basically, I told him I thought he was the best in the game at what he did. He told me no matter what I paid him he wasnt going to leave Chicago, so we were off to a good start. We checked back in on it a couple times during the summer. There was no real time pressure.The new deal is a reward for a striking transformation that began with the arrivals of Epstein along with Hoyer and McLeod -- his friends from Boston -- following the 2011 season. Lloyd Moseby Jersey. he Cubs tested some fans patience by taking the long approach rather than going for a quick fix, but they have seen the benefits the past two years. Chicago is eyeing even bigger things after breaking out with 97 wins and reaching the NL Championship Series last season.When you have great leadership at the top, it usually filters through the rest of the group, manager Joe Maddon said. A successful organization has that. We have that. I was very happy to hear the news. Im very happy for Theo and his family and of course, us. It is great. Its a feel-good story. He deserves it. Hes earned it. Im very happy for him.High draft picks such as 2015 NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant made big impacts, as did a number of trade acquisitions, including last seasons NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo and potential Gold Glove shortstop Addison Russell.The hiring of NL Manager of the Year Joe Maddon and signing of starter Jon Lester before the 2015 season showed just how serious the Cubs were about jumping into contention. And the additions of three-time Gold Glove outfielder Jason Heyward, pitcher John Lackey and veteran infielder Ben Zobrist along with the re-signing of outfielder Dexter Fowler this past offseason added to an already deep roster.Throw in the emergence of Kyle Hendricks as a Cy Young candidate, and the Cubs are widely considered a postseason favorite.There were missteps along the way, but the Cubs are in a far different and far better place than they were five years ago. And if they win it all under Epstein, it wont be the first time he helped end a long championship drought.Before he took aim at the Billy goat curse, he took down the Bambino.Epstein oversaw two World Series winners in nine seasons as Bostons general manager.In Chicago, Epstein parted with high-priced veterans and loaded up the minor league system while expanding the teams scouting and analytics operation as part of an overhaul that saw the organization get stripped to its studs.The Ricketts family also invested heavily in infrastructure in recent years, including new training facilities in the baseball-rich Dominican Republic and the spring training home in Arizona. They are also overhauling Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhood.There really wasnt anything important to me besides finding common ground, making sure that we could stay and see this thing through, Epstein said. Our mission has not been accomplished yet. ' ' '