It’s a Bob Baffert exacta in Beholder Mile at Santa Anita

• March 9, 2025

ARCADIA — Bob Baffert often is able to run more than one horse in a big race, and the Hall of Fame trainer knows from experience there’s more than one way for the result to be disappointing.

Take last weekend. Baffert sent the two tote-board favorites and a longshot into the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita and watched Barnes, Rodriguez and Mellencamp get out-finished by Michael McCarthy-trained Journalism. An hour later, he tried a pair of horses in the Santa Anita Handicap only to see New King and Mirahmadi come in second to last and last in an eight-horse field behind winner Locked.

Saturday, in the $300,000, Grade I Beholder Mile for fillies and mares, Baffert’s tag-team approach went more according to plan.

Four-year-old Cavalieri, ridden hard by Juan Hernandez, stayed unbeaten with a three-quarter-length victory, while 5-year-old Richi, benefiting from Antonio Fresu’s front-running tactics, finished a strong second in a field of six.

Cavalieri returned $4.20 to $2 win bettors, and the all-Baffert exacta paid $6.10 for $1.

The final time of 1:34.96 was the fastest of the 10 times this race has been contested at 1 mile.

Tarifa and Hoosier Philly, two shippers from out of state, finished third and fourth, far behind the winner. Alpha Bella, second to Cavalieri in the Grade III La Canada Stakes in January, was fifth.

“Obviously, those two (Baffert horses) are pretty talented,” said Katie Tolbert, the assistant to trainer Brad Cox, who saddled Tarifa.

Cavalieri, a daughter of Nyquist, has won all four of her starts for owner Speedway Stables LLC, a partnership of Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner.

This victory, in the race formally known as the B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile, made Cavalieri a Grade I winner.

It also was Baffert’s first Grade I win of 2025. That’s not as unusual as it may sound because Baffert’s focus early in any year is on Kentucky Derby prospects, and 3-year-olds don’t have Grade I stakes to run in this early.

The Beholder was fast from start to finish. Richi, who’d won races as long as 1 ¼ miles in her native Chile, had run in sprints in her three previous starts for Baffert, winning the 6-furlong Las Flores Stakes before settling for third behind Kopion in the 7-furlong Santa Monica. Richi opened a one-length lead turning for home, with Cavalieri under urging in second.

“Richi, Bob’s other filly, is a really nice filly,” Hernandez said. “I was tracking her, and to be honest, I was riding hard and I wanted her to pick it up. When I started to make my move, (Richi) started to make her move too, so we both moved at the same time.

“My filly just gave me another gear at the eighth pole, and she won the race. She is getting better, and she showed that today.”

Cavalieri got the lead with 100 yards to go.

Baffert said he has developed Cavalieri slowly and expects her to keep improving.

“Down the backside, I knew they were going really fast. They were running the whole way. (Richi) was still running (at the finish). (Cavalieri) just went by her. It was a throwdown,” Baffert said.

“I’m just glad it worked out.”

In the $100,000 San Simeon Stakes, a downhill turf sprint for 4-year-olds and up, Air Force Red ($11.80) and Armando Ayuso rallied for a one-length win over 27-1 Lovesick Blues, rewarding trainer Leonard Powell’s decision to bring the 7-year-old back a week after he finished last in the Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile behind winner Formidable Man.

It was another stakes win for part-owner Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which won last week’s Big ’Cap with Locked and San Felipe Stakes with Journalism.

​ Orange County Register 

UCLA routs USC ahead of Big Ten Tournament

• March 9, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Mick Cronin’s idea of a complete game is one in which the UCLA men’s basketball team dominates the possession battle. That can be accomplished, Cronin believes, by winning the turnover margin and grabbing more rebounds than the opponent.

The Bruins had won 10 of their last 13 games entering Saturday night, but Cronin felt they hadn’t delivered such a performance since their win against Michigan State on Feb. 4. It’s performances like those, Cronin has said, that the Bruins will need to propel a postseason run.

They certainly got one on Saturday in a 90-63 win over USC (15-16, 7-13) that pushed UCLA (22-9, 13-7) into fourth place in the Big Ten. UCLA won the turnover margin by eight, scoring 37 points off the 20 turnovers it created. The Bruins couldn’t do much to control the offensive glass because they shot 37-of-60 (61.7%) from the field. UCLA also outscored USC 42-17 in points in the paint.

The Bruins could have boosted their overall resume had they pulled out a nip-and-tuck victory, which would have kept their win at USC on Jan. 27 in Quad 1. Instead, they produced an end-to-end, tip-to-finish statement victory over their crosstown rival. The win, along with Wisconsin’s loss to Penn State earlier today, pushed UCLA into the final double-bye for the Big Ten Tournament.

USC struggled to move the ball and rarely penetrated the lane with clean drives as UCLA’s defense suffocated them.

Eric Dailey Jr. led UCLA with a career-high 25 points, but Cronin said post-game that he was more delighted with Dailey’s nine deflections. Skyy Clark led the team with 13 deflections and Cronin said the team racked up the most in any Big Ten game this season.

Dailey grabbed three steals in the first half, turning two of them into fast-break layups. Clark moved his feet to stay in front of the Trojans’ ball-handlers, drawing offensive fouls against Desmond Claude and Wesley Yates.

Claude, the Trojans’ leading scorer at 15.8 points per game, couldn’t overcome Clark’s pesky defense. Yates accepted his fate and settled for 3-pointers, knocking down three in the first half to keep USC in it.

Yates led USC with 21 points and earned high praise from Cronin, who referred to the freshman as the Trojans’ best player

The Bruins ended the half on an 11-4 run as Dailey answered Yates’ third 3-pointer with a triple of his own. Aday Mara followed that with a layup, then Dailey drove the baseline, tossed a wild pass to Dylan Andrews, who saved the play by dishing it to Clark for a corner 3. Mara added three more points the old-fashioned way, trickling in an and-one hook-shot that inspired one of the loudest cheers from the Pauley Pavilion crowd this season, while Dailey broke out a rock-the-baby dance move.

UCLA started the second half on a 13-3 run as Dylan Andrews dribbled into a right-wing three that pushed the lead to 50-30. Dailey scored eight of the next 11 points, including a pair of threes and a transition layup.

With UCLA holding a lead of 20-plus points for most of the second half, USC head coach Eric Musselman opted to unload his bench, subbing in freshman Jalen Shelley and reserve guard Clark Slajchert.

They didn’t stand much of a chance against the length and athleticism of Dailey and Mara, nor the precision of Clark.

In the second half, Clark showed his worth offensively. He hit a pair of step-back 3-pointers and cut backdoor for a layup off a pass from Mara.

In recent weeks, Clark, Mack and Kobe Johnson were asked questions about if UCLA had another gear it could take things to down the stretch.

Each answered, definitively, emphasizing that it was just a matter of time and that it would come on the back of complete performances from a rebounding and defensive standpoint.

Saturday’s showing was the first sign of that next gear.

​ Orange County Register 

Santiago girls soccer beats Santa Margarita in Division I regional final with stunning finish

• March 9, 2025

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — A year ago, Santiago’s girls soccer team beat Santa Margarita in the section championship game but fell to the Eagles in the regional championship game in penalty kicks.

This season, Santiago flipped the script on Santa Margarita and beat the Eagles on penalty kicks 3-1 to win the CIF Southern California Regional Division I championship Saturday at Tesoro High, a week after losing to the Eagles in the Southern Section finals.

Santa Margarita (20-2-2) beat Santiago 4-2 on Feb. 28 in the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game.

The Eagles were seeking a record third consecutive regional championship. Santa Margarita beat Santiago in penalty kicks last season and beat Los Alamitos 1-0 in 2023.

This is the first regional championship title for Santiago since 2015.

“This is probably the best win I’ve experienced in my 26 years of coaching because of the way we did it,” Santiago coach Mike Fleming said. “To face them again after playing a subpar final, it’s the best moment in my years at Santiago. This team is resilient. Down a man, down a goal against a team like Santa Margarita, that doesn’t happen.”

Maddy Saruwatari, Abbie Kelly and Hailey Hild made penalty kicks for Santiago (24-3-2) after a 1-1 tie in regulation and overtime.

Santiago goalkeeper Abigail Turley made two diving saves during penalty kicks and made three big saves in the overtime period.

“I think the energy from the field and motivation from my teammates lifted me up,” Turley said. “I give my glory to God. I couldn’t have had those saves without him and my coaching.”

“She was great,” Santa Margarita coach Craig Bull said of Turley. “She’s a great keeper and in the end, she was the difference in the game.”

Santiago trailed for the entire second half but tied the game in stoppage time with a man down after a red card. On a set piece out of bounds, Kelly kicked the ball into traffic and after the ball hit the post, Hild scored with just over a minute left in regulation.

“We told Abbie Kelly to hit it hard, hit it low on frame and see if we can get some kind of deflection,” Fleming said. “Sometimes you just have to get a ball in the box and hope for good things.”

“I think it was mental fatigue,” Bull said. “We gave away a set piece and didn’t set up right for it. It’s a breakdown for sure but at that stage of the game, it’s understandable.”

In overtime, Santa Margarita had three major scoring opportunities but was unable to put the ball past Turley.

Five minutes into overtime, Jastel David passed inside to Lauren Lim, who shot high but Turley made a jumping save to send the ball over the post.

Two minutes later, Cora Fry had an open shot and Turley made a diving save.

“You need your best players to step up in the big moments and Abigail Turley is one of them,” Fleming said. “She’s one of the main reasons we were even in this match today. She’s been phenomenal.”

Santa Margarita was outplayed by Santiago in the first half, but scored a goal in stoppage time to take the lead. Lim dodged a defender on the left side, sent a pass to the middle and Felicity Nguyen scored.

It was goal No. 24 on the season for Nguyen, more than any Santa Margarita player has had in Bull’s tenure as head coach.

Santa Margarita battled adversity this season with crucial injuries and multiple players being ruled ineligible due to participating in camps put on by professional teams. North Carolina signee Peyton Trayer was ineligible after participating in a camp put on by the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Sophomore Mia Corona did not play Saturday due to playing in a camp sponsored by a professional team this past week.

“They already had a big weight on their shoulders after what the teams of the last two years achieved,” Bull said. “It was a real shame that a couple of our girls became what I would say unfairly ineligible, but the mentality here is no excuses and next man up. The girls that were here did a fantastic job for us.”

​ Orange County Register 

LAFC collapses in 2nd half, falls 5-2 to Seattle

• March 9, 2025

SEATTLE — Jordan Morris became Seattle’s career leader for goals scored, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scored his first MLS goal, and the Sounders beat LAFC 5-2 on Saturday.

Morris scored his 87th career goal in the 77th minute to make it 3-1, moving past Raúl Ruidíaz on the club’s all-time list. Ruidíaz scored 71 goals in the MLS regular season for Seattle (1-1-1), two more than Morris, a 30-year-old Seattle-native.

Paul Rothrock scored from well outside the area — his first goal of the season — to give the Sounders the lead for good in the 57th minute at 2-1. Christian Roldan subbed on in the 71st minute and his goal in the 84th made it a two-goal lead. Albert Rusnák added a stoppage-time goal and two assists for the Sounders.

David Martínez scored his first goal of the season for LAFC (2-1-0) to make it 4-2 in the second minute of stoppage time. The 19-year-old midfielder scored four goals as a rookie last season.

Kossa-Rienzi scored in the 11th minute to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead. The 22-year-old won a long ball played ahead down the right side by Jesús Ferreira from LAFC’s Artem Smolyakov, cut back at the at the corner of the 6-yard box as the defender slid by and ripped a left-footed shot inside the back post and into the side net.

After Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas mishandled a corner kick played in by Smolyakov, Nathan Ordaz had a one-touch shot blocked by Seattle’s João Paulo, but he slammed home the rebound from point-blank range to make it 1-1 in the 38th.

The 21-year-old Ordaz and Kossa-Rienzi became the eighth and ninth players to score a goal in the MLS this season after spending time in MLS Next Pro, a developmental league launched by MLS in 2022.

​ Orange County Register 

Long Beach State falls to Cal Poly, ends season with 15th straight loss

• March 9, 2025

LONG BEACH — The Long Beach State men’s basketball team wrapped up a frustrating season with its 15th consecutive loss.

Devin Askew scored 21 points in the first half to help LBSU stay competitive with Cal Poly, but an injury to the star point guard in the second half proved too much to overcome and Cal Poly pulled away for an 83-69 win on Saturday evening at the Walter Pyramid.

Jarred Hyder (25 points), Owen Koonce (20) and Isaac Jessup (15 points) paced the hot-shooting Mustangs (14-18 overall, 8-12 Big West), who made 18 3-point shots and secured their spot in the eight-team field for next week’s Big West Tournament in Henderson, Nevada.

TJ Wainwright added 17 points and five rebounds for Long Beach (7-25, 3-17), which tried to keep pace despite losing both members of its starting backcourt to injury. Derrick Michael Xzavierro finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a career-high four blocked shots, and Austin Johnson finished with eight points and eight rebounds in the final game of his Division I career.

Askew did his best to help Long Beach keep up during a high-scoring first half. Long Beach was already short-handed with just eight players in uniform, then a collision in the opening minutes knocked promising freshman guard Kam Martin out of the game.

Cal Poly shot 11 for 22 from behind the arc in the first half, but Askew shot 7 for 11 from the field and 4 for 7 from 3-point range to keep Long Beach within six points at halftime (47-41).

Just 30 seconds into the second half, Askew suffered an injury and was ruled out for the night, leaving LBSU with six players to finish out the game. Cal Poly immediately capitalized, turning its eight-point lead into a 15-point cushion with a 7-0 run and Long Beach State never recovered.

Koonce shot 8 for 14 from the field (4 for 8 from 3-point range) for Cal Poly, which shot 29 for 62 overall (46.8%) and 18 for 38 from behind the arc and led by as much as 20 in the second half. Jessup scored all of his points from long range, going 5 for 13 from deep. Peter Bandelj added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Hyder added five rebounds.

Long Beach, which didn’t win a game after its 84-73 victory at UC Davis on Jan. 11, shot 24 for 57 from the field (42.1%) and 9 for 29 from 3-point range.

​ Orange County Register 

Lakers’ 8-game win streak ends in Boston, LeBron James exits late with injury

• March 9, 2025

BOSTON — The Lakers faced their most challenging on-court test on Saturday since Luka Doncic made his debut for the team nearly a month ago.

And despite a strong late comeback attempt, the Lakers didn’t overcome their 22-point third-quarter deficit, falling to the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics 111-101 on Saturday at TD Garden, ending their season-best winning streak at eight games.

And to make matters worse, LeBron James’ status going forward was unknown after he had to leave the game early because of a groin injury.

“Not much concern,” James said postgame. “Obviously, we go day to day, look at it each day, see if it gets better, and take the proper measurements to see what we need to do going forward.”

The Lakers (40-22), who were without starting big man Jaxson Hayes (bruised right knee) and forward Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy), cut their deficit to four with Doncic (34 points, eight rebounds and three assists) leading the way.

After struggling in the first half, having as many turnovers (three) as made shots in the first two quarters, Doncic spearheaded the Lakers’ comeback attempt.

He scored nine of their 13 third-quarter points and scored 14 in the fourth, including making a pair of free throws to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 96-92 with five minutes left after they trailed 80-58 midway through the third.

But that was the closest the Lakers got, with Jayson Tatum (40 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists) and Jaylen Brown (31 points, six rebounds) leading the Celtics (46-18) in closing out the game.

“Think sometimes in these games, you never know what to chalk these things up to,” Coach JJ Redick said. “But I think start of an East Coast trip some brain fog execution wise for us. It was a little out of character for us, and I think that contributed as well to that third quarter.”

James finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists but didn’t play the final 6:44 because of a strained groin.

James suffered the injury while pivoting on a post move against Brown, saying he the injury after landing following banking in an eight-footer that cut the Lakers’ deficit to 92-85.

He signaled to the Lakers’ bench for a timeout to be called after Brown made a layup to put the Celtics up 94-85 with 6:44 remaining.

James appeared to stretch the injured area out during the timeout but went back to the locker room and didn’t return.

“Sit down and wrap with [Lakers Athletic Trainer and Athletic Performance Liaison] Mike Mancias,” James said. “Figure out what the best case plan is going forward.”

James said that the first thing that came to his mind was the groin tear he suffered during the 2018 Christmas Day game against the Golden State Warriors during his first season with the Lakers in 2018-19, which caused him to miss 17 straight games and over a month of action, but added that he doesn’t feel this groin injury is as severe as that one. He also suffered a less severe groin injury during a loss to the Clippers on Nov. 9, 2022, missing the next five games.

James immediately responded, “yeah, for sure, for sure,” when asked if he’ll remain with the team during their four-game road trip, which continues on Monday against the Brooklyn Nets before a back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday and Denver Nuggets on Friday.

James added on his status for the trip: “Hopefully. We’ll see what happens in the next few days and then go from there.”

The Lakers, starting a smaller lineup featuring Jarred Vanderbilt in place of Hayes, started strong, spreading the Celtics defense out and staying disciplined defensively.

They jumped out to a 20-12 lead that shrunk to being tied 33-apiece at the end of the first quarter once the Celtics’ 3-pointers started to fall.

Boston led 58-54 at halftime.

The Lakers shot 5 for 23 from the field, 1 for 10 on 3s, and had six turnovers during the third, which the Celtics won 29-13.

“We wanted to attack their bigs in space and we wanted to attack their smalls in tight spaces,” Redick said. “I don’t think we did a good enough job of attacking their smalls in tight spaces. And that’s what I mean from earlier, just about, just some out of character things that I’m not sure what got lost in translation. But our guys have been great with that stuff.”

James’ layup at the 1:39 mark of the third was the Lakers’ first non-Doncic basket of the third.

Austin Reaves was the only other Laker to score in double figures, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Dalton Knecht added nine points and five rebounds off the bench while Dorian Finney-Smith had eight points (all scored in the first quarter) and four rebounds.

​ Orange County Register 

JSerra boys soccer finishes season undefeated and as CIF Division I regional champion

• March 9, 2025

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – By their perhaps ridiculously high standards, JSerra’s boys soccer team did not play a perfect game Saturday.

“It’s pretty close,” said JSerra senior forward Jake Tatch.

The Lions beat Loyola 4-0 in the CIF Southern California Regional Division I championship game at JSerra High.

JSerra beat Loyola 2-0 in the CIF Southern Section Open Division championship game on Feb. 28.

It is the second regional title for the Lions in the past three years. They won a regional championship in 2023. That team finished 20-1-1 and was the CIF-SS Division 1 champion.

JSerra finished this season 20-0-1. The Lions outscored their opponents 71-10. They won their two other regional playoffs games by 4-0 scores, too, over San Diego’s Del Norte and St. Augustine.

Loyola went 22-2-4, with its only losses to the Lions.

JSerra senior Gavin Allegaert was involved in all four of his team’s goals. Allegaert, who signed with UC San Diego, scored one goal with three assists. The other Lions goals were scored by Jake Tatch, Aquiles Rodrigues and Angel Reyes.

Lions coach Erik Kirsch was asked if his team played a complete game Saturday.

“The German part of me says ‘No,’” Kirsch said. “The love as a dad for them says ‘Yes.’ Because I could always pick things out that they can be better at. But in terms of where we are in the season, the tiredness …I can’t ask for more.”

JSerra scored its first goal 15 minutes into the first half.

Tatch made a perfect pass to Allegaert, who was a few yards in front of the left post. Allegaert controlled the ball with two defenders on him. Tatch came sprinting in, Allegaert rolled the ball to Tatch who got it in stride and drilled the ball to the left of diving goalkeeper Christopher Stillwell for the goal and a 1-0 lead.

The Lions scored their second goal in the 27th minute. This time it was Allegaert who made the perfect pass, getting the ball to Rodriguez, who rolled the ball past Stillwater for a 2-0 lead.

Tatch did much of the work to set up JSerra’s third goal in the 46th minute. He maneuvered the ball away from a Loyola defender and passed to Reyes in front of the goal. Reyes, in great position to take a shot, instead passed to Allegaert, who had a wide open right-half of the goal and rolled it there for a 3-0 lead.

Reyes scored easily on a rebound of an Allegaert shot in the 54th minute to make it 4-0.

A minute later Lions goalkeeper Liam Johnston made his best save of the game, leaping to deflect a shot up and over the crossbar. He had made a great save in the 2-0 win over Loyola, thwarting a shot that would have tied it but kept JSerra on top 1-0.

JSerra’s defense was excellent again Saturday. The back-row players often controlled the ball deep in their own end instead of just settling for clearing it from there.

Tatch, who signed with Michigan, said the key to JSerra’s success was its special group of teammates.

“It’s a team full of warriors,” Tatch said. “A team of great guys who would die for each other. I’ve never been on a team that’s been closer.”

​ Orange County Register 

Kings edge St. Louis in OT, snap 5-game skid

• March 9, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Quinton Byfield ended the Kings’ deepest funk of the campaign with a goal 27 seconds into overtime, securing a 2-1 OT victory over the St. Louis Blues, who’d beaten them 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday.

The Kings pumped the brakes on their season-long winless stretch at five games, while the Blues moved to 7-1-2 in their last 10 decisions, remaining in hot pursuit of a wild-card berth. The Kings stayed three points in front of the Calgary Flames, who won 1-0 Saturday, for third place in the Pacific Division.

Anže Kopitar opened the scoring and Quinton Byfield closed it. Andrei Kuzmenko logged 16:02, playing on the first power-play unit as well as the top line in his Kings debut after being traded from Philadelphia yesterday. Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.

Nick Leddy tallied the Blues’ only goal. Joel Hofer had 22 saves.

Overtime had barely begun when Byfield drove from the left-wing wall to the low slot and lifted a shot that tucked cozily under the crossbar to snap the winless skid.

In the final frame, St. Louis absorbed much of the play but found an equalizer just the same when Leddy’s long, seeing-eye shot beat Kuemper inside the post at the 4:16 mark.

Through 40 minutes, there had been more disallowed goals than actual goals in the game. The Kings clung to a 1-0 lead, but an eventful stanza saw Kuemper rob Pavel Buchnevich on the heels of a hit post for the Blues. Hofer later returned the favor, sliding to stonewall Alex Laferriere on a golden opportunity from the blue paint.

St. Louis also reciprocated in another sense, taking a Kings goal off the board after the Blues had one annulled in the first period. Vladislav Gavrikov’s long bank pass up the boards for Laferriere backed up the defense, so Laferriere held up and hit a hustling Gavrikov for a well-placed shot that seemed to catch Hofer off-guard. That surprise faded into relief quickly as a very quick review was able to determine the Kings were offside when they entered the zone.

The Kings’ first period began as a brush with calamity but ended with a 1-0 lead, both thanks to the reunited defense pairing of Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson.

Just 28 seconds into the contest, Doughty tripped Dylan Holloway, and a mere seven seconds into his penalty, St. Louis captain Brayden Schenn appeared to score the game’s first goal.

But video review showed that Anderson’s last-instant swipe prevented all but the final millimeters of the puck from fully crossing the goal line, nullifying the goal after a lengthy review.

Instead, it was the Kings getting on the board first, at 14:35. Kopitar did the dirty work to extend possession below the goal line and then found style in function above the hash marks, where he tipped Doughty’s shot skyward and over Hofer’s head for a goal. Anderson earned the secondary assist on Kopitar’s 15th goal of 2024-25.

​ Orange County Register