Spike in sick, starved brown pelicans has wildlife care center in need

• May 4, 2024

Brown pelicans have been coming in starved, dehydrated and in desperate need of care, officials with the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center said as they made a plea for support from the community.

A mass stranding of the species seen over the last few weeks, with birds found throughout Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties, has rescue teams worried and quickly running out of supplies, said Debbie McGuire, executive director of the center in Huntington Beach.

“They are all coming in at starvation level, half their body weight,” she said. “It’s really, really bad.”

In the past month, more than 80 brown pelicans have been brought into the center, with only 31 surviving. The center has gone through 500 pounds of fish in just the past week, McGuire said, and its supply is quickly dwindling as more of the birds are brought in by lifeguards and animal care responders throughout the region.

The reason behind the mass stranding is unclear, but McGuire said there must be something happening with their food source. Typically this time of year, the center would have only about half a dozen brown pelicans in its care, though in 2022 there was also a spike in strandings with hundreds brought in. 

The birds typically dive into the ocean about 6 feet deep to forage on bait fish.

“What we know for sure is that once we start feeding them, they tend to respond – vitamins, food, liquids,” she said. “The biggest thing we need is money to buy fish.”

Blood work has confirmed the birds are malnourished and suffering from anemia, she said.  A large percentage are also coming in entangled in fishing gear.

“They just don’t have any more energy because they haven’t been able to forage their food,” she said.

The birds have been adults and juveniles, some with broken wings that require them to be put down, she said. There’s also been a higher-than-normal number of western gulls and there are young sea lions being cared for at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach suffering similar symptoms, though it’s unclear if the cause is the same as what’s impacting the pelicans, she said.

Several sick birds in the last week came from Corona Del Mar, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, with birds reported from San Clemente to Seal Beach and into Los Angeles and Ventura coastlines, she said.

“It could be the entire coast again,” McGuire said, noting the 2022 mass stranding stretched the entire state.

Biologists in coming days and weeks will be doing necropsies to find clues to figure out what is happening, she said. “The scientists really need to take a deep look at what causes this. It could be there’s nothing we can do. It could be just what’s happening.”

If you come across a sick bird, contact animal control or lifeguards, who will get the animal to a care center. A sick bird will not move away as people approach, indicating it could need care.

To find out more about what to do about a sick bird or how you can help the rescue center, visit to wwccoc.org.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Pitzer College to release financial information demanded by pro-Palestine students

• May 4, 2024

Pitzer College will disclose information about its financial investments, officials said Friday, as pro-Palestinian students continued to call for the institution to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its actions in Gaza.

In a memo released Friday, May 3, Pitzer officials said President Strom C. Thacker and Board of Trustees Chairperson Donald P. Gould agreed to the financial disclosure after meeting with three undisclosed students and a faculty member that morning.

Pro-Palestinian students at Pitzer, part of the Claremont Colleges consortium, continued to occupy a campus encampment Friday similar to those established at universities across the nation to protest the Israel offensive in Gaza.

Similar to demands made by students at their sister campus in Claremont, Pomona College, pro-Palestinian students at Pitzer are pushing for divestment from Israel and disclosure of funds, according to a joint release from Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine and Claremont Jewish Voice for Peace.

According to the groups’ statement, the agreement reached with Pitzer includes releasing information on its holdings in military and weapons manufacturers, the first such disclosure in the college’s history.

The information will be released publicly by June 30, the college said.

Pitzer also agreed to “a review of the Board of Trustees policy on endowment disclosures and what additional information could be disclosed to Pitzer students and staff on an ongoing basis,” the college said in its memo.

This information will be reviewed during the summer and released no later than Sept. 30, officials said.

In a separate statement released Friday, Gould said “taking positions on any number of contentious geopolitical issues” is not in the college’s best interest.

“Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict specifically,” Gould said, “the board has deliberately not taken actions that could imply the college has adopted an institutional position on the conflict.”

But “information without action” is not enough, Claremont SJP and JVP said in their joint release.

“Until Pitzer College concedes to the … demands of disclosure and divestment, students will continue to escalate,” the groups said.

Pomona College students, meanwhile, said in a news conference Friday they’re leaving the door open to resuming protests if their own college’s leadership ignores a faculty-backed petition to divest in Israel.

Earlier in April, a protest at the college led to the arrest of 20 students. Since then, student-led pro-Palestine protests from Columbia University in New York to UCLA have resulted in more than 2,000 arrests nationwide.

On Thursday, the majority of the Pomona College Faculty voted in solidarity with students to “divest from corporations complicit with war crimes and other human rights violations committed by the Israeli government in Israel/Palestine,” according to a news release from Pomona Divest from Apartheid.

The matter now heads to Pomona College administration for consideration.

Students at Pitzer College showed no signs of dissolving their encampment Friday.

For eight days, the Claremont SJP and JVP Gaza Solidarity encampment has been occupying the lawn used by Pitzer College for commencement ceremonies. About 25 tents remained on the lawn Friday.

Students had taken to rallying outside the McConnel Center adjacent to the lawn to express their demands.

A student representative for encampment organizers, Ezra Levinson, said students and faculty demonstrating feel “called” to speak up and act in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

“We believe it is against Pitzer’s mission and against the mission of any educational institution to be invested in these institutions (in Israel) while there is a scholasticide in Gaza,” said Levinson. “There are no universities still standing or functioning in Gaza.”

The number of those supporting Palestine at Pitzer shows “the sense of responsibility outweighs any fears we might have” about university retaliation, Levinson said.

On April 11, students and faculty on Pitzer’s College Council, which serves as a democratic process for the university, voted for an academic boycott of Israel, according to a college news release.

Thacker vetoed that decision, citing in an April 11 news release that it was contrary to Pitzer’s commitment to academic freedom and creating a safe learning environment for all.

“A key role of a liberal arts college is to educate students to think critically, listen actively, and develop their own informed views,” Thacker said. “We must always promote academic freedom, even when it is denied to others.”

Commencement for Pitzer College is slated to begin Friday, May 10, and no plans or preparations to deviate from that date have been provided by the officials despite the presence of the encampment.

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

LA County Fair kicks off season with ‘Stars, Stripes, and Fun’

• May 4, 2024

The farm animals have arrived, the deep-fried delights are being served, and good ol’ classic fair fun is now underway.

Yep, the LA County Fair kicked off Friday evening, May 3, for its 102nd year of celebrations.

Americana will be in focus through the month-long run at Fairplex in Pomona as this year’s theme “Stars, Stripes, and Fun” pays homage to history and the communities in Southern California.

From the Ferris wheel to the Garden Railroad and roller skating to reptiles, there’s something for everyone. This year’s fair runs through Memorial Day, May 27. It’s open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, plus Memorial Day Monday.

About the LA County Fair

Where: Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona

When: Friday, May 3, through Monday, May 27

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday through Sunday, plus Memorial Day, May 27.

Cost: $17 to $25 for adults; $12 for children ages 6 to 12 and seniors 60 and older. Parking is $20.

Payment: Parking, admission and concert box office payments are cashless. Advance online purchases cost less than gate prices.

Information: lacountyfair.com

​ Orange County Register 

José Soriano, young hitters lead the way in Angels’ victory over Guardians

• May 4, 2024

CLEVELAND — José Soriano had only three strikeouts in the six innings he pitched in the Angels’ 6-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Friday night, but two of them were particularly memorable.

In the second inning, with the game still scoreless, the Angels had just made an error to put a runner into scoring position. Soriano struck out Gabriel Arias swinging at three consecutive knuckle curves, ending the inning.

In the fifth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Soriano struck out Andres Gimenez on three pitches, getting him looking at a sinker and a splitter and then whiffing him on a knuckle curve.

“He’s gross,” Angels center fielder Mickey Moniak said. “If you throw 100 and have a curveball like that, the sky’s the limit. It was fun to watch.”

The 25-year-old Soriano is still growing into his new role as a starter, evident by the hiccups from his previous outing, when he couldn’t find the strike zone and got knocked out in the second inning. This time he was in control from the start, with 14 strikes in 17 first-inning pitches.

Soriano gave up five hits and he walked one. He needed just 88 pitches – including 60 strikes – to get through his outing. It was clearly the best of his five major league starts.

“I thought he was in control,” Manager Ron Washington said. “He was spotting his fastball. He was getting the secondary stuff across. When he got in trouble, he made pitches. That’s what he’s capable of doing. I’m very happy for him. He’s been working hard and finally put one together.”

Soriano now has a 3.77 ERA through 28⅔ innings.

“It means a lot to me because I started my career as a starter (in the minors), and all I want to do is win games as a starter,” Soriano said through an interpreter.

Soriano’s performance was the best of a few bright spots from Angels young players, giving some reason for optimism for a team that started the season with a 12-20 record.

Rookie Nolan Schanuel, 22, put the Angels on the board with his third home run of the season. He also singled twice and walked. Schanuel started the season slowly, but he has hit .388 over his last 13 games.

Moniak, 25, belted a three-run homer to extend the Angels’ lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning. Moniak, who also singled, started the season poorly at the plate, but Mike Trout’s injury has now put him in position for regular playing time.

“I’ve been taking strides in the right direction as far as my swing goes,” Moniak said. “I’ve been feeling pretty confident in the direction it’s going. To be able to have the results today was good to see.”

Related Articles

Luis Rengifo also had two hits. Logan O’Hoppe drove in a run with a double. Willie Calhoun, who ended up in the cleanup spot because Washington didn’t think his young players were ready for that responsibility, had three hits.

The Angels scored all six runs against Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee, a Mission Viejo High and Cal State Fullerton product who brought a 3.45 ERA to the mound.

It was such a good night that they were able to overcome the kind of mental blunder that can be costly.

In the eighth inning, José Suarez got José Ramirez to hit a routine grounder that should have been an inning-ending double play. Shortstop Zach Neto tossed the ball to Rengifo, who stepped on the bag and then started jogging, thinking the inning was over. Suarez walked the next hitter, but then got out of the inning with a fly ball.

“You don’t like those kinds of lapses, but you’ve been in the game long enough, it happens,” Washington said. “I certainly hope he learned from that and doesn’t let that happen again, because it cost Suarez 11 more pitches. Also caused us to get someone up in the bullpen.”

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers’ Walker Buehler looking forward to return from Tommy John surgery

• May 4, 2024

LOS ANGELES — After nearly two years away, a major surgery that repaired two parts of his elbow and countless hours of rehab, Walker Buehler craves one thing the most as he gets set to take a major league mound again on Monday.

Success and adulation can wait. What Buehler yearns to feel again is the jolt of energy he gets from pitching at the highest level.

That is expected to come, first from the home crowd when he faces the Miami Marlins. He wants to square off against the best players and bask in the rush. And he can’t wait to put all that responsibility on his shoulders once again.

“An entire organization’s success on that day relies on you so yeah, that’s probably the thing I miss the most,” Buehler said Friday.

Buehler competitive juices flow freely, in complete contrast to his laid-back style off the field.

“To be completely frank with you, there is not a whole lot of that (adrenaline) for me down there; I wish there was,” Buehler said of recent minor league rehab starts. “I wish it was easier for me to get going and I wish it didn’t sound so (expletive) to say that. But I think getting the adrenaline of pitching in the big leagues is something that I’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”

A two-time All-Star, who finished fourth in National League Cy Young Award voting in 2021, Buehler hasn’t pitched since June of 2022.

Following a mediocre stretch of starts, Buehler was diagnosed with a major elbow injury. The subsequent surgery showed just how bad it was when he not only had his ulnar collateral ligament replaced but he had his forearm tendon repaired as well.

Buehler tried to come back late last season, scuttled those plans, then was unable to join the Opening Day roster. The Dodgers said there was no setback, claiming they wanted to play it safe after Buehler’s second Tommy John surgery.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time and a long process but I finally put together some things at Triple-A and I think we all felt pretty comfortable with Monday being the date,” Buehler said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

In five starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City and one with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Buehler went 0-2 with a 4.15 ERA. He had 20 strikeouts and nine walks in 21⅔ innings, overcoming a scare when he was hit in his pitching hand by a comebacker while pitching for Rancho.

“I’m just happy to see him out there; we feel good about it,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve checked all the boxes. Just go out there and compete. There will be some nerves, adrenaline, some emotion, but outside of that, just be Walker and try to get as many outs as he can to try to help us win a ballgame.”

There no doubt will be restrictions on Buehler’s workload moving forward, but Roberts avoided getting into specifics.

“I think that is going to be open-ended or read-and-react,” Roberts said about the Buehler plan. “Obviously, his health is most important going forward. It could be a situation from Monday onward, he makes every start. There could be a time where he needs to take a blow. It’s going to be contingent on how he’s feeling, for the most part.”

For now, Buehler is content with just being part of the team again. He simply wants quality instead of quantity when it comes to his innings this season.

“Yeah, being away is tough,” Buehler said. “You’re here long enough and you develop relationships with everyone from the top of this organization to the people in the food room and the clubbies. You get comfortable here and I think that is why everyone wants to come back here is because it’s a comfortable place and somewhere you feel valued.

“To be in the desert (of Arizona) for a year and then to miss the first month and a half, or whatever, it just sucks. So I’m happy to be back and ready to help us win.”

KERSHAW ON THE WAY

Buehler not only threw a bullpen Friday, so did Clayton Kershaw, who is on the mend from shoulder surgery.

“Clayton threw his first bullpen today,” Roberts said. “I think it was his six-month mark from surgery. So very good. I think it was 15 throws and he came out of that well.

Kershaw has a late-July, early-August timetable for a return.

Related Articles

Right-hander Bobby Miller also threw from a mound as he attempts to return from shoulder inflammation. Miller made three starts this season with a 5.40 ERA.

“So today was a good day for all of us,” Roberts said.

ALSO

Dodgers leadoff man Mookie Betts was named the first National League Player of the Month this season as he batted .368 with a 1.101 OPS and had six home runs with 23 RBIs and 46 hits. It was his second NL Player of the Month recoginition after he also earned the honor in August of last season. … After going on the injured list four games into his season, outfielder Jason Heyward moved closer to a return by hitting and running at full speed. Roberts said the veteran was pain-free during his workouts. … After pitching an inning both Wednesday and Thursday for Triple-A Oklahoma City, right-hander Blake Treinen (chest/lung) could be activated to the active roster at some point during the homestand.

UP NEXT

Braves (RHP Bryce Elder, 1-0, 1.50 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Tyler Glasnow, 5-1, 2.72), Saturday, 6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Big Bear Lake before and after a 15-foot increase in water depth thanks to winter storms

• May 4, 2024

After hitting record lows two years ago due to drought, Big Bear Lake reported a 10-foot increase in its water level in December 2023 and new data shows it’s risen even higher the first four months of 2024.

In December 2022, the water level at Big Bear Lake was just below 55 feet, officials said. Two consecutive winters brought heavy storms in early 2023 and 2024, resulting in significant rainfall and snowpack that have helped restore the lake after water levels hit a record low in late 2022.

As of Tuesday, April 30, the lake depth was 68 feet, still about 4 feet below its capacity, data shows. The lake hasn’t been full since 2011, according to Brittany Lamson, interim general manager of the administration department at Big Bear Municipal Water District, which manages the lake.

Over the past two years, the lake depth has increased a total of 15 feet, Lamson said.

Water levels affect recreation, wildlife and the local economy in the area. According to Lamson, the lake was still getting inflow this week. Any inflow after April 1 is good news for Big Bear, she said.

“This level of the lake is great for us,” she added. “We can utilize our east public launch ramp, which has our full operations.”

With the ramp open, lake visitors with boats can access inspection and decontamination services and buy permits. The launch ramp is open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

The deeper lake also supports fish spawning, producing a better ecosystem all around, Lamson said.

The images below show the lake in August 2022 compared to March 2024, amid the second snowiest winter season reported in the San Bernardino Mountains in the past 25 years.

The Big Bear Solar Observatory sits on a peninsula on the north shore:

Big Bear Lake looking south from the Stanfield Cutoff:

A dock floats near the Stanfield Cutoff:

Boulder Bay in Big Bear Lake:

Boulder Bay in Big Bear Lake:

Boulder Bay in Big Bear Lake:

Boulder Bay in Big Bear Lake:

Boulder Bay in Big Bear Lake:

Bear Valley Dam holds back Big Bear Lake:

Homes sit atop Treasure Island/Garstin Island in Big Bear Lake:

Docks sit in the water east of Big Bear Marina in Big Bear Lake:

Docks sit in the water east of Big Bear Marina in Big Bear Lake:

The Big Bear Solar Observatory sits on a peninsula on the north shore:

Related Articles

​ Orange County Register 

Despite an uncertain future, Kings think they have ‘the perfect team’

• May 4, 2024

EL SEGUNDO — On some alternate plane of reality, the Kings would have had a skate before Game 6 of their first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday morning.

In the here and now, they were taking physicals while soaking in the gloom of being eliminated by the same opponent for a third straight season, leaving them adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

“I fully expected to be playing in a game today again, and we’re not. Now I’m going to go home, my kids are at school, and I basically have nothing to do,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “It’s crap, I hate it and I don’t want this feeling anymore. I want to be continuing in the playoffs, and not sitting at home watching the playoffs.”

If Doughty’s tone sounded testy, it was probably because the Kings have endured this fate or worse for the entire decade that has elapsed since their second Stanley Cup triumph in three seasons back in 2014. They’ve made five playoff appearances since, winning just seven games and not a single series.

“You’ve got to build a culture, for sure. The turnaround of players, now, it’s a completely different team than it was 10 years ago,” team captain Anže Kopitar said. “It’s about building it, we had to build it 15 years ago and we’re going to have to build it now.”

Now, more than this week’s schedule and some player personnel might change for the Kings. They made one coaching swap in February and might very well make another – after letting go of Todd McLellan they applied the precarious “interim” tag to his successor Jim Hiller – and could next turn their attention to the front office. General Manager Rob Blake acknowledged at his last media availability, in early February, that his own job was on the line.

“There’s a little bit of concern because you’re not sure what’s really going to happen,” said leading goal-scorer Trevor Moore, who added that he would focus on summer training and that “the rest of the stuff will get sorted out.”

Beyond the bench and the executive suite, there might be yet another even more fundamental change: a diminishing or an outright nixing of the 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap that the Kings have employed to the chagrin of some opposing players as well as some paying customers.

Even Kopitar, who said he believed the team could continue to enjoy success with the 1-3-1 system, described it in unflattering terms.

“Yeah, it’s boring, but we’ve proved it and shown that it can work,” Kopitar said.

Although Moore said the stodgy configuration got “a bad rap,” he also recognized that mixing in more aggressive alignments such as the 1-2-2 and 2-1-2 might enliven the Kings’ forecheck and lead to more frequent as well as better-quality scoring opportunities.

Other Kings forwards were more forcefully in favor of taking an eraser to the whiteboard, including last year’s team scoring leader on a per-game basis, Kevin Fiala, and this year’s most prolific producer, Adrian Kempe.

Kempe said systemic familiarity and the 11th-hour timing of the coaching change precluded an in-season reconfiguration, but that the offseason might be a period ample enough to implement something fresh.

“Moving forward, I would maybe like to, you know we tried some 1-2-2 here in the playoffs when we were chasing games, and for me it’s more fun to play a 1-2-2,” Kempe said. “You get a little bit more aggressive in the neutral zone, you can create more turnovers and I think we have a lot of offensive players who can capitalize.”

Fiala concurred, calling Kempe’s “the perfect answer,” but instead of dismissing the discussion, he steered it into a more analytical realm.

Related Articles

“We could create something on the forecheck. Right now, we kind of have to break out. In my opinion, the 1-3-1 is very effective when they try to go through you. Then there’s turnovers happening and we can go the other way,” Fiala said.

“But if they’re going to rim it or chip it every time, that means one guy has to sprint back and we have to get the puck out,” he continued. “When there’s guys coming at us with structure and they rim it from the right side and two guys are coming with full heat on the left side against our standing-still right winger, it’s not very easy to break it out. So, I feel like, obviously, it would be fun to try something else.”

Even with a potential tectonic shift that could include coaching, management, overall system, some combination thereof or even all three, the Kings felt they had foundational elements and potential to succeed at a higher level with most of their current group.

“We have everything,” Fiala said. “We have skill, we have grit and I think we have the perfect team, also, inside the room, where everybody loves each other. It’s a big family here.”

​ Orange County Register 

Kentucky Derby wide open after Fierceness and Sierra Leone

• May 4, 2024

By BETH HARRIS AP Racing Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Fate has not been kind to Mike Repole in the Kentucky Derby. The outspoken owner is 0 for 7, although he is perhaps best known for his two champions that never made the starting gate.

In 2011, Uncle Mo was scratched the day before the race because of a gastrointestinal infection. Last year, Forte was scratched the morning of the race due to a bruised right front foot.

Now, the self-made billionaire from Queens, New York, is back with Fierceness, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 150th Derby. The bay colt was last year’s 2-year-old champion and is coming off a 13½-length win in the Florida Derby.

Fierceness will have to overcome a bit of Derby history: No horse has ever won out of the No. 17 post.

“The horse is just a different kind. He does everything so easy, so calm, so cool,” said Repole, known for his high energy and using his account on X (formerly Twitter) as an incubator for racing reform and challenging critics. “A horse like this calms me down.”

A sharp-dressed crowd of about 150,000 is expected to jam Churchill Downs to wager and watch the 1¼-mile Derby. Post time is 3:57 p.m. PDT. The forecast calls for 79 degrees and a 40% chance of showers.

Fierceness is trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, who have won a combined five derbies.

“I hope it doesn’t take as long as it took the Cubs to win the World Series,” Repole said of his efforts to bag one.

Like Repole, trainer Chad Brown is 0 for 7. He will saddle early 3-1 second choice Sierra Leone, who is known as a closer, and long shot Domestic Product. Sierra Leone is the priciest horse in the field, having cost $2.3 million.

Besides Brown, trainers Brad Cox and Danny Gargan have two entries apiece.

Louisville-born Cox won his first Derby belatedly when Mandaloun was elevated to first place after Medina Spirit’s disqualification nine months after the 2021 race. Now he has early 8-1 third choice Catching Freedom and 10-1 co-fourth choice Just a Touch, who didn’t race at age 2 like his sire, 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify.

Gargan’s long-shot duo is Dornach and Society Man. Front-running Dornach breaks from the No. 1 post for co-owner and retired Philadelphia Phillies star Jayson Werth.

“Hopefully he’ll break running and we’ll put him on the front end and see how it goes,” Gargan said. “We planned on keeping his face clean. Now we’ll keep it real clean.”

Society Man is ridden by Frankie Dettori, who is back in the Derby at age 53 after 24 years.

Larry Demeritte is just the second Black trainer since 1951 to take a shot at winning the Derby. The 74-year-old who has fought cancer for several years will saddle the star of his 11-horse stable, West Saratoga, a colt that cost $11,000.

“My motto is, ‘I don’t buy cheap horses, I buy good horses cheap,’” he said.

Japan is represented by early 10-1 shot Forever Young (winner of five straight starts) and 30-1 shot T O Password. No horse from that country has ever won the Derby.

Related Articles

A year ago, two horses died on Derby day at Churchill Downs, where a total of 12 horses died in the weeks surrounding the race. The historic track has deepened its dirt racing surface and added to its safety protocols in an effort to prevent more tragedy.

Last May, Churchill Downs suspended trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. after two of his horses died and it scratched his Derby horse, Lord Miles. He is back this week with Catalytic.

Six-time Derby winner Bob Baffert is not. The trainer had his two-year suspension for Medina Spirit’s failed drug test in 2021 extended to a third year by Churchill Downs despite not having any further medication violations.

Four-time winner D. Wayne Lukas saddled longshot Just Steel, ridden by Keith Asmussen, the son of trainer Steve Asmussen. The elder Asmussen entered Track Phantom in an effort to stop his 0-for-25 skid in the Derby.

​ Orange County Register