Cheers and jeers at the Del Mar paddock as Breeders’ Cup draws are posted

• October 29, 2024

DEL MAR — There were some cheers but also plenty of moans and groans heard throughout the Del Mar paddock late Monday afternoon as post positions were drawn for this weekend’s 14 Breeders’ Cup races.

Most of the negative reaction came from the connections of multiple contenders who were presented with potentially unlucky spots in the starting gate.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Monday morning, “As long as we are in the gate, we’ve got a chance.”

No one would argue with O’Neill, but sometimes those chances can be influenced by starting position, and one of the loudest groans Monday was heard when his Raging Torrent drew the rail for the Sprint. The colt has speed, and he’ll need to show it from the break to avoid getting trapped behind horses from the outside that could cross in front of him.

Skippylongstocking, the second choice on the morning line for the Dirt Mile, can only wish he drew the rail. The horse has speed, but starting from the No. 14 spot he could be forced to use a lot of energy to avoid being caught very wide on the first turn, which comes up quickly.

Also stuck on the far outside in the 12-horse Mile is Carl Spackler, a top contender. At this summer’s Del Mar meeting, just two of 56 horses who started from gates 10 and out at a mile on turf won. Meanwhile, the inside three post positions captured nearly half the races (25 of 55), and the numbers here last fall were fairly similar (14 of 32).

That’s good news for Juvenile Fillies Turf favorite Lake Victoria, who will start from the rail in that one-mile race, but not so much for New Century, the morning-line choice in the Juvenile Turf who must break from No. 11.

On the dirt, two juvenile races will be run at 1 1/16 miles, and Juvenile Fillies favorite Scottish Lassie and Juvenile second choice Chancer McPatrick will be on the far outside. That probably won’t harm the latter nearly as much, though, since he prefers to drop back and should be able to save ground. Juvenile favorite East Avenue will be on the rail.

Six races drew full fields, and two others were one short of capacity. The morning-line favorites, in the order in which the races will be run (the first five are Friday, the other nine Saturday):

Juvenile Turf Sprint: Ecoro Sieg (7-2), unbeaten in two starts in Japan.

Juvenile Fillies: Scottish Lassie (5-2), winner of the Frizette at Aqueduct in her last start.

Juvenile Fillies Turf: Lake Victoria (8-5), an Irish-bred unbeaten in four starts for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

Juvenile: East Avenue (5-2), who has won two starts in Kentucky by a total of 13 ¼ lengths.

Juvenile Turf: New Century (5-2), an English-bred who won a stakes race at Woodbine last month in a fast time.

Filly & Mare Sprint: Ways and Means (5-2), a 3-year-old who has won three straight.

Turf Sprint: Cogburn (7-5), who did the unthinkable two starts back, breaking one minute for 5 ½ furlongs on the turf.

Distaff: Thorpedo Anna (4-5), the Kentucky Oaks winner and the heaviest early favorite on the card.

Turf: Rebel’s Romance (5-2), who won this race in 2022, skipped it last year and has won five of six starts this year.

Classic: City of Troy (5-2), a 3-year-old son of Justify who has won all but one of his seven starts but has never raced on dirt. Travers winner Fierceness (3-1) is the second choice.

Filly & Mare Turf: War Like Goddess (5-2), starting in a Breeders’ Cup race for the fourth straight year but still looking for her first win.

Sprint: Federal Judge (3-1), who dominated the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland four weeks ago.

Mile: Notable Speech (7-2), out of the money in two of his last three but trained by Charlie Appleby, who has won this race the last three years.

Dirt Mile: Domestic Product (7-2), a 3-year-old who has not faced older.

​ Orange County Register 

Motorist fatally shot at park-and-ride near 57 Freeway in Diamond Bar

• October 29, 2024

DIAMOND BAR — A man in his 20s was fatally shot Monday in the Diamond Bar area of Los Angeles County, and an investigation was underway.

Officers were dispatched to Pathfinder Road, near the Orange (57) Freeway, around 6 a.m. Monday following reports of a shooting, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol.

Deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Walnut Station also arrived to assist CHP officials, where they found an Apple Valley man located inside his vehicle with a gunshot wound.

CHP officials said the shooting occurred at a park-and-ride.

Although details leading up to the shooting remain limited, CHP officials said they believe the victim to into a verbal altercation with the suspect, possibly motivating the shooting.

The victim fled the scene heading westbound on Pathfinder Road but lost control of his vehicle due to his injuries and crashed into a concrete wall over the 57 Freeway.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was being withheld pending notification of relatives.

A passenger in the vehicle during the shooting was unharmed.

CHP Baldwin Park Area Special Enforcement Team personnel, along with Southern Division Major Crimes Unit officials, were continuing to investigate Monday evening, searching a home in the 2600 block of Second Street in La Verne. It was unclear if any suspects were arrested.

Fox11 reported, citing information from authorities, that the suspect drove away from the shooting scene in a white SUV.

Traffic was routed away from the area during the investigation, but all lanes have since reopened.

Anyone with information regarding the shooting is urged to contact the CHP Southern Division at 323-259-3200.

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​ Orange County Register 

Costa Mesa man accused of strangling girlfriend, slitting her wrist, stuffing her into trash can

• October 29, 2024

A Costa Mesa man accused of strangling his girlfriend, slitting her wrist and leaving her body in a trash can outside his home following a drunken argument has been charged with murder, prosecutors announced on Monday, Oct. 28.

Daniel Allen Aldrich, 49, is also facing a felony enhancement for the personal use of a weapon related to the death of 38-year-old Julie Anne Sanetra, whose body was found on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at Aldrich’s home on the 1900 block of Maple Avenue, according to an Orange County District Attorney’s Office statement.

Prosecutors allege that following a night of drinking on Sunday, Oct. 20, Aldrich got into an argument with Sanetra, an Irvine resident. Aldrich is accused of strangling Sanetra, prosecutors said, then slitting her wrist with a folding knife.

According to prosecutors, Aldrich left Sanetra’s body on his couch while he watched television and as he went to bed.

The next day, prosecutors say, Aldrich dragged Sanetra’s body outside his home and stuffed it into a trash can on the side of his house. He then went back inside the home, packed a bag and drove to his mother’s house in Glendale, prosecutors added.

A day later, landscapers who had been hired to mow the lawn at Aldrich’s property discovered Sanetra’s body, which prosecutors say at that point was partially outside the trash can.

Costa Mesa police arrested Aldrich later that day at his mother’s house.

“Julie Sanetra did not deserve to be strangled and stuffed into a trash can like a piece of garbage,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a written statement. “The callousness of this crime shocks the conscience, and we will do everything to get justice for Julie and her loved ones.”

Aldrich, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail, is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on Nov. 19. If convicted as charged, Aldrich faces up to 26 years to life in prison.

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​ Orange County Register 

Ducks searching for offense going into game with Islanders

• October 29, 2024

The Ducks flew east and landed in a rut, dropping both ends of a back-to-back set that matched them with two of the three New York area teams before sending them ahead to a clash with the Islanders on Tuesday.

They were able to tread water in a competitive 2-1 game with the contending Rangers but sank fast in the second period of a lopsided 6-2 affair in New Jersey the next night. In all, they’ve lost three of their past four games in regulation and mustered just four goals in those losses.

“We’re just having a hard time scoring goals right now,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin told reporters after the loss to the Rangers. “You get energy in a game and you get some chances that don’t go in, we’re at that point now. I think guys are starting to press. We’ve got to find a way to score some blue-collar goals.”

Even-strength offense was labored for much of the 120 minutes against the Rangers and Devils, with the Rangers earning superior quality chances and the Devils also generating a noticeably higher volume of opportunities. Against New Jersey, there were also uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns.

One area that seemed invigorated was the power play, with new orientations and progressions that looked more dangerous across three scoreless opportunities in two games. The chemistry between Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry appeared particularly promising.

“When he’s going, he’s our best player, [he’s] super special to watch,” Ducks forward Ryan Strome told Daily Faceoff. “You don’t see many guys with that [Jack] Eichel style who are 6-foot-4 and dice through the neutral zone – super shifty, super dynamic, and a really good guy.”

Terry, who is coasting on a seven-game points streak and sitting on 99 career goals, hit the net three times with the man advantage in the back-to-back losses. Terry and Carlsson already had the only two power-play goals for the Ducks this season.

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The Islanders join the Ducks in the bottom five in power-play conversion rate. The two clubs were among those tied for eighth league-wide for fewest goals allowed.

Former Duck Kyle Palmieri leads the Islanders in scoring with seven points in eight games, though they’ve relied primarily on goalie Ilya Sorokin (1.74 goals-against average and .937 save percentage). The most offensive-minded Isles, Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat, rolled out to modest starts (each has four points in eight games).

The Islanders tried to bolster their attack by dipping into the international free agent market for Maxim Tsyplakov and by signing Anthony Duclair, who was a 31-goal scorer for Florida three seasons ago. Though the two have combined for eight points in 13 games played, Duclair (lower-body) was placed on long-term injured reserve over the weekend. They also brought back veteran Matt Martin on a one-year deal, meaning he and Pierre Engvall, who was waived earlier this season and just recalled, could get games in Duclair’s absence.

DUCKS AT ISLANDERS

When: Tuesday, 4 p.m. PT

Where: UBS Arena, Elmont, N.Y.

TV: Ch. 13

​ Orange County Register 

Dodgers star Freddie Freeman and his family are giving away tickets to the 2024 World Series

• October 29, 2024

For fans looking for a way to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers play against the New York Yankees in the 2024 World Series in person without having to spend thousands of dollars on tickets, Dodgers star Freddie Freeman has one solution.

The first baseman along with his wife Chelsea Freeman announced on social media that they would be doing a giveaway to send a lucky winner to the World Series.

Related: Shohei Ohtani in Dodgers’ lineup for Game 3 of World Series

In a collaboration Instagram post between their accounts, the couple shared that they wanted to give back to fans. “We are so thankful for your support and kindness to our family this season and want to give back to one of you.”

Catch up on the latest Dodgers news and game updates

In addition to receiving two tickets to the World Series, the winner will also receive a signed Freddie Freeman baseball.

Details for how to enter the contest are available in the caption of the Instagram post announcing the contest. The winner will be picked at random and announced this week.

Freddie Freeman’s walk-off grand slam that ended game one remains one of the most talked about moments from the World Series so far. In addition to captivating viewers at home as well as those watching the game live at Dodger Stadium, it was the first ever game-ending grand slam in Series history.

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​ Orange County Register 

Washington Post loses more than 200k subscriptions following non-endorsement, according to report

• October 29, 2024

NEW YORK — More than 200,000 people have canceled subscriptions to The Washington Post since the newspaper announced its decision last week not to endorse a candidate for president, a published report said Monday.

NPR reported the figure, citing “two people at the paper with knowledge of internal matters.”

The reported loss of subscriptions of that magnitude would be a blow to a news outlet that is already facing financial headwinds. The Post had more than 2.5 million subscribers last year, the bulk of them digital, making it third behind The New York Times and Wall Street Journal in circulation.

A Post spokeswoman, Olivia Peterson, would not comment on the report when contacted by The Associated Press.

The Post’s editorial staff had reportedly prepared an endorsement of Democrat Kamala Harris before announcing instead Friday that it would leave it up for readers to make up their own minds. The timing, less than two weeks before Election Day, led critics to question whether Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos had been concerned about whether Republican Donald Trump might retaliate if he were elected president.

The Post’s retired former editor, Marty Baron, had denounced the decision on social media as “cowardice, with democracy as its casualty.”

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Some journalists, including Post columnist Dana Milbank, urged readers not to express their anger at the decision by canceling subscriptions, for fear it could cost reporters or editors their jobs.

The Post’s decision came only days after the Los Angeles Times also said it would not endorse a presidential candidate, which the newspaper has acknowledged has cost them thousands of subscribers.

An article on the Post’s website about the fallout from the non-endorsement had more than 2,000 comments, many of them from readers saying they were leaving.

“I am unsubscribing after 70 years,” wrote one commenter, claiming to have lost hope and belief that the Post would publish the truth.

​ Orange County Register 

Two men convicted in robbery-murder of marijuana dispensary employee in Santa Ana

• October 29, 2024

Men identified as the shooter and driver were convicted of murder on Monday, Oct. 28, for their roles in the 2019 slaying of a marijuana dispensary worker who was run off the road and shot to death on the edge of the Santa Ana College campus while transporting tens of thousands of dollars in cash.

An Orange County Superior Court jury found John Taylor — the alleged shooter — and Ryan Jones — the alleged driver — guilty of special circumstances murder for killing 29-year-old Osvaldo Garcia of Santa Ana during a robbery on Sept. 16, 2019. The two men now face up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A third man — Antonio Lamont Triplett — was convicted during an earlier trial of special circumstances murder for his role in the slaying and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors in that earlier trial referred to Triplett as a “bag man” who ran off with Garcia’s backpack and the dispensary money.

Garcia was responsible for picking up and transporting cash from a marijuana dispensary in South Los Angeles. On Sept. 15, 2019 he left the dispensary around 11 p.m. with a backpack filled with tens of thousands of dollars cash. He planned to meet his girlfriend that night at an In-N-Out in Santa Ana.

Another vehicle — which prosecutors allege was driven by Jones — forced Garcia’s car off the roadway near the Bristol and 17th streets intersection, a collision captured on security cameras at the nearby Santa Ana College campus.

Garcia’s vehicle went over a sidewalk and onto a raised embankment and hedges. His girlfriend — who was on the phone with him at the time — heard Garcia exclaim “They are shooting at me, help me!”

Security footage showed two men — identified by prosecutors as Taylor and Triplett — get out of the other vehicle and run up to Garcia’s car, one of whom began firing multiple gunshots. Garcia, who tried to escape by crawling out of the passenger window of his car, was pistol-whipped, beaten and shot five times.

During the recent trial, prosecutors alleged that Taylor was the one who beat and shot Garcia, who died at the scene.

“This was an execution and a robbery,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Anna McIntire told jurors during her closing arguments last week.

A marked Santa Ana police vehicle passed by on Bristol Street shortly after the shooting, but the occupant or occupants apparently didn’t see the crashed vehicle or Garcia’s body. Triplett ran off moments later with Garcia’s backpack, cutting through campus and a nearby shopping center.

Minutes later, the vehicle that had forced Garcia off the road left with the other men.

Worrying that Garcia had been kidnapped, his girlfriend went to the campus and was quickly taken by police to the nearby Santa Ana Police Station. Officers realized that Garcia’s girlfriend had never ended the call to her boyfriend’s phone, which had been stolen by one of the men.

With the help of a police helicopter, investigators tracked Garcia’s phone to Corona, then along several Los Angeles-area freeways to a parking lot in Carson, where the occupants of several vehicles were seen moving items from one car to another.

Two vehicles were stopped by police as they left the lot in Carson. A third car, which had the stolen cell phone in it, was followed by officers to Long Beach.

Among those ultimately taken into custody that morning were Triplett, Taylor and Jones, as well as a woman who worked at the same dispensary as Garcia.

Blood on Triplett’s shoe tied him to Garcia. Cell phone data showed Jones near the dispensary earlier that night and Jones, Triplett and Taylor in Santa Ana at the time of the robbery and killing, according to prosecutors.

Defense attorneys representing Jones and Taylor denied that they played a direct role in Garcia’s killing.

Taylor — who described himself in courtroom testimony as an apartment janitor, part time Uber driver and a drug addict — was tricked into allowing other men to use his car that night and was “high as a kite” at the time of the shooting, his attorney, Cameron Talley, told jurors.

Taylor testified that the shooter was a man who went by the nickname “Hustle,” who he said was himself shot and killed in St. Louis shortly after Garcia’s slaying. Taylor said “Hustle” had convinced him to go along the night of Garcia’s killing by making him think it was going to be a marijuana deal.

Taylor said he was asleep as someone else drove to Santa Ana, then was awakened by the “bang” of the collision with Garcia’s car. Minutes later, Taylor testified, he heard gunshots.

“I was frightened,” Taylor testified. “I heard the shots and I looked up and I see Hustle coming back in the car with a gun… He just said ‘Let’s go.’”

Talley, Taylor’s attorney, told jurors that his client had been “duped.”

“He had no idea whatsoever that his car was going to be used in a murder,” the defense attorney said. “He thought he was going to get some cheap pot.”

Both Talley and Jones’ attorney, Associate Defender Kelly Rozek, described the evidence against their clients as circumstantial.

“We have no clue what he knew or what his role was,” Rozek said of Jones during her closing arguments. “The prosecution wants you to fill in the blanks, they want you to fill in information you do not have.”

The prosecutor argued that as the suspected driver who ran Garcia off the road, Jones had a direct role in the killing. She added that Taylor’s testimony that he was asleep until collision was “ridiculous.”

Taylor and Jones are scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Dec. 13.

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​ Orange County Register 

As Democrats court Haley supporters, the former UN ambassador is still waiting to hear from Trump

• October 28, 2024

By MEG KINNARD

CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — Nikki Haley received more Republican primary votes than anyone who challenged Donald Trump for this year’s presidential nomination. She has said she’s voting for him, and she released her delegates so they could support him at the Republican National Convention.

But unlike some of Trump’s other GOP primary rivals, such as Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, she hasn’t been on the campaign trail supporting her party’s nominee. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Haley has given Trump’s campaign a list of dates on which she would be available to help him, but no appearances have been scheduled.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to a message from The Associated Press asking why Haley, his former U.N. ambassador and a former South Carolina governor, had not campaigned with the nominee or how such conversations had gone. The person who confirmed that appearance dates had been offered spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss logistics.

There was no love lost between Trump and Haley during the GOP primary, during which Haley repeatedly questioned the fitness for office of both Trump and President Joe Biden and called for cognitive tests for older politicians. Haley repeatedly warned that nominating Trump would land Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House, implying that Biden — then still in the race — would be unable to serve another term.

“We are going to have a female president of the United States, and either it will be me or it will be Kamala Harris,” Haley said as part of nearly every stump speech or media appearance, saying that “chaos” follows Trump.

Trump’s irritation only grew after Haley stayed in the race, becoming his last remaining primary rival.

“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” Trump wrote on Truth Social following a Haley event in South Carolina in late January, using the nickname he crafted for Haley and the abbreviation for his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

When Haley did end her 2024 presidential campaign after the Super Tuesday contests, she waited two months to endorse Trump. In June, she released her delegates so that they were free to support him at the Republican National Convention. At the July gathering, to which Haley was a last-minute invite, she told her supporters, “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.”

She has said for months that she’s “on standby” to stump for Trump. She’s launched her own Sirius XM radio show, on which she frequently makes the case against electing Harris, and she has recorded robocalls for the campaign and made low-dollar fundraising appeals, according to her advisers.

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Despite not being on the trail for Trump, Haley has made clear that she’s supporting her party’s nominee in the general election, even though some of her voters aren’t as convinced. Harris’ campaign launched “Republicans for Harris” to win over GOP voters put off by Trump’s candidacy, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who backed Haley.

“Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue,” Haley said in a statement Monday to the AP. “Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong. I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous.”

Not campaigning with Trump — but having endorsed him — may ultimately benefit Haley in a future campaign of her own, according to veteran Republican strategist Terry Sullivan.

“She wants to run again and wants to be able to have it both ways,” Sullivan said. “Have the never-Trumpers still like her but have the pro-Trump voters like that she endorsed him.”

Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

​ Orange County Register