Super Saver wins 136th Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 1 (UPI) -- Super Saver won the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby Saturday as jockey Calvin Borel gained the winner's circle for the third time in four years.
Borel became the first jockey in Derby history to accomplish the feat, while prominent trainer Todd Pletcher got his first win of the fabled horse race.
Borel maneuvered Super Saver -- who came off at 8-1 as the second-betting favorite -- along the rail on the rain-soaked track to finish ahead of 11-1 Ice Box and 12-1 Paddy O'Prado with a winning time of 2:04 2/5ths on the 1 1/4-mile Churchill Downs track.
A steady, daylong rain in Louisville ended and the sun came out moments before the 6:32 p.m. post time.
With the win, the colt continued a comeback from a highly anticipated but disappointing 2010 debut when he could manage only a third-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported.
Super Saver, of WinStar Farms, improved earlier this month when he finished second at the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, outgunned by a neck down the stretch of that race by Line of David, the newspaper said.
The sixth-largest crowd in Derby history, some 155,804, attended the event despite the inclement weather.
Nadal, Ferrer to battle for Rome title
ROME, May 1 (UPI) -- Spaniards Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will meet in the championship final of the Rome Masters after both won semifinal matches Saturday.
Nadal outlasted Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in one semifinal, while Ferrer defeated fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3 in the day's first match at the Foro Italico.
No. 3 seed and four-time Rome champion Nadal had to struggle against the fast-rising Gulbis, needing three sets after dropping the middle frame.
He improved to 26-1 lifetime at the Italian Masters and gained a shot at his 17th career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. A victory in Rome would tie him with all-time leader Andre Agassi in that category.
No. 13 Ferrer bounced back from a slow start to down the sixth-seeded Verdasco, who had jumped out to 5-1 in the first set before letting Ferrer rally to take six straight games.
Nadal holds a 10-3 career lead over Ferrer, including six straight wins.
Granderson DL-bound after groin strain
NEW YORK, May 1 (UPI) -- New York Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is expected to be placed on the disabled list after suffering a strained groin Saturday.
Granderson sustained the injury in the sixth inning of New York's 7-6 loss to the Chicago White Sox when he pulled up lame after rounding second and heading into third on a Brett Gardner single.
Yankees officials said Granderson was given an MRI exam that revealed a Grade 2 groin strain.
In his first year with the Yankees after being obtained from Detroit, the speedy outfielder is hitting .225 with two home runs and seven RBI in 23 games.
Miyazata forges into Tres Marias lead
MORELIA, Mexico, May 1 (UPI) -- Ai Miyazato of Japan carded a 2-under 71 Saturday to forge a one-shot lead after three rounds of the Tres Marias Championship in Mexico.
Miyazato pushed past Michelle Wie and Brittany Lincicome to grab the lead, finishing 54 holes with a 13-under 206. The Japanese star took her first LPGA victory last year at the Evian Masters and is ranked No. 5 in the world.
Wie (73) and Lincicome (72) faltered down the stretch. Both notched a pair of bogeys during their last four holes in giving up the lead.
The pair were one shot back at 12-under 207, while Stacy Lewis (69) and Na Yeon Choi (71) were knotted for fourth at 11-under 208.
Lorena Ochoa, the Mexican favorite who is making her final appearance before retiring, carded a 70 and was in contention three shot backs at 10-under.
