Drosselmeyer upsets Breeders' Cup Classic
LOUISVILLE, Ky., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Drosselmeyer capped a day of upsets at the Breeders' Cup World Championships Saturday, winning the $5 million Classic with a late rush.
Long shots also filled the second and third spots in the Classic, leaving such favorites as Uncle Mo, the great filly Havre de Grace and former Australian champion So You Think well in their wake.
Drosselmeyer went to the post at odds of 14-1 and won with a stretch move down the middle of the track. Game On Dude, also 14-1 with Chantal Sutherland up, led late and finished second. Ruler on Ice, dispatched at 17-1, was third.
"He was coming off his best race of the year," said winning trainer Bill Mott, referring to Drosselmeyer's second-place finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. "We were taking a chance. We knew there would be a good pace up front and we knew he could get the distance."
The winning jockey, Mike Smith found some redemption for last year's Classic when his mount, Zenyatta, was unable to catch Blame in an historic stretch battle. Saturday's win was his 15th in the Breeders' Cup World Championships, tying him with Jerry Bailey.
"Last year I was devastated. To come back and win today is just amazing," Smith said.
"Even though he was far back early, he was happy and I was confident we could get there," Smith said of Drosselmeyer. "He wants every bit of a mile and a quarter."
Report: Boxer Joe Frazier near death
NEW YORK, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Former heavyweight champion "Smokin'" Joe Frazier was at death's door with liver cancer, the New York Post reported Saturday.
Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper said Frazier, 67, was in hospice care "in serious shape" and has only a short time to live.
Frazier was at his peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he fought Muhammad Ali in three memorable heavyweight bouts, one of which he won -- held March 8, 1971, in Madison Square Garden.
The best-remembered of the three was the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila." In that fight in the Philippines, Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, stopped the event after the 14th round with Ali ahead on points.
Frazier lost to George Foreman in a five-round technical knockout in his following fight, held the next June.
Frazier, a member of boxing's Hall of Fame, finished with a 32-4-1 professional record with 27 knockouts.
Frazier also took home the gold medal from the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.
Slugger Jim Thome returns to Phillies
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Prolific slugger Jim Thome has agreed to a one-year contract to return to the Philadelphia Phillies, the team announced Saturday.
Thome, who has 604 career homers -- eighth on the all-time list -- began last season with the Minnesota Twins and was dealt to the Cleveland Indians at the trade deadline.
The 41-year-old left-handed hitter belted 15 home runs and drove in 50 over 93 games between the two clubs.
The first baseman had previously played for the Phillies from 2003-06. He reached the 400-homer plateau during a game in Philadelphia against the Cincinnati Reds in June 2004.
"We're very happy to be able to bring Jim back to Philadelphia at this point in his career," Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He will be an option for [Manager Charlie Manuel] to use off the bench each night and brings a great attitude to the ballpark every day."
NHL commentator Cherry declines degree
KINGSTON, Ontario, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Flamboyant NHL commentator Don Cherry won't accept an honorary degree from the Royal Military College of Canada, the school said Saturday.
Cherry, 77, backed out after at least one member of the faculty on the Kingston, Ontario, campus expressed unhappiness about the decision to give him an honorary doctorate, Postmedia News reported.
The military college's senate had voted to give him the honorary sheepskin for his efforts in support of the Canadian armed forces and charitable activities.
College administrators issued a release Saturday saying it had "received with regret, but with complete understanding, Mr. Don Cherry's personal decision," the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Cherry, widely known for his "Coach's Corner" segment of CBC's "Hockey Night in Canada" broadcasts, has been controversial at times, including derogatory comments he has made about French-Canadians, the CBC said.
Cherry said he won't attend the Nov. 17 ceremony because it wouldn't be fair to the other two inductees, the late Brig.-Gen. John Cadieux and Lt. Col. John Gibson, Postmedia said.
"It would be a circus down there," Cherry said on his show. "The other two guys are great guys. I'm sorry I can't be there."
Catherine Lord, a French professor at the college, sent an open letter to the Kingston Whig-Standard, criticizing the awarding of an honorary degree to Cherry.
"On many occasions he publicly expressed his contempt for many groups of the Canadian population, notably for the French-speaking Canadians, for the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] community and for the immigrants," Lord said in the letter.
"What message will RMCC send, in celebrating Don Cherry, to the students coming from these groups? And what will the Canadian people remember from RMCC, as a serious and prestigious institution?"
