Canada Sports News

Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open Masters-level tennis tournament Tuesday with an impressive 6-4, 7-5 win over fifth seed Casper Ruud of Norway.

1. Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Boston Bruins – Game #5 Preview, Projected Lines & TV Info  Maple Leafs Hot Stove
2. Leafs, Bruins knotted after first period in Game 5  TSN
3. NHL Reveals Start Time For Possible Game 7 Stanley Cup Playoffs Game Between Maple Leafs and Bruins on Saturday  The Hockey News
4. bet365 Daily Bets: Maple Leafs vs. Bruins O5.5 and Domi/Wood shot prop parlay.  Daily Faceoff
5. Bruins vs. Maple Leafs picks and odds Game 6: Bet on Boston to end the series in Toronto  Toronto Star

At Saturday’s running of the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, a Canadian father and daughter horse-breeding duo is once again hoping to see one of their homegrown colts make it into the winner’s circle.

Langley, BC native John Gunther, along with his daughter Tanya, own and operate Glennwood Farm in Versailles, Kentucky. The 350-acre property is considered a “boutique breeding operation” in the thoroughbred world and has become well known for raising championship horses, such as 2018 Kentucky Derby winner ‘Justify’ and 2019 Breeder’s Cup Classic champion ‘Vino Rosso’.

When the 20-horse field enters the starting gate in Louisville for what many call “the greatest two minutes in sports”, the Gunthers will have yet another homebred being showcased on the global stage. ‘Grand Mo The First’ has qualified for the Kentucky Derby as a “late entry” following scratches to multiple horses the last few weeks. Despite seeing the colt having longshot morning line odds of 50-1, Gunther knows anything is possible once the horses hit the track.

“There are some very tough horses in there and it will be very competitive,” Gunther said this week from his home about 30 minutes outside of Vancouver. “I liked the way ‘Grand Mo The First’ ran in both the Tampa Bay Derby and Florida Derby, which are both run on tricky tracks. I think he may run better at Churchill on a better dirt surface as he’s just coming into his own.”

Those prep races Gunther alluded to saw ‘Grand Mo The First’ finish third place in both, helping him earn a total of 40 qualifying points for Derby weekend. Since its debut running at Gulfstream Park in August of last year, the three-year-old has been raced six times, posting two victories & four straight third-place finishes — good enough for earnings more than $214,000 US. Gunther feels his homebred leaving from post position No. 16 may not be amongst the early leaders on Saturday but could easily find itself closing strong down the final few furlongs.

“I think there’s going to be quite a bit of speed in the race and [looking at his previous races] he will definitely be a closer coming well off the pace,” adds Gunther. “If there’s going to be a horse that can close from behind, he’s certainly capable of getting on the board.”

‘Grand Mo The First’ is not the only horse the Gunther family will be cheering on at Churchill Downs on Derby week. Friday’s main event is the Kentucky Oaks, one North America’s top races for three-year-old fillies. ‘Leslie’s Rose’ was bred at Glenwood and has run just four times under Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. Three of those races have been wins, including a convincing performance in early April at the Ashland Stakes at Keenland.

“She’s probably one of the best fillies we’ve ever bred,” Gunther says of ‘Leslie’s Rose’ who is the second betting Oaks favourite at 4-1. “Having a couple of our horses run in these major races in the United States can hopefully make it a great feeling for fellow Canadian fans of the sport.”

The Gunther family has been in the horse racing industry on both sides of the border for decades, but they rose to prominence seven years ago when their homebred ‘Justify’ not only won the Kentucky Derby but went on to become just the 13th winner of the Triple Crown series (winning both the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes afterwards). Having retired from racing that year, the Hall-of-Fame horse has since sired numerous thoroughbreds on other farms, including two entries in this year’s Derby field (‘Just Steel’ and ‘Just A Touch’) as well as the Oaks (‘Just F Y I’).

“Once again, I can thank my daughter for putting Glenwood Farm on the map,” Gunther says. “Tanya worked in investment banking in London, England for 10 years before leaving to pursue her passion of breeding horses. ‘Justify’ is turning out to be an international sire at the highest level. It’s all been amazing just thinking about that horse and what it’s accomplished for us.  

“It’s really something special to have another one of our horses get into the starting gate at the Kentucky Derby,” says Gunther, whose family has now bred seven horses to run in the event over the last two decades. “Now if we can breed a Kentucky Oaks winner, that would really be icing on the cake.”             

Worth noting …

— ‘Fierceness’ was a champion juvenile in 2023 and will get plenty of attention running over the 1-and-¼ mile distance Saturday. Having earned more than $1.6 million for owner/breeder Mike Repole, ‘Fierceness’ is the early betting favourite with odds of 5-2. Hall-of-Fame jockey John Velazquez will be in the saddle searching for his fourth Derby win.

— ‘Sierra Leone’ is expected by many to make a strong case to finish in the winner’s circle. Having won back-to-back Derby prep races, the colt earned 155 qualifying points, the most of any horse in the race. Chad Brown trains ‘Sierra Leone’ and is searching for his first ever Kentucky Derby victory.

— If ever a horse based outside of North America had a shot at winning the Derby, it could come in the form of ‘Forever Young’. Bred in Japan and trained by internationally renowned horseman Yoshito Yahagi, ‘Forever Young’ is a perfect 5-for-5 in his career. Holding morning line odds of 10-1 and coming off back-to-back wins earlier this year at the Saudi Derby and UAE Derby in Dubai, ‘Forever Young’ is the only undefeated horse in this year’s field.

— Trainer Brad Cox will have three separate entries set to leave the starting gate in Saturday’s race. The Louisville native has ‘Catching Freedom’ which earned the third most qualifying points for this year’s Derby, as well as ‘Just A Touch’ and ‘Encino’. Cox’s horses have already surpassed over $7.9 million US in winnings in 2024, making him the second-leading trainer in North America.

1. L'ECHL approuve la vente des Lions de Trois-Rivières  La Presse
2. La vente des Lions de Trois-Rivières officialisée par l'ECHL  Radio-Canada.ca
3. Lions : le renouvellement d'entente avec le Canadien au sommet des priorités  Le Nouvelliste
4. Les Lions officiellement vendus  Mon Victo
5. Les Lions rendent les armes dans un match ponctué de violence  La Voix de l'Est

1. Masters 1000 de Madrid: Félix Auger-Aliassime élimine l'un des meilleurs joueurs au monde  Le Journal de Québec
2. Tournoi de Madrid | Auger-Aliassime défait Ruud, Shapovalov perd en double  La Presse
3. Un coup de chance pour Félix Auger-Aliassime: il passe en demi-finale du Masters 1000 de Madrid... sans jouer  TVA Sports
4. ATP : Félix Auger-Aliassime se défait de Casper Ruud et affrontera le favori Jannik Sinner  RDS
5. Félix Auger-Aliassime cause une surprise au tournoi de Madrid  98.5 Montréal

With much fanfare, the UFC had finally returned to Canada for UFC 289 in Vancouver following the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought with it nearly four years of absence from the Great White North.

As I walk through the Westin Bayshore and see many familiar faces, one of them stands out. He is a gawky-looking fellow who is around my height with deep-set eyes and an appearance that resembles Steve Carrell paired with the drowsy facial expression of Jeremy Allen White’s character Carmine from The Bear.

His name is Steve Erceg and he has reason to appear drowsy, having accepted a fight against then-10th ranked flyweight David Dvorak on eight days’ notice and with all of his previous fights taking place in his native Australia, he has travelled nearly 15,000 kilometres to do so, with a 15-hour time difference to boast.

This was not a fight that Erceg needed to accept to get his shot in the UFC, as he had already signed a contract roughly four months prior after impressing UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, a fellow Australian, who attended his victory over Soichiro Hirai at an Eternal MMA event in his hometown of Perth. However, Erceg did not shy away from the opportunity, regardless of the lack of time to acclimatize.

“Obviously, there are nerves and those sort of things associated with it,” Erceg told Sportsnet. “I was excited for the opportunity and when I got to the hotel, it was eye-opening how much the UFC really does for the athletes.”

At UFC 289, Erceg rose to the occasion, defeating Dvorak, capturing the attention of UFC CEO Dana White and earning a Performance of the Night bonus without scoring a finish, which is a rarity in the world of UFC post-fight bonuses.

“That kid came in and fought a top-10 guy, didn’t finish, but what a badass performance by him, let me give him $50,000, too, because he’s a stud,” quipped White following Erceg’s promotional debut.

Since then, Erceg continued his globetrotting fighting lifestyle, with trips to New York City, where he defeated Alessandro Costa at Madison Square Garden last November, paired with a statement knockout win over another ranked opponent in Matt Schnell in Las Vegas at the beginning of March.

Two weeks after his win over Schnell and just 279 days after winning his UFC debut, Erceg found himself in a very fortunate position.

Pantoja, who had been adamant about competing in his home country, which he had not done since 2013 (when Erceg was just 13 years old), was in need of an opponent for UFC 301, taking place in Rio de Janeiro in May.

Few of the fighters in the flyweight top 10 made sense. Pantoja had just beaten the top-ranked Brandon Royval in his last title defence, former champion Brandon Moreno was coming off a loss to Royval and announced a hiatus from competition, and everyone else was either booked, injured, had missed weight for their previous bout or had not impressed in their last outing.

“The guy from Australia is really good,” Pantoja told Sportsnet in Miami before UFC 299. “It’s a good fight. I knocked out Matt Schnell in the first round, he did it in the second one, maybe it’s a good option for the UFC.”

Shortly after the cameras stopped rolling, Pantoja told me that Erceg would likely be next and, soon thereafter, it was announced that Erceg, a relative newcomer to the promotion, got the call to headline UFC 301 as his opponent.

Erceg will compete for the championship under a set of circumstances that we have not seen in the last 15 years of the UFC, earning a title shot in a men’s division in less than a year without having fought for a major international promotion or having achieved accolades in another combat sport.

He will also do so as the 10th-ranked contender and, historically, those circumstances have not fared well for those ranked outside of the top five since the UFC implemented its rankings system in 2013.

Should Erceg capture the championship on Saturday, it would be a truly special story.

A fighter who was on barely anyone’s radar outside of Australia one year ago, who sparred with his father in their backyard before fighting professionally to prove to him that he was tough enough to compete in mixed martial arts, who continues to train at Wilkes Martial Arts and Fitness Academy, a small family gym in Perth and ranked near the bottom of the divisional rankings, pulling off the upset in his opponent’s home country would be stranger than fiction.

Now, having logged about 115,000 kilometres in travel in less than a year, it has been a short journey to the championship in duration, but a long journey in travel and Erceg is ready to rise to the occasion.

“I’m here to take on all challenges and prove that I’m the toughest guy in the world,” Erceg said.

As Erceg’s walkout song “You Don’t Mess Around with Jim” by Jim Croce preaches, every division has its bad folks, but the baddest of them all is “Jim”, who they call the boss. That is until Slim enters Jim’s pool hall and proves that he’s the toughest guy, causing everyone to tell “a different kind of story when big Jim hit the floor.”

At UFC 301, when Erceg walks into Pantoja’s pool hall, figuratively speaking, we will find out whether Erceg is his Slim.

1. Board of Governors approves Trois-Rivières Transfer of Controlling Interest  ECHL.com
2. ECHL approves sale of Lions, new owners say they are committed to Trois-Rivieres  Sportsnet.ca
3. ECHL Approves Sale of the Trois-Rivieres Lions  The Hockey News
4. ECHL approves sale of Lions, new owners say they are committed to Trois-Rivières  Hamilton Spectator

1. Former Red Wings Draftee Takes Long Way Back to An NHL Team  Detroit Hockey Now
2. Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Former Detroit Red Wings Goalie  The Hockey News
3. Penguins re-sign forward Sam Poulin to two-year contract  Daily Faceoff
4. Penguins Sign Goaltender Filip Larsson to a Two-Year Contract | Pittsburgh Penguins  NHL.com
5. Penguins re-sign forward Poulin to two-year deal  TSN

1. Séries LHJMQ | Une mention d'aide pour Tomas Lavoie, les Eagles remportent un premier match  Mon Joliette
2. Le Drakkar pousse les Eagles au bord du gouffre  Radio-Canada.ca
3. Séries LHJMQ : les Eagles gagnent 2 à 1 le match no 3 de leur demi-finale face au Drakkar  RDS
4. Le Drakkar remet les pendules à l’heure  journal le soir
5. Le Drakkar l’emporte dans le tumulte  Le Manic

1. Kraken Stars Threatened to Refuse to Play for Dave Hakstol Again, per Report  Sports Illustrated
2. The NHL coaching market is about to get spicy  Daily Faceoff
3. Kraken fires Hakstol after three seasons  TSN
4. Schwartz: Kraken Too Rarely Strung Good Periods Together  The Hockey News
5. How Sullivan, Cooper, Brind'Amour speculation may influence coaching market  Sportsnet.ca

1. LNH - Chasse au record de Wayne Gretzky : « c'est beaucoup, mais c'est possible », croit Ovechkin  RDS
2. Rondelle libre | Les Capitals balayés en quatre matchs : tout ça pour ça…  La Presse
3. LNH : Ovechkin dit toujours viser la marque de Gretzky  TVA Sports
4. Record de Gretzky : Ovechkin reste prudent | LNH.com  NHL.com
5. Aucun point pour Ovechkin | «On va lui trouver un nouvel ami: un bicycle stationnaire» -Dany Dubé  98.5 Montréal

1. «Casse-leur la gueule»: le message de Loukachenko aux sportifs bélarusses  TVA Nouvelles
2. Paris 2024 : le président biélorusse, Alexandre Loukachenko, appelle ses athlètes à "casser la gueule" de leurs adversaires  franceinfo
3. JO de Paris-2024 : "Va là-bas et casse-leur la gueule !" Le conseil musclé du président Loukachenko aux athlètes neutres de Biélorussie  L'Indépendant
4. Paris 2024 : "Casse-leur la gueule !" Alexandre Loukachenko exhorte ses sportifs à montrer qu'ils sont "de vrais Biélorusses" pendant les JO  LaDepeche.fr
5. JO 2024 : Loukachenko encourage les sportifs biélorusses qualifiés à "casser la gueule" de leurs adversaires  TF1 INFO

This is a big year for Canadian basketball star Aaliyah Edwards, from going to the NCAA Final Four with her UConn team, to being drafted in the WNBA, to representing Canada at the Paris Olympics this summer.

1. Bruins May Make Lineup Changes For Game 5  Boston Hockey Now
2. Did Jim Montgomery go too far with his Game 5 lineup changes?  The Athletic
3. Brazeau, Forbort “Options” to Return for Game 5 | Boston Bruins  NHL.com
4. 4 Boston Bruins Skaters Making Strides in Injury Recovery - Boston Bruins News, Analysis and More  The Hockey News
5. Jim Montgomery Explains Bruins Lineup Changes For Game 5  NESN