Off the wire

HORSE RACING

Mylute set for Preakness

Mylute will run in the Preakness Stakes, giving Rosie Napravnik a chance to become the first female jockey to win the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. Trainer Tom Amoss said he talked with Mylute’s owners, and they decided to take on Kentucky Derby winner Orb on Saturday at Pimlico. Mylute finished fifth in the Derby, giving Napravnik the highest finish by a woman rider in that race. It’s a return home for Napravnik, who began her riding career at Pimlico in 2005. “Get your PREAK ON baby I’m coming home ;-) I promise you there is no other jockey who wants to win the (hash)Preakness more than me! MYLUTE” she wrote on her Twitter account before adding: “Ok maybe Rosario. But I bet it’s just been added to his list recently haha” The reference was to Joel Rosario, who will be aboard Orb.Amoss said Mylute will travel to Baltimore on Wednesday. The decision to run was made after Mylute jogged a mile and galloped two miles over a muddy track at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Other Preakness candidates at Churchill Downs galloped on Saturday, including Departing, Governor Charlie, Oxbow, Will Take Charge and Titletown Five.

Rafael Bejarano won the first race aboard Ondine at Betfair Hollywood Park, giving the jockey his 3,000th career victory. Ondine won by 3¾ lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday. Bejarano leads the jockeys’ standings at the spring-summer meet, where he won the riding title last year. “Nobody can get to 3,000 that easy and I’m really honored to be here,” Bejarano said. The 30-yearold jockey from Peru rode his first winner in his first race Dec. 8, 2001, at Hipodomo de Monterrico in Lima. Bejarano has won 571 races at Hollywood Park, where he first began riding in 2007.

Freedom Child easily won the$200,000 Peter Pan Stakes, the traditional prep race for the Belmont Stakes, by 13 ¼ lengths in the slop Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. “Hopefully, this might lead us to the Belmont,” said trainer Tom Albertrani said. Freedom Child lost his shot at the Kentucky Derby after a disastrous break in Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial, where the stewards ruled he did not get a fair start. “We thought we were set to run well in the Wood; we just had a little bit of bad luck,” said Terry Finley, president of part owner West Point Thoroughbreds. Freedom Child made the wait worthwhile. After a sluggish start, Luis Saez hustled Freedom Child to the front and the outcome was never in doubt the rest of the way. Freedom Child paid $9.20, $5.80 and $5.10 for his second win in six starts. Thetime was 1:49.09 for the 1 1/8 miles. Saint Vigeur was a distant second, returning $6.90 and $5.40. Go Get the Basil paid $8.60 to show.

TENNIS Nadal reaches final

Rafael Nadal reached his seventh consecutive final since returning from a knee injury, brushing aside wild-card entry Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-4 at the Madrid Open on Saturday. Nadal had little trouble extending his winning streak in clay-court semifinals to 46 matches, quickly finishing his overmatched countryman after winning the first six games. The Spaniard will play Stanislas Wawrinka after the 15th-ranked Swiss recovered late to defeat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Serena Williams and MariaSharapova will meet for the No. 1 ranking and the women’s title after winning semifinals in straight sets. The top-ranked Williams will have a chance to win her 50th title after beating Sara Errani of Italy 7-5, 6-2. No. 2 Sharapova earned her 500th victory at all levels after defeating Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-3. Sharapova has won all 10 sets she has played on Madrid’s outdoor red clay court. Williams, however, boasts a 12-2 record against the Russian. After a skittish start, Williams dominated Errani and broke her final service game in both sets.

AUTO RACING Carpenter has fast lap

Ed Carpenter jumped to the top of the speed chart late Saturday afternoon and finished with the fastest lap of the day during the Indianapolis 500’s first practice session. Carpenter, the stepson of former Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George, finished the 2.5-mile oval going 220.970 mph. Another American, Josef Newgarden, was second-fastest at 220.920 while rookie Carlos Munoz of Colombia was third at 220.720. Five drivers topped the 220 mark in tough conditions. It was unseasonably chilly, breezy and mostly overcast, slowing speeds that could reach 230 mph when qualifying begins next weekend. Practice is scheduled to resume today. Three newcomers, including Munoz, passed their rookie tests.

Antron Brown raced to the Top Fuel victory Saturday at the weather-delayed NHRA Southern Nationals at the Atlanta Dragway. Brown earned his second victory of the season and his fifth win at the Georgia dragstrip, powering past Brandon Bernstein in the final round. Brown covered the distance in 3.801 seconds at 321.25 mph, while Bernstein lost traction at the start and finished in 7.105 at 90.64 mph. Johnny Gray (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) also were winners at the NHRA Drag Racing Series event.

SOCCER Wigan upsets Manchester in FA Cup final

LONDON - As blue-andwhite confetti exploded under the Wembley arch, Wigan players lifted a trophy for the first time in the club’s 81-year history.

In one of the biggest FA Cup final upsets, a team playing nonleague football 35 years ago and assembled for barely $30 million beat big-spending Manchester City 1-0 on Saturday.

Winning English football’s showpiece match was not only a reward for Wigan Owner Dave Whelan’s investment in the small northern club, but it completed his unfinished business from the 1960 final.

After breaking a leg playing for Blackburn at the old Wembley, Whelan’s career ended at the age of 23 and he started amassing the wealth that enabled him to ultimately finance Wigan.

“The dream has come true,” Whelan said. “I’m repaid for 1960 when I broke my leg and we lost the match.”

The game was drifting into extra time - and City defender Pablo Zabaleta had just been sent off - when substitute Ben Watson planted a header from Shaun Maloney’s corner into the net in the 90th minute.

Watson had only just returned to action after recovering from a broken leg.

“It’s been a long six months for myself and it’s been a dream, coming on in an FA Cup final and scoring the winner,” Watson said.

But there was no champagne for the Wigan players after the match. Now they will try to avoid the dubious distinction of being the first FA Cup winners to be relegated in the same season. Wigan is in the drop zone with just two rounds remaining, three points from safety.

“We’ve got two massive games now to stay in the league, and if we perform like that we’ll be all right,” Watson said. “We crack on again tomorrow.”