Off the wire

FOOTBALL

Goodell wants to hear from QB

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said it’s his responsibility to hear directly from New England quarterback Tom Brady in his appeal of his four-game suspension in the deflated footballs case. Goodell said Wednesday that he has not had time to study a request from the players’ union that he recuse himself from the appeal because he has been focused on the spring owners meetings. Goodell said he wants to hear directly from Brady about his role in the use of underinflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game.

The family of the late Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson has decided not to appeal the potential $1 billion settlement of NFL concussion lawsuits. Chicago lawyer Thomas Demetrio said the family doesn’t want to hold up awards for retirees who need them sooner rather than later. Demetrio has criticized aspects of the plan, especially the exclusion of future awards for the brain trauma found in Duerson and other former players after their deaths. The NFL could pay out $1 billion over 65 years for player awards, medical care and medical monitoring. A federal judge in Philadelphia has approved the settlement. But at least one other planned appeal could keep it on hold.

Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez is set to be arraigned today in Boston on a charge he tried to silence a witness in a double murder case by shooting him in the face. He was convicted last month in the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, who was dating his fiancee’s sister. The former tight end also faces two murder counts in Boston in a 2012 double slaying that prosecutors say happened after a drink was spilled in a nightclub. Hernandez was indicted this month on a witness intimidation charge related to those killings. In a separate hearing today, Lloyd’s mother, Ursula Ward, will go before a judge in New Bedford to ask for a preliminary injunction barring the sale of Hernandez’s Hummer. Ward has sued Hernandez, and her lawyers have been trying to track down his assets. The Hummer turned up for sale in a used car lot this month.

New York Giants starting left tackle Will Beatty is going to be sidelined up to six months after tearing a pectoral muscle, a person with knowledge of the injury told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team plans to not discuss the injury until today. The source said Beatty was injured lifting weights Tuesday. He was expected to have surgery Wednesday. The source said the recovery time frame is 4 to 6 months.

MOTOR SPORTS

5 headed to NASCAR Hall

Speedway Motorsports executive chairman Bruton Smith and two-time Sprint Cup champion Terry Labonte head up the newest group of five headed to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The others selected to the hall’s seventh class are drivers NASCAR drivers Curtis Turner and Bobby Isaac. Modified series champion Jerry Cook was the final pick for the hall. Smith’s company owns eight tracks that host NASCAR events, including Charlotte Motor Speedway, site of this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. The fiery Smith forged his company in competition with International Speedway Corporation, owners of 12 tracks that host the majority of Sprint Cup races. Labonte, known as “Texas Terry,” won 22 races and NASCAR titles in 1984 and 1996. Turner ran in NASCAR’s first strictly stock race in 1949 and had 17 victories.

HORSE RACING

Vanderbilt, Whitney elected

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who bred Native Dancer among his 77 stakes winners and was instrumental in helping thoroughbred racing gain exposure on television, and John Hay Whitney, an owner, breeder and leader of the sport for more than 50 years, have been elected posthumously to the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame. Vanderbilt, who operated Pimlico Race Course and Belmont Park at the same time in the 1940s, also brokered the famous match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in the Pimlico Special in 1938 and a few years later presided over New York’s transition from bookmakers to parimutuel betting. Whitney inherited a control of Greentree Stable in 1944 with his sister, Joan Whitney Payson, and their previously separate racing and breeding endeavors were combined under the Greentree banner. The best horse Whitney ever owned was Tom Fool, who won all 10 of his races as a 4-year-old in 1953.

HOCKEY

Maple Leafs hire Babcock

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Mike Babcock as their new head coach. The team announced Wednesday that Babcock will be introduced at a news conference this morning. Babcock spent the past 10 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, where he won the Stanley Cup in 2008. His contract with Detroit expired at the end of June but the Red Wings had given him permission to negotiate with other teams. The Leafs must send a third-round pick to Detroit as compensation. The Leafs fired Randy Carlyle in January, and replaced him on an interim basis with assistant Peter Horachek.

TENNIS

Warinka advances

Top-seeded Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland outlasted Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round of his home Geneva Open tournament Wednesday. Wawrinka needed a single break of service to win the opening and deciding sets, though faltered with his own first serves in losing the second set. In today’s quarterfinals, Wawrinka will play 74th-ranked Federico Delbonis of Argentina, who beat Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-3, 6-4. Third-seeded Pablo Andujar of Spain rallied from losing the first set to beat Adrian Mannarino of France 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2. Benjamin Becker, the fourth-seeded German, lost to Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (2), 6-2. Sixth-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Jurgen Melzer of Austria.

HORSE RACING

American Pharoah’s breeding rights sold

Win or lose the Belmont Stakes, Triple Crown hopeful American Pharoah is expected to keep racing for the rest of the year.

At least that’s the plan owner Ahmed Zayat laid out Wednesday after confirming the sale of breeding rights of his Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to Coolmore Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky.

The value of the deal was not disclosed, but even before the announcement Zayat’s son, Justin, said the family had been inundated with offers, some for more than $20 million.

American Pharoah, currently at Churchill Downs in Louisville, will be a heavy favorite to win the Belmont on June 6 and become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. The colt has won six consecutive races after a career-opening loss, was voted 2-year-old champion and has earned $3,730,300 on the track.

Zayat may be optimistic about running his horse after the Belmont, but there are no assurances in racing. With so much money at stake at the breeding shed, Zayat could easily reconsider the risk-reward of continuing to race — especially if American Pharoah wins the Belmont.

At the start of 2016, Coolmore will call all the shots and Zayat’s take is the 3-year-old would be retired.

“It’s unlikely he would race again [after this year],” Zayat said. “The values are too insane. It’s just not economically feasible to continue.”

Zayat said he will retain an interest in American Pharoah after he is retired, as he does with many of his stallions.

The breeding rights to Affirmed sold for $14.4 million in 1979. Based on that figure and adjusting for inflation, American Pharoah’s value could be around $40 million.

Since American Pharoah is still racing, stud fees have yet to be determined. The colt’s sire, Pioneerof the Nile, is at WinStar Farm in Versailles and stands at $60,000 per live foal.

Upcoming Events