Heating up1. Stellar Wind I dont want to go overboard based on a single performance by a filly already with an Eclipse Award on her résumé, but when Stellar Wind put away Beholder in the stretch of the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Saturday it cemented her credentials as a truly elite racehorse. She outfinished a three-time champion and a two-time Breeders Cup winner and earned her second career Grade 1 win. The other Grade 1 win came in the Santa Anita Oaks, which was restricted to 3-year-old fillies. Sure, she finished second in the 2015 Longines Breeders Cup Distaff, but horse racing, and sports in general, are about victories ? and this was a heck of a Grade 1 victory over a future Hall of Famer. Stellar Wind earned a career-best 108 Equibase Speed Figure and improved upon a runner-up finish to Beholder in her 2016 debut, which marked her first start in more than seven months. Not every racehorse gets better with age, but Stellar Wind looks even better at 4 than she did as champion 3-year-old filly in 2015.2. Exaggerator Exaggerator is who we thought he was: an incredibly consistent racehorse who really competes (almost) every time he steps on the racetrack and absolutely relishes a muddy track. But by defeating Nyquist in the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes for the second time in four starts this year, Exaggerator positioned himself as arguably the leader in the race for the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. Theres no doubt an equally compelling case can be made for Nyquist, but right now theyre locked in a duel that figures to go right down to the wire. Equally important, in my opinion, was that Exaggerator rebounded from the first real dud he had run since his career debut in June 2015: when he finished 11th of 13 in the Belmont Stakes. For a runner who had finished in the top three in nine of 10 races entering the Belmont and had not been beaten by more than three lengths, the Belmont (beaten by 14 lengths) was a true head-scratcher. Its probably safe to draw a line through that race now as the result of a taxing Triple Crown trail. If you do that, you find a racehorse who recorded an Equibase Speed Figure between 103 and 108 in seven races (not counting the Belmont) since November 2015. Thats consistency.Tie 3. Lord Nelson and A. P. Indian I STRONGLY considered Laoban for the third spot, but he had everything his way in a breakthrough win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes and I want to see him do it again before I climb on board his bandwagon. Instead, I landed on a pair of sprinters that I had a difficult time separating: Lord Nelson and A. P. Indian. It looks Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has found the comfort zone for Lord Nelson in sprints after trying to stretch him out on multiple occasions in 2014 and 2015 to find out if he was a contender for the U.S. Triple Crown races. He closed his 3-year-old season with a third behind eventual champion sprinter Runhappy in the seven-eighths of a mile Malibu Stakes that was better than it looked on paper. Hes won all three of his starts in 2016 while exclusively sprinting, including a powerhouse four-length runaway in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 31 at Del Mar that gave him back-to-back Grade 1 wins and a new career-best 119 Equibase Speed Figure. Likewise, A. P. Indian has yet to taste defeat this year. After winning his season debut via disqualification, A. P. Indian scored a repeat win in the Donald Levine Memorial Stakes at Monmouth Park and earned his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes. He then dusted the competition in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on July 30. Hes earned Equibase Speed Figures of 112, 113, 119 and 117 in four starts this year, so hes not only fast, hes consistent. With 2015 champion sprinter Runhappy yet to start a race this year, the TwinSpires Breeders Cup Sprint and the sprint division itself look wide open, which presents a golden opportunity for both Lord Nelson and A. P.Cooling down1. Creator Neither of the top two finishers from the Belmont Stakes delivered an especially inspiring performance in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes, but to me the most surprising dud came from Creator. Aside from his 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, which was due in large part to a very troubled trip, Creator had run consistently well dating to his breakthrough first career win in February at Oaklawn Park. That stretch of races included Grade 1 wins in the Arkansas Derby and Belmont Stakes. I expected a strong performance from Creator in the Jim Dandy. While it was pretty clear that the pace setup was not ideal for a closer with only one speed horse in a short field, I still expected Creator to be doing his best running late and pass a few horses in the stretch to at least finish in the top three. But he didnt really run a step in the Jim Dandy and finished last of six. For a horse who looked like he was really coming into his own, the Jim Dandy was a step in the wrong direction for Creator.2. Beholder Before you become consumed with rage at my Beholder heresy, hear me out. I dont think Beholder ran a bad race on July 30 in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, her place in history is not jeopardized and I absolutely think she rebounds with a huge race in her next start. She simply got beat by a better filly when second in the Hirsch, but I never expected to type those words. Coming into the race, I was convinced Beholder was the best racehorse in training in the United States. I thought shed repeat against males in the TVG Pacific Classic Stakes and she was my pick to win this years Breeders Cup Classic. This loss to a member of her own division (older female) came as a complete shock; I just didnt think there was a female racehorse in the U.S. capable of beating her. Shes still a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I can no longer make an argument for her as the best racehorse in training in the U.S. -- that is California Chrome -- and she might be just as likely to end up in the Longines Breeders Cup Distaff as the Classic this fall. This was a tough cooling down capsule to write for one of my all-time favorites, but I dont think she was anywhere close to her best in the Hirsch and we should see the powerhouse weve come to expect in her next start.3. Flintshires Competition I really struggled with this one. I couldnt take Nyquist because hes only lost twice and, like his other defeat, the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes fourth-place finish on Aug. 1 came on a sloppy track. Sure, hes now lost back-to-back races, but until I see him lose on a fast track, Im reserving judgment. Same goes for Gun Runner ? as soon as the rain forecasts turned to reality I thought he had no shot in the Haskell. I dont think he wants any part of a sloppy track. While watching the Jim Dandy, I was disappointed that Destin did not win when he looked like he had every chance at the top of the stretch, but it was an oddly run race and he did run a career-best 111 Equibase Speed Figure in his first start since the Triple Crown trail. So, my other biggest takeaway from the weekend of racing was that other U.S.-based turf horses are in deep trouble when it comes to facing Flintshire. To quote Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T) from Rocky III, I pity the fool that has to face Flintshire this fall. The opposition did everything in its power to take him off his game in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes on July 30, slowing the pace down to a crawl and keeping him boxed in along the rail, but when it came time for the sprint to the finish, Flintshire was in a class to himself. Hes got two lifetime Equibase Speed Figures for U.S. races -- a 131 for his runner-up finish in the 2014 Longines Breeders Cup Turf and a 132 for his Sword Dancer Stakes win in 2015 -- that place him in a group by himself among U.S. based turf runners when hes on his game. I cant see any way he loses on U.S. soil unless an elite runner makes the trip over from Europe. Otherwise, everyone else in the division is running for second when Flintshire is listed among the entries.For more stories like this check out Americas Best Racing. Dylan Bundy Jersey . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Zach Britton Jersey . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. http://www.theoriolesteamshop.com/Orioles-Jim-Palmer-Kids-Jersey/ . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Brad Brach Jersey .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. Roberto Alomar Jersey . I cant pinpoint a date, but I do remember a player from my youth. Brian Downing was with the Chicago White Sox at a time when I listened to every game I possibly could on the radio. That particular season the late great Harry Caray was calling the White Sox games. Three baseball cards stand apart as the unquestioned most iconic pieces of cardboard ever printed: the 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, the first card whose print run was cut short and whose value soared into the millions; the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie, the true beginning of baseball cards as a piece of Americana; and the 1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. rookie, the No. 1 card in the first card set that signaled the beginning of baseball cards as an investment.Given the place that these three cards hold in baseball history, it is baffling that the Baseball Hall of Fames 12-card display on Ken Griffey Jr.s wall, unveiled over the weekend, didnt include the 1989 Upper Deck card.Among the cards included were two unrecognizable cards in the top row, followed by his 1992 Studio card (which collectors never really cared for) and his Topps rookie debut card -- which didnt draw much interest because after Upper Deck, his Donruss and Fleer rookie cards commanded the most attention.The second row features an Upper Deck card from 1990 and another Upper Deck card at the end that is -- wait for it -- a checklist. Huh?The last row is a caricature card from a Score set, and then three more random cards.Thinking that there had to be some strange reason why Griffeys 1989 Upper Deck card wasnt included, I contacted the Hall of Fame to see if they could assist.The design of this exhibit, as with all our exhibits, comes from our curatorial and exhibitions teams, wrote Hall of Fame spokesman Jon Shestakofsky in an e-mmail.dddddddddddd. In this case, the determination of which cards to display was based purely on the visual aesthetic of the wall display as a whole, with cards chosen solely on the basis of the imagery. There was no singular reason not to include the 1989 Upper Deck card, or any other particular card.Translation: The cards were chosen based on how they looked, not based on how important they were in history.Thats fine for other players. Its not fine for Ken Griffey Jr., who -- as any baseball fan between the ages of 35 and 45 knows -- was the object of affection for the golden age of the baseball card.And Ken Griffey Jr.s 1989 Upper Deck card was the real-life version of a golden ticket. We didnt leap for joy in card shops or in our homes when we pulled a 1992 Ken Griffey Jr. Studio card. And I certainly couldnt tell you before I saw this display what Griffeys 1990 Upper Deck card looked like -- unlike its predecessor, whose image is seared into my head for all time.In every museum, I understand there are certain pieces that make it because of how they look. But its time to take Griffeys1989 Upper Deck card and go to a copy shop and blow it up and place it on that wall as soon as possible. Because any fan who has a clue knows that the omission of this card compromises the whole display.To take it a step further, to keep the display as is would be an embarrassment. 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