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As noted in this space last week about the strongly run Breeders Cup Juvenile by Classic Empire and Not This Time, there is much optimism for this years class of 2-year-old males. More encouraging signs came Saturday in stakes victories from Mastery and Gunnevera.Mastery, a most eye-catching debut winner at Santa Anita just two weeks before the Breeders Cup, won the Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar, a springboard to the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity on Dec. 10. Mastery was supposed to win the Bob Hope. He was 1-5. So it says something about Mastery that he also managed to impress.Mastery absolutely toyed with runner-up California Diamond through the stretch run of the Bob Hope. The official win margin was 1-1/4 lengths, but it would have been significantly larger if Mastery had been asked to run. The thing that was most striking about the stretch run of the Bob Hope, however, was the contrasting profiles of the two protagonists.California Diamond might not be the second coming of Hindoo, but he had seven starts before Saturday; he won five, four of which were stakes, including three straight stakes scores. California Diamond had all the seasoning that Mastery lacked, and yet Mastery performed through the stretch as though hes been doing this racing thing forever.If there is one caveat regarding Masterys victory Saturday, it was that the pace he set was slow -- in fact, the slowest of the five main-track races on the Del Mar card -- and by a significant margin. But there are a couple of points that might mitigate the slow fractions. For one, even though he was in front, Mastery still shut himself off, which I take as a strong indicator that he will successfully rate off the early lead.The other consideration is how Mastery finished. If he didnt finish well after that slow pace, then there wouldnt be nearly as much to get excited about. But Mastery went his seventh and final furlong in 11.61 seconds, which is fast, and strongly suggests stretching out will be no issue for him.Gunneveras win in the Delta Downs Jackpot was more of an in your face performance. He lagged early off a fairly strong but contested pace, and overwhelmed his field with a move at least five wide on the far turn that eventually carried him to the lead and then on to a near six-length romp.Gunneveras Delta Jackpot was flashy, but it is important to put his effort in some context. Gunnevera was the only member of the 10-horse field to have won a graded stakes race (he won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August), and he was also the only one in the field to have prior Grade 1 stakes experience (he finished fifth in Keenelands Breeders Futurity in his most recent outing).That said, one of the several things to like about Classic Empire even before he won the Breeders Cup Juvenile is he won the Breeders Futurity despite stretching out to two turns for the first time in his first representative start in three months; Im not counting his Hopeful appearance, when he wheeled coming out of the gate as the favorite as a representative outing. It should be noted that Gunnevera was in a similar position when he ran in the Breeders Futurity.The Breeders Futurity was Gunneveras first start in two months, and it was also his first start around two turns. He wasnt able to overcome those hurdles the way Classic Empire did. Gunnevera was put to a heavy drive on the far turn at Keeneland, yet he gave a little ground and position through the Breeders Futurity stretch run. But while that says Gunnevera has quite a bit of improving to do before he can be considered on the same level as Classic Empire, the outing in the Breeders Futurity worked perfectly for Gunnevera in the context of the Delta Jackpot.Unfortunately, the 2-year-old filly division this year hasnt been as compelling as the juvenile males has been, but that may begin to change after the smashing victory from Shanes Girlfriend in the Delta Downs Princess Stakes one race before the Jackpot.Shanes Girlfriend, a romping if surprising (she was 8-1 in a field of nine) debut winner at Santa Anita late last month, shipped and stretched out for the Princess, and ran off to score by just over 13 lengths. Now, it must be noted that there was not one graded stakes winner among the nine opponents she crushed Saturday, yet I still feel Shanes Girlfriend upstaged Gunnevera.The Princess was run at a mile, the Jackpot was at 1 1/16 miles; thats close enough to make pace comparisons. When you do, youll find the Princesss pace was faster to the first quarter (23.06 to 23.18) and substantially faster to the three-quarter mark (1:11.71 to 1:12.52). Shanes Girlfriend did what she did being right on top of that faster early pace, a pace that was actually the strongest sustained pace (emphasis on the word sustained) all day at Delta, and all day at Delta Saturday was 11 races.And for the record, Shanes Girlfriend completed her mile in 1:37.98. Gunnevera got his mile in 1:38.64. Yes, I know Gunnevera had another sixteenth to go after that mile split, but he certainly wasnt speeding up late, even if he was drawing away.Vapormax Weiß Fake . Calgary scored on the first shift, and Michael Cammalleri scored twice as the Flames cruised to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. Nike Vapormax Deutschland . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. http://www.vapormaxschuhe.de/ . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Nike Vapormax Off White Günstig Kaufen . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Nike Vapormax Günstig Kaufen . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race.Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow led an England fightback after the hosts slipped to 83-5 on day one of the first Investec Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley. Hales (71no) and Bairstow (54no) added 88 for the sixth wicket to take England safely through to tea on Thursday on 171-5, after Dasun Shanaka (3-30) - on Test debut - took three wickets in the morning session, and James Vince and Ben Stokes fell soon after lunch.No further play was possible in the evening session, with rain ending proceedings early.Dasun Shanaka celebrates the dismissal of England captain Alastair Cook Earlier in the day, Alastair Cook fell for 16, leaving him still 20 runs short of becoming the first Englishman to 10,000 Test runs.The England captain chased a wide ball, edging Shanakas seventh delivery in Test cricket through to Dinesh Chindimal behind the stumps. It was the first of three wickets to fall for two runs, as Shanaka added the strikes of Nick Compton - in the same over - and Joe Root for ducks.England had worked hard on their way through to 49-0 deep into the first session, having being put in to bat by Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews after winning the toss.But Shanaka came on third change and the Sri Lanka seamer turned the game in a two-over spell, with Cook and Root drawn into driving at full-wide deliveries and Compton nicking to first slip third ball when prodding forward.Hales battled through to 38 not out at lunch, while Vince - on Test debut for England - looked to counter after the interval, driving Shaminda Eranga (1-34) for two boundaries in the second over.Alex Hales impressed on day one at Headingley, notching his second Test fifty But in Erangas next over, Vince looking to repeat the shot, sent another edge through to the slips to depart for nine.ddddddddddddBen Stokes (12) looked to show similar aggression, smashing Eranga for three straight fours later in the same over, but his cameo lasted only eight balls before chipping Nuwan Pradeep (1-26) to Mathews at mid-on.England obviously still felt the best form of defence was to attack, and Hales brought up his second Test fifty with a streaky back-foot drive behind point for four, while Bairstow benefited from some short balls as Sri Lankas attack strayed from a fuller length sensing a weakness.Jonathan Bairstow hits out on his way to fifty at his home ground of Headingley The plan backfired and Bairstow raced through to a 60-ball half century, although he was given out lbw to Mathews when on 40, but successfully reviewed the decision with the ball sliding down leg.The Yorkshireman made the most of the reprieve, skipping down the pitch to launch Rangana Herath for a straight six soon after, and then reaching his fifty in Mathews next over.By tea, the momentum was with England, and though no play was possible in the evening session, Hales and Bairstow resume their unbroken 88-run stand on Friday morning.Watch live coverage from day two of the first Test between England and Sri Lanka at Headingley, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10.30am on Friday. You can also catch highlights from day one at 8pm on Sky Sports 3, with The Verdict following immediately after at 9pm. ' ' '