Tess Quinlan

Carmouche to be 1st Black jockey in Kentucky Derby since ’13

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Long before Kendrick Carmouche started riding horses growing up in Louisiana, Black jockeys were synonymous with the sport.

Black riders were atop 13 of the 15 horses in the first Kentucky Derby in 1875 and won 15 of the first 28 editions of the race. Everything has changed since: Carmouche on Saturday will be the first Black jockey in the Kentucky Derby since 2013 and is just one of a handful over the past century.

Carmouche is now one of the few remaining Black jockeys in the U.S. Much like Marlon St. Julien in 2000, Patrick Husbands in 2006 and Kevin Krigger in 2013, his presence in horse racing’s biggest event is a reminder of how the industry marginalized Black jockeys to the point they all but disappeared from the sport.

“As a Black rider getting to the Kentucky Derby, I hope it inspires a lot of people because my road wasn’t easy to get there and I never quit,” Carmouche said. “What I’ve been wanting all my career is to inspire people and make people know that it’s not about color. It’s about how successful you are in life and how far you can fight to get to that point.”

Carmouche is a success story in his own right. He is the son of a jockey who has won more than 3,400 races and earned $118 million since beginning to ride professionally in 2000. He came back from a broken leg three years ago and set himself up for his first Kentucky Derby mount by riding 72-1 long shot Bourbonic to victory in the Wood Memorial on April 3. Bourbonic will leave from the 20th post in Saturday’s race at Churchill Downs.

He’s also a rarity in a sport now dominated by jockeys from Latin America.

“Obviously there haven’t been many in recent decades, but if you go back to the early years of the Derby, the late 1800s, early 1900s, Black jockeys dominated the Kentucky Derby,” NBC Sports analyst Randy Moss said. “Guys like Isaac Murphy and Jimmy Winkfield.”

Carmouche joins St. Julien as the only U.S.-born Black jockeys in the Derby since 1921, which was even then long after the era dominated by Murphy, Winkfield and others.

Chris Goodlett, a historian at the Kentucky Derby Museum, cited a combination of Jim Crow laws and segregation in the U.S., intimidation by white riders and decisions by racing officials, owners and trainers for the decline of Black jockeys in the early 20th century. One example was white counterparts riding Winfield into the rail at Harlem Race Track outside Chicago and injuring him and his horse.

“Consequently, white trainers and owners would be (more) reluctant to ride Black jockeys on their horses due to instances like that,” Goodlett said. “We see it also just from an administrative point of view, as well: fewer licenses being issued to Black jockeys, sometimes not issued at all.”

Brien Bouyea, communications director for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, said many Black jockeys left for Europe because of better working conditions and never returned. Manny Ycaza came from Panama and blazed a trail for Latin American jockeys, who used riding schools and other factors that changed on-track demographics.

Along the way, participation by Black people in the Kentucky Derby ebbed and flowed with significant contributions along the way, including grooms Will Harbut with Man O’War in 1920 and Eddie Sweat with Secretariat in 1973 and trainer Hank Allen with Northern Wolf in 1989. Harbut’s great grandson, Greg Harbut, co-owned 2020 Derby runner Neckar Island and helped found the Ed Brown Society, named after the 19th century Black jockey and trainer to further diversify racing.

Husbands was well-aware of his unique place in history when he rode Seaside Retreat in the 2006 Derby and feels a connection to Carmouche this year because “the stepping stone that he’s doing for his culture is the same stuff I was trying to do for my culture.”

Knowing the history of Black jockeys, Husbands is inspired by Carmouche’s journey.

“When I saw the interview with him two years ago, it bring water to my eyes in terms of how his wife is white, he’s Black and he’s a little bit scared of his kids on his streets,” Husbands said. “It brought me home because he said in this interview that no racetrack was being prejudiced to him. … Now he’s coming in to ride in the Kentucky Derby. It’s like he’s shining a light out there.”

Husbands said Carmouche becoming the first Black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby since 1902 “would be a blessing. It would bring tears to a lot of people’s eyes.”

The usually talkative and confident Carmouche paused several times trying to put into words what it would mean to follow the footsteps of jockeys like first Derby winner Oliver Lewis, Winkfield and Murphy.

“From my perspective, if I win this race, man, it would touch a lot of people,” Carmouche said. “A lot of people will be crying, a lot of people will be happy and a lot of happy tears.”

Watch the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 from 12 to 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Full coverage is also available on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

WNBA postpones game between Storm and Lynx due to COVID-19

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BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) The opener of the WNBA playoff series between the Seattle Storm and the Minnesota Lynx was postponed nearly 90 minutes before its scheduled tipoff Sunday because of inconclusive COVID-19 test results for Storm players.

The players with inconclusive results have undergone additional testing and are in isolation, according to the WNBA.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was at the hotel when she found out about the inconclusive results and boarded the Storm’s bus to let them know.

“We needed more testing and data,” Engelbert said in a TV interview. “As soon as I talked to them they were concerned about health and safety, and it wasn’t about basketball at that point.”

The Lynx already had arrived at the arena and some of the players had been warming up when they were told the game was postponed.

“This is the hardest part of COVID-19 of putting on live sports,” Engelbert said. “Every day you’re reset to zero. Keeping the bubble safe and making sure there’s no community spread. The purpose of testing program and protocols is to pull anyone out before they are infectious.”

The league didn’t immediately announce when Game 1 of the best-of-five semifinal series would be played. Game 2 was scheduled for Tuesday night.

“We want to make sure we have all the data and testing if someone is affected with COVID,” Engelbert said. “We can isolate them and take care of their safety. Hopefully we’ll get good data over the next 24 to 48 hours. Hopefully get back on the court for Game 1 on Tuesday. We will test them tonight and have additional testing on those players that had inconclusive results.”

Engelbert, along with players’ union head Terri Jackson, went into the Connecticut locker room after the Sun’s semifinal series win over Las Vegas to tell the players about what had happened.

“None of us knew what was going on of course,” Connecticut coach Curt Miller said after his team’s win. “Cathy came and spoke to our teams. We’ve done a great job of keeping COVID out of our bubble. I hope these are false positives. The thing that is concerning is the multiple positives.”

The commissioner also talked to the Las Vegas coaches about it. The Aces had gone through an inconclusive test result in the regular season; Lindsay Allen had to miss a game because of one.

Las Vegas coach Bill Laimbeer said in a postgame interview that the league had sent an email to the four teams still playing to outline the potential problem of inconclusive positive results.

The WNBA made it through the regular season with a few false positive tests for the coronavirus, but no players developed COVID-19 once the season started. The season is being played inside a bubble environment at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

“The Storm organization fully supports the decision to postpone the game. The health and safety of the WNBA players, team staff and all those involved in the production of this season remains our top priority,” Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel and CEO and general manager Alisha Valavanis said in a statement.

Everyone inside the bubble has been tested for the virus every day.

“You have to follow your gut and instinct and data and science,” Engelbert said. “Everything has worked in the bubble because we followed the science. We had players miss games in the regular season. This was the right thing to do today.”

Typhoon stops All Blacks’ RWC run, and Italian farewells

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TOYOTA, Japan — At times it felt like only a force of nature could stop New Zealand’s streak of wins at the Rugby World Cup. And that’s what happened.

The threat of Typhoon Hagibis forced Rugby World Cup organizers in Japan to cancel two pool games scheduled for Saturday, including the Pool B match between the defending champion All Blacks and Italy in Toyota.

That ended New Zealand’s perfect record in the group stage.

The three-time champions had won all 31 of their pool games dating to the first tournament in 1987. New Zealand had also won 17 straight games at the World Cup, playoffs included, before Thursday’s announcement by organizers.

Hagibis may be a blip for New Zealand’s World Cup — it still qualified for the quarterfinals and is still the favorite — but organizers warned it’s the most powerful typhoon Japan has seen this typhoon season. It has the same force as a Category 5 hurricane.

Hagibis “is highly likely to cause considerable disruption in the Tokyo, Yokohama and Toyota City areas throughout Saturday,” rugby’s governing body said, warning fans there to stay indoors.

The England-France Pool C game in Yokohama on Saturday was also canceled and other games on Sunday might be affected.

Japan’s World Cup had no contingencies for pool games that couldn’t be played on the day they were scheduled. No provision for a postponement and no chance of being played at another venue. The rules mean the game is called a scoreless draw and both teams get two log points. It’s the first time any Rugby World Cup games have been cancelled.

The All Blacks will get over it.

After all, they still finish top of Pool B, as expected. New Zealand still has the playoffs and an attempt at a third straight World Cup title and fourth overall ahead of it.

Coach Steve Hansen had no issues with the game being called off for safety reasons.

“Clearly, this is our biggest tournament. So, is it frustrating? Of course it is but the reality is we can’t control the weather,” Hansen said. “Do we charge on and put people’s lives at risk or do we lead and make a decision that’s around making sure people are safe? It’s a no-brainer.”

Italy had a sliver of a chance of going through to the quarterfinals if it beat the defending champion for the first time in its history. No one was expecting that, though, and it wasn’t forefront in Italian players’ minds in Toyota.

Instead, Italy was sad it couldn’t give veterans Sergio Parisse, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Alessandro Zanni fitting farewells after their long service to the team.

No. 8 Parisse, the captain, has played 142 tests, breaking the record for a northern hemisphere player in the Azzurri’s last game at the World Cup against South Africa. He is the second most-capped player ever behind New Zealand World Cup winner Richie McCaw. The 36-year-old Parisse said he was going to retire after the World Cup and was keen to go out against the world’s best team in Toyota.

Hooker Ghiraldini, who is 34, had to struggle to recover from a bad knee injury to make Italy’s squad and was due to be given his first action in Japan against New Zealand. It was to be in recognition of his 13 years and more than 100 tests of commitment in the front row.

O’Shea described “horrible” disappointment among his players. Ghiraldini reportedly shed tears after a training session when news broke that the game against New Zealand had been canceled.

“I’m not saying we would have beaten them, but you want to finish on the pitch,” O’Shea said. “Anything can happen and you’re very emotional especially for Leonardo Ghiraldini, who missed his last chance to play in an Italy jersey, and to hear that your international career is finished after training is tough to take.

“These guys have given their lives to Italian rugby and their World Cup has ended on the training pitch, when it should be on the playing field.”