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Cupid broke from the rail and made a beeline for the center of the track. He raced wide on the first turn, wide on the backstretch, wide on the second turn, even wider through the homestretch. In other words, everything went according to plan in the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Saturday at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort. Cupid won by four lengths.It was obvious from early on the card that the Mountaineer main track had a deep, tiring rail. Trainer Bob Baffert could see it all the way across the country at Del Mar. Rafael Bejarano rode Cupid to his instructions.I told him hed better stay wide, Baffert said. He got him out there.Baffert likes to say hes been on the dirt-road derby trail this year. Maybe, but its a road with a gold shoulder. American Freedom won the $250,000 Iowa Derby, and Cupid captured the $500,000 Indiana Derby three weeks before taking down the $446,250 winners share of the West Virginia Derby purse.Cupid cost his owners, Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier, $900,000 at auction, but even though his 3-year-old campaign went awry in late spring and early summer, he now has earned more than $1.3 million.Cupid delivered one of the most impressive Kentucky Derby prep performances of 2016 when he won the Rebel Stakes in March, but he lost his air finishing 10th in the Arkansas Derby, and wound up having throat surgery rather than racing in the Kentucky Derby. His next race, a dull fourth in the Easy Goer at Belmont, was only a small step back in the right direction, but Cupid got back on track at Indiana Grand, and might have run even better Saturday.He was actually doing better coming into this race than the last one, Baffert said. Hes starting to fill out. His bodys getting stronger. Mentally, hes getting better. Hes an improving horse. That throat issue, we were lucky we jumped on that right away.Mo Tom and Economic Model were scratched from the race, and Economic Model looked like one of two entrants that might run early with Cupid. The other was No Distortion, and when he failed to show any early speed, Cupid was off to the races. Clear of his rivals, Bejarano steered right, sacrificing ground loss to get on the better part of the surface. Cupid went a quarter-mile in 23.57, a half in 47.97, three-quarters in 1:11.69, and turning for home wound up closer to the outside fence than the inner rail.We told Bejarano to stay off the fence, but man, Baffert said. The horse got a little lost way out there in the stretch.Indeed, Cupid ($5) for a brief moment appeared to be wandering, but Bejarano kept him to his task, and Cupid was much the best. He ran 1-1/8 miles in 1:50.54 while giving Baffert his third win in the West Virginia Derby. Whateverybodywants, a 74-1 shot, tracked the pace while racing fairly close to the rail and finished second, two lengths in front of Name Changer. Anaximandros was fourth, and Suddenbreakingnews, the 2-1 second choice, came from a distant last to finish a non-threatening fifth, two lengths ahead of third-choice Forevamo.Cupid, bred by JKG Thoroughbreds, is by Tapit and out of the Beau Genius mare Pretty n Smart. His career record now stands at 8-4-1-0. Baffert said the logical next stop for Cupid would be the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby in September at Parx Racing. Custom Arizona Cardinals Jerseys . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. Adrian Wilson Youth Jersey .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/kyler-murray-cardinals-jersey-yp/ . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- Trailing by nearly a point entering the final rotation and with his chances of a second Olympic all-around title very much in jeopardy, Japans Kohei Uchimura pondered what for the last seven years has been unthinkable.He thought about losing.I felt really close to admitting that it might be really difficult, Uchimura said.It was. It just wasnt impossible. Not for the greatest mens gymnast of all time. Delivering a fearless high bar with a gold medal on the line, Uchimura put all the pressure on Ukraines Oleg Verniaiev. And when Verniaievs routine minutes later ended with a small hop and an ever-so slight lean to the left on his dismount, Uchimura was back where he has always been while Verniaiev shrugged his shoulders.What are you gonna do? Its Uchimura. Maybe thats why Verniaiev couldnt stop smiling even though Uchimuras total of 92.365 was less than a tenth ahead of Verniaievs 92.266.I think this is really the coolest thing in the world, Verniaiev said. The very fact we can compete with him is amazing. Today we managed to put on an amazing show.One that ended the way it always has since Uchimura captured his first world championship in 2009: with Uchimura standing atop the podium with a gold medal around his neck and the Japanese anthem playing over the loudspeakers.This really was the trickiest for me, Uchimura said after becoming the first man in nearly 50 years to repeat as Olympic champion.Looked like it. Verniaiev led from the second rotation on, answering every time it seemed Uchimura was ready to take over. When Uchimura drilled a 15.566 on vault, Verniaiev responded with a 15.5. Verniaievs precise parallel bars routine -- his body pencil straight as he pressed into a handstand, his legs seemingly duct taped together -- put him up by .901 points heading into high bar. When Uchimuras high-flying set ended with a stuck landing and a 15.8, Verniaiev needed a 14.9 to win Ukraines first all-around Olympic title.Instead, he got a 14.8. And he seemed kind of pumped up about it.Im quite happy I managed to make Kohei very nervous, Verniaiev said with a laugh.Max Whitlock earned Great Britains first all-around medal in 108 years by taking bronze, just ahead of Russiias David Belyavskiy.dddddddddddd American Sam Mikulak recovered from a fall on vault and finished seventh. Chris Brooks finished 14th, capping a memorable rise through the qualifying process to make his first Olympic team at 29.Really, though, the night belonged to Verniaiev and Uchimura. Their two-hour duel provided the closest call in Uchimuras run of two Olympic crowns and six world all-around championships.Theres only the tiniest gap, a 0.1 gap, Uchimura said. I really have no confidence I should say, that I can beat Oleg.Verniaiev equated Uchimura to the gymnastics version of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, territory the ever gracious Uchimura shied away from immediately.Everybody in the world knows these names, he said. But Kohei Uchimura? Who is this man? I dont think Im well known in the world.Theres time. Uchimura will take a break following the Rio Games but has no plans to retire. The next Summer Olympics are back home in Tokyo. The opportunity to finish things off in front of his fellow countrymen and his daughter will be far too attractive to pass up.By then my daughter would be old enough so that I really hope I will be able to show her what her father can do, he said.Heres the answer: pretty much whatever he wants.Uchimura arrived in Rio as the overwhelming favorite to back up the all-around gold he won in London four years ago. Yet he stressed repeatedly the only thing that mattered was the team gold. That triumphant moment happened Monday when Japan soared to victory.While Uchimura was exulting in triumph, Verniaiev was just warming up. Ukraine qualified for the team final but basically gave up when Maksym Semiankiv couldnt participate in the finals because of an injury. Rather that put in a replacement athlete to fill in for Semiankiv, Ukraine instead just entered two athletes instead of three, dooming whatever medal chances they had.Verniaiev shrugged off the decision and insisted his team did not tank on purpose so he could prep for the all-around.We never blew a single contest, he said, calling it a silly and unpredictable situation. ' ' '