Die Macht » the last days of preseason camp,

How soon is too soon? Thats what the connections of Family Tree will find out Saturday night in the Grade 2, $200,000 Indiana Oaks at Indiana Grand.Family Tree just ran the best race of her career in winning the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks, but that race was scarcely more than two weeks ago, and Family Tree returns on short rest at morning-line odds of just 7-5.We entered, and were running, said Wayne Catalano, who trains Family Tree for Gary and Mary West. She came out of that last race extremely well.The Oaks, run over 1-1/16 miles on dirt, goes as the eighth race at 9:11 p.m. Eastern.Key ContendersMines and Magic, by Mineshaft Last 3 Beyers: 80-78-80Came from a mile back to finish fourth behind Airoforce in a Kentucky Downs turf sprint, her lone start at 2. Has a good, closing second at Keeneland and a pair of wins at Churchill since returning to the races this year.She got a bad infection in her hock out of her debut, and thats why she needed time, trainer Vicki Oliver said. She hasnt done much wrong since.Settled and finished in her maiden win two starts ago but last time was on a strong early pace due to her rail draw. This marks her first two-turn try, and Mines and Magic is bred to love it. Her sire, Mineshaft, won the 1-1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup, and her dam raced effectively at 1-1/2 miles.Shes very relaxed, very kind, Oliver said. I dont think shell have any problem with that.Dream Dance, by Afleet AlexLast 3 Beyers: 83-84-75Third behind Family Tree when last seen May 28 but was running back about three weeks after the Kentucky Oaks and might not have been at her best.Her top race this year, a second to Land Over Sea in the Fair Grounds Oaks, might be good enough to win this.We were toying with the Delaware Oaks but decided to stay closer to home, trainer Neil Howard said. Shes doing really, really well right now.Family Tree, by Smart StrikeLast 3 Beyers: 87-85-85Her participation in this race was sealed after a bullet half-mile work Monday at Keeneland.She worked extremely well, Catalano said.Appears to be better suited to racing with a target in front of her; twice she has been run down on the lead.With Florent Geroux riding in Delaware, Julien Leparoux picks up the mount.Emmzy, by EskendereyaLast 3 Beyers: 82-81-65Was a five-race maiden before trainer Bob Baffert finally stretched her out, and now the filly has won two in a row.It was so disappointing when I was running her short, Baffert said. I kept thinking she couldnt get beat.Was ridden out to victory last time but has gotten perfect trips in her two wins. Doesnt have the easiest way of going, could struggle to adapt to a quicker pace, and, like Family Tree, looms an underlay.Drew Robinson Jersey . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Ken Boyer Cardinals Jersey . Wall made the comment in a speech to a Regina business crowd that included Lesnar. The U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist says he was visiting his brothers farm in Saskatchewan and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-bob-gibson-jersey/ ., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., took sixth spot on Saturday in pairs at the NHK Trophy ISU Grand Prix figure skating competition. Matt Carpenter Cardinals Jersey . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Miles Mikolas Cardinals Jersey . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night.CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- During tackle Rob Bains first two seasons at Illinois, the defense he was part of lacked an identity.Statistically, it was the Big Tens worst in a number of categories, and a key reason the Illini won 10 games combined in 2013 and 14.Lovie Smiths best Chicago defenses were creators of chaos -- picking off passes, forcing fumbles and scoring points. Smith hopes some of that brand of NFL defense pays off at Illinois, where he will coach his first game Saturday against Murray State.That philosophy is distilled in one symbol hanging on the teams meeting room wall. Its a football on a spring, mounted on plaque that bears the words STRIP, PUNCH, YANK and, above them all, TAKEAWAYS.We talk a lot about takeaways, Smith said. Defensive players dont come through the doors unless they hit (the ball).For Bain, defensive identity starts with Smiths Tampa 2, essentially the same base defense the Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran when he was in charge of those teams and played by defensive legends like Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice and John Lynch -- players the Illini say they now regularly watch clips of. Bain says linemen will need to be disruptors, creating opportunities for the players behind them.When you have a defensive line, just a defense designed to constantly get pressure on the quarterback and put the offense in hectic situations, I think that its definitely a big advantage and benefit to the secondary, where they can kind of just sit back, see whats going on, he said. And theres more opportunities for them to make plays.Illinois defense has frequently been a liability the past few seasons.In 2013 and 2014 it was at or near the back of the conference in points given up, often leaving the Illini offense to try to outgun high-scoring opponents.Similarly, the Illini didnt create many turnovers those years, finishing with a minus-10 turnover ratio in 2013 and minus-3 in 2014.Last seeason was better, with 21 total turnovers, four more than the offense gave up.ddddddddddddBut at their best, Smiths Bears were turnover machines. The 2004 and 2005 teams both allowed fewer than 20 points a game. Between them those teams forced 63 turnovers and scored nine touchdowns over 32 regular season games.Through training camp, a lot of the talk among Illini players focused on Bain and the rest of the line: fellow tackle Chunky Clements and defensive ends Carroll Phillips and Dawuane Smoot. Between them they had 36.5 tackles for losses and 12.5 sacks, with eight of those sacks Smoots.They say they believe they can be one of the best lines in the country.After facing them in practice, Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt thinks theyre ready to create the kind of disruption Bain talked about.Were going against a great defensive line every day. When theyre in your face and its more game-like, youve got to react to it and get the ball out of your hands, he said.Late in one of the last days of preseason camp, a ball thrown to a cross-field receiver popped high in the air. A defender somewhere along the way got a touch with a hand or an arm or a helmet. From behind the end zone it wasnt clear what body part or even which defender was responsible in the mass of bodies swarming the ball.The ball came down and a defender pulled it in. It was one of those hectic moments Bain mentioned and the defense has the ball.More or less all defensive philosophies are the same -- everyones got to be accountable for their gaps, Bain explained. But I think this defense hones in especially on everyone running to the ball, the effort, the attitude, and everyone being playmakers.---Follow David Mercer on Twitter: (at)davidmercerAP---Online:AP College football: http://collegefootball.ap.org/ ' ' '