Weekend Rap

Cherie DeVaux made history as the “first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby” with Golden Tempo’s victory on Saturday. DeVaux said, “By doing this, I am inspiring other young women, and that, I am proud of” (Louisville COURIER JOURNAL, 5/2). DeVaux is just the second female trainer to win any Triple Crown race after Jena Antonucci with Arcangelo in the 2023 Belmont Stakes. DeVaux won the Derby in her first opportunity, eight years since starting her own stable. She is just the 18th woman to “saddle a horse in the Kentucky Derby” (AP, 3/2).

Florida Panthers owner Vinnie Viola is a co-owner of Golden Tempo. This is the second Kentucky Derby win for the Viola family and their St. Elias Stables after Always Dreaming in 2017 (FLORIDA HOCKEY NOW, 5/2).

Total commingled wagering on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby fell 3% “compared to record betting on the race last year.” Total betting on the race, including all linked wagers ending in the Derby, was $215.97M, down $6.6M from the record total of $222.60M last year. It was the “first time in the last five years that wagering fell on the race.” For the entire 14-race card, total commingled betting was $331.1M, down 1.8% “compared to last year’s record” commingled handle of $337.1M. Churchill Downs reported that attendance on Saturday, a “relatively cool day for May, was 150,415.” Last year, the track reported attendance of 147,406 (DAILY RACING FORM, 5/2).

CDI said that it expects Derby week adjusted EBITDA to “be a record” with $15M to $18M of “adjusted EBITDA growth compared to last year.” The company had said that this year’s Derby “benefited from renovations of The Mansion overlooking the finish line and the Finish Line Suites.” Derby week handle was $487M, “up 3% from last year’s record” $473.9M. Combined all-sources handle of $429M was “up 1% from last year’s record” $422.9M for both the Kentucky Oaks and Derby days. For the first time ever, the Kentucky Oaks was run in primetime on NBC (BLOODHORSE, 5/2).

With rain in the forecast for Sunday in the Miami area, the PGA Tour Cadillac Championship “changed the schedule in the hopes of crowning a winner” on Sunday. But moving up play also forced President Trump to “change his schedule if he wants to see any of the golf being played on his course,” Trump National Doral. Trump was “scheduled to arrive on the course at 3 p.m.” and “be at the event late in the afternoon.” The rain is expected to “last throughout the day and into the night” (PALM BEACH POST, 3/2). Accuweather in its Sunday forecast for Miami calls for a 97% chance of precipitation and 58% chance of thunderstorms (SBJ).

The Cadillac Championship is the “first PGA Tour event at one of Trump’s courses since the WGC-Cadillac Championship in 2016,” also at Doral. Trump’s expected arrival on the course during the afternoon means he “likely would stay for the trophy ceremony” (PALM BEACH POST, 3/2).

Meanwhile, the start of Sunday’s F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix will now be 1pm ET instead of 4pm, with the race “moved up three hours in hopes the 57-lap event can get in before the worst of afternoon thunderstorms hits Miami Gardens” (MIAMI HERALD, 5/3).

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Waymo has a new sponsorship deal with the F1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, as the autonomous driving brand from Google parent company Alphabet ramps up marketing and rolls out its vehicles around the country.

This weekend marks the fifth running of the race that takes place around the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium, and event organizer South Florida Motorsports is also putting on its first free fan fest in downtown Miami. When SFM first announced the fan fest at the end of March, it listed Waymo as among the brands participating in the event. However, while no formal announcement has been made about a wider sponsorship, Waymo has signage displayed on a portion of the racetrack.

It comes as the company is competing with the likes of Tesla and Zoox to roll out autonomous vehicles across the country. Zoox, which is a subsidiary of Amazon, is already in F1 as a sponsor of the Atlassian Williams Racing team.

Waymo is not listed on the F1 Miami website where it shows its partners, but a spokesperson for the race confirmed that the brand is one of its sponsors for this weekend’s edition without elaborating.

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- New Apple CEO John Ternus is not just a fan of motorsports, but he is also an amateur racer, something that could bode well for F1 as the global auto racing series looks for a seamless transition with the outgoing Tim Cook.

The technology giant is in the first year of its new media rights relationship with F1, and it’s gone into overdrive to signal that it sees the series as a key partner and understands the need to give it mass exposure. That’s particularly important given that F1 is now completely off linear TV in the U.S., but a CEO change always brings about the potential of a shift in priorities and the risk that certain prior initiatives could be de-emphasized.

However, not long after Apple announced Ternus would replace Cook as CEO, iRacing executive producer Steve Myers quoted an X post about a graduation speech Ternus gave a few years ago with the comment: “Makes sense that he is an @iRacing fan!” While it’s not clear if Ternus is an iRacing subscriber, a person familiar with Apple’s inner workings confirmed to SBJ that Ternus is a racing fan.

This weekend in Miami, Apple Senior VP/Services Eddy Cue shed further light on Ternus’ racing fandom during a Q&A with reporters.

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- MotoGP has held discussions with F1 Miami organizer South Florida Motorsports about whether it would be possible to put on a motor bike race at the circuit, according to people familiar with the matter.

It’s the latest indication of how intent the Liberty Media-owned series is about expanding its presence in America. However, it is not known whether SFM would be able to reconfigure the circuit in a way that would make it safe enough for motorbikes to compete at the Miami International Autodrome (the name of the track that surrounds the Dolphins’ Hard Rock Stadium), one of the people said.

MotoGP races just once in the U.S. annually with its Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, where it has competed since 2013. The series has said publicly that it is open to adding another race in America, but finding a proper circuit has been challenging because the tracks it races on typically need to have huge run-off areas where crashing riders can slide to dissipate their energy and prevent serious injuries.

Liberty is intent on deploying its F1 playbook into MotoGP. The series controversially decided to strip the Australian Grand Prix from a classic race course and move it to a street race in the city of Adelaide starting next year. That underscores how Liberty is working to find creative ways to get MotoGP into more urban settings versus racing at far-flung classic circuits in rural areas.

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The Seidler family has “entered into a definitive agreement for transfer of control of the Padres” to a group led by Clearlake Capital co-founder & Managing Partner José Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones. Feliciano will serve as the “control person of the Padres once the sale is finalized.” But he and Jones will “run the team as a partnership.” Their purchase of about 40% of the Padres is a “‘personal investment’ that is meant to be in their control for generations.” The Seidler family’s control will “likely come to an official close at the next scheduled meeting of MLB owners in June.” Late Padres Chair Peter Seidler’s trust “held the largest stake in the Padres at 24%.” Other members of the Seidler family “owned a combined stake of approximately 25%.” It is the trust’s portion that “makes up the bulk of what Feliciano and Jones are buying” (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/2).

The Big Ten announced a $1.37B “distribution to its 18 member schools for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.” Each school will receive $72M, though Washington and Oregon will earn “reduced shares as the conference’s newest additions.” It’s the “largest distribution in league history” and a $490M increase from last FY. The distribution “reflects the first full year of the Big Ten’s new TV deal, plus added shares for Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon’s appearance” in the expanded 2024-25 CFP (USA TODAY, 5/1).

The total distribution was $340M higher than the $1.03B announced by the SEC in February. The Big 12 reported $460M in overall revenue in its most recent available tax return. Former Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany totaled $5.82M in “bonuses and deferred compensation” plus $600,000 in “consulting fees” as part of his retirement package. Delany retired on Jan. 2, 2020. Current Commissioner Tony Petitti reported “more than” $4.5M in compensation (THE ATHLETIC, 5/1).

Univ. of Missouri AD Laird Veatch inked a “three-year extension,” which means he is now “signed with the university until June 2032.” Veatch will “get a $450,000 pay raise” under the terms of the extension. He will now earn $1.75M per year, which is “spread across base salary, non-salary compensation and deferred compensation.” The deal is worth $10.5M “in its entirety.” That is the same payment structure as his original contract, which started when he was first hired in May 2024. This is Veatch’s first contract extension since becoming Mizzou AD in 2024 (Columbia DAILY TRIBUNE, 5/1). The announcement comes on the two-year anniversary of Veatch’s first day as Mizzou AD. Since his arrival, Veatch has “led a transformation for the athletic department” (COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN, 5/1).

Veatch at Mizzou’s ‘Zou to You’ caravan stop on Wednesday in St. Charles said that his department has “no plans to discontinue any programs.” Veatch said, “We’re fortunate to be in a situation where that is not a consideration for us.” Several athletic departments have “cut their tennis programs in recent weeks,” with the decisions coming as schools face “increasingly tighter budgets in the current collegiate landscape” (Columbia DAILY TRIBUNE, 5/1).

The Maple Leafs are “expected to hold a media conference on Monday to announce the hiring” of former NHLer Mats Sundin and former Coyotes GM John Chayka to join the team’s front office. The Maple Leafs are “interested in hiring” Sundin as VP/Hockey Operations and Chayka as GM. Sundin has “never held an NHL front-office role previously.” Chayka was Coyotes GM from 2016 until he resigned in 2020. He was suspended from the NHL for the 2021 calendar year after “pursuing job opportunities with other teams without permission from Arizona” (SPORTSNET.ca, 5/3).

In Toronto, Steve Simmons wonders if Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley can “get anyone to believe in John Chayka as the next GM” at this “low point in Maple Leafs history.” Many people in hockey “think of Chayka as being something of a fraud.” Simmons: “How do they sell Chayka to a doubting fanbase? They can soften his hiring by putting Mats Sundin in charge. ... Sundin makes us happy. Chayka makes us wonder” (TORONTO SUN, 5/3).

A plane flew over Fenway Park on Friday during Red Sox players’ pregame drills with a “banner that read, ‘FIRE CRAIG! SELL THE TEAM!’ in red letters,” referring to Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. The plane flew around the ballpark for “over an hour, but was gone long before” the club’s scheduled 7:10pm ET first pitch. The flyover was “commissioned by the online sports betting company Underdog, whose logo was also on the banner.” Underdog “created the banner and sent it to Fitchburg, where a plane was commissioned to fly from Fitchburg Municipal Airport to Fenway and back” (BOSTON HERALD, 5/1). Friday’s game was the first at Fenway since Breslow’s “purge of the coaching staff.” “Sell the team!” chants were “heard throughout the ballpark in April” (MASSLIVE, 5/1).

Versant has “sold the assets of SportsEngine to Playmetrics,” part of a strategy to “refine its holdings and focus more closely on different types of assets.” Financial terms of the transaction were not revealed. SportsEngine “provides technology and services tied to team and tournament management of youth sports.” Versant is “honing in on properties related to business news and personal finance; political news and opinion; golf; and sports and genre entertainment.” Versant execs signaled in March that they were “interested in exploring alternatives for SportsEngine” (VARIETY, 5/1).

Broadcaster Jason Benetti was profiled on NBC’s “Sunday Today” on Sunday, with the net’s Willie Geist noting Benetti has “climbed the ladder from local radio to the big leagues” over the past 20 years and now serves as the voice of both the Tigers and NBC’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” NBC’s Anne Thompson notes Benetti is “perfecting a style delivering fun … and humor” while overcoming cerebral palsy. Benetti said, “I was always fearful of two things: not getting a job because of how I look and getting a job because of how I look.” Geist said, “He’s an inspiration, and also just a really good broadcaster” (“Sunday Today,” NBC, 5/3).

SBJ last month also profiled Benetti and detailed his rise to becoming one of the top broadcasters in the field.

The Mariners on Saturday retired Baseball HOFer Randy Johnson‘s No. 51. The ceremony at T-Mobile Park came 28 years after Johnson played his last game for the club. Johnson was the “most dominant pitcher in franchise history” and the “linchpin to the most improbable and important season” in Mariners history in 1995. Among those in attendance Saturday were former MLBers Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki, Jay Buhner and Felix Hernández (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/3). Mariners Chair John Stanton announced Saturday evening that a new statue of Johnson will be “unveiled outside the ballpark in 2027” (SEATTLE TIMES, 5/2).

76ers C Joel Embiid on Saturday made an “unprompted plea to Sixers fans,” imploring them to “keep their tickets and turn down the money from Knicks fans” looking to buy tickets to the Eastern Conference semifinals at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Embiid, during his postgame media session after the 76ers beat the Celtics in Game 7 of their first round series, said, “Last time we played the Knicks, it felt like this was Madison Square Garden East, so we gonna need the support. Don’t sell your tickets. This is bigger than you. We need you guys.” Fans created a “raucous environment” at Xfinity Mobile Arena for Game 6 against the Celtics, and Embiid is “hoping for a similar experience against the Knicks” (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 5/3).