ARCADIA, Calif. -- Gary Stevens had never won the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic in his long career. Kathy Ritvo came close a year ago with Mucho Macho Man only to settle for second. The veteran jockey and the trainer who got another chance at life after a heart transplant in 2008 teamed up with the hard-knocking horse to win by a whisker Saturday. Mucho Macho Man edged Will Take Charge in a photo finish decided by a nose, making Ritvo the first female trainer to win North Americas richest race at a Breeders Cup that began tragically with the death of a horse in the first race. "I didnt know the photo was as close as it was," said Stevens, who was 0-for-14 in the Classic. Stevens capped his comeback at 50 in stellar fashion, surviving a photo finish in the Classic after winning the $2 million Distaff with Beholder on Friday for a sweep of the biggest races at the two-day world championships at Santa Anita. Ritvo became the fifth female trainer to win a Breeders Cup race and got to celebrate a year after seeing Mucho Macho Man finish second by a half-length to winner Fort Larned. "Thrilling," she said. First, though, Ritvo had to sweat out the results. Mucho Macho Man stretched his neck to hold off Will Take Charge, trained by 78-year-old Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. "I was just hoping he got it," Ritvo said. "When I saw Gary shake his stick, I was confident. He ran a fantastic race." Game On Dude, the 8-5 favourite who was 5-0 this year, finished ninth on his home track for trainer Bob Baffert and co-owner Joe Torre, the retired Dodgers and Yankees manager. Baffert had an up-and-down day. His filly, Secret Compass, broke her leg in the opening Juvenile Fillies race and had to be euthanized. Then he won two races before Game On Dude lost as the favourite for the second straight year. "When I saw him going real fast on the backstretch, I knew I was in trouble," he said. "Then when Mike (Smith) asked him, there was nothing there. You always feel bad when you get beat, but I feel worse for the horse." Fort Larned wound up fourth. Mucho Macho Man ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.72 and paid $10, $4.60 and $3.60 as the 4-1 second choice. The victory likely earned him champion older male honours and may get him consideration for Horse of the Year honours, which Game On Dude could have wrapped up with a win. Current Horse of the Year Wise Dan repeated in the $2 million Mile, winning by three-quarters of a length under Jose Lezcano, a late replacement for Velazquez. He paid $3.60 to win as the 4-5 favourite. Will Take Charge returned $7.20 and $4.80. "Its just a heartbreak that he lost," said Lukas, who won his only Classic in 1999 with Cat Thief. "He did everything right. The jump after the wire we got him." Declaration of War was another head back in third and paid $4.80 to show. Stevens and Mucho Macho Man started moving on the outside around the stretch turn and went after the leaders. They got in front coming out of the turn for home, with Stevens urging the 5-year-old Mucho Macho Man on with a right-handed whip. "They give me a free roll around the far turn," he said. "I think that might have been the winning move." Ritvo, a 44-year-old mother of two, waited six months for a new heart in 2008. Mucho Macho Man first put her in the national spotlight two years ago when he ran in all three Triple Crown races, including third in the Kentucky Derby. "Kathy Ritvo is one of the most underrated trainers in the thoroughbred industry," said Finn Green, racing manager for Mucho Macho Mans owners Dean and Patti Reeves. Lukas put Stevens on Oxbow in the Preakness in May, and they won. "Gary is riding in a zone," the trainer said. "I think we jump-started him in the Preakness pretty good." Last Gunfighter was fifth, followed by Palace Malice, Paynter (trained by Baffert), Flat Out, Game On Dude, Moreno and Planteur. The 30th Breeders Cup got off to a troubling start, with a rare disqualification in the opening race and Secret Compass euthanized because of a broken leg. The $2 million Juvenile Fillies went from strange to tragic over several minutes. The DQ was announced after a green screen went up in a spot approaching the final turn to shield injured Secret Compass from the crowd. "When you lose a horse like that, it just took all the wind out of our sails," Baffert said. "Ive never had something like that happen on a big day. Were all still in shock." John Velazquez, who rode Secret Compass, had emergency surgery to remove his spleen after internal bleeding was discovered shortly before he was to be released from a Pasadena hospital. Ria Antonia finished second but was declared the winner of the 1 1/16-mile race after Shes a Tiger was disqualified by the stewards. They ruled that Shes a Tiger and Stevens drifted out late, bumped Ria Antonia and Javier Castellano, slowing her momentum. It was the first DQ of a winner since the inaugural 1984 Juvenile Fillies race in which Frans Valentine won and later was placed 10th. "This is heartbreaking," said Jeff Bonde, who trains Shes a Tiger. Sent off at 32-1 odds, Ria Antonia paid $66.60, $29.80 and $17.40. The winning time was 1:43.02 and the margin was a nose. Shes a Tiger returned $6.40 and $4.80. Rosalind paid $6.80 to show. Running third at the time, Secret Compass front legs collapsed, slamming Velazquez hard into the dirt. Bafferts 2-year-old filly was euthanized after sustaining a lateral condylar fracture, according to on-call veterinarian Dr. Wayne McIlwraith. "It is the worst type of injury we get, unfortunately," he said. Velazquez was to ride in all nine Breeders Cup races, but he was replaced by other jockeys. Baffert was smiling later when 10-1 shot New Years Day rallied on the rail to win the $2 million Juvenile by 1 1/4 lengths. The colt paid $23 to win, with jockey Martin Garcia earning his first Cup victory. But the trainers emotions were raw. "Just the win is exciting, but in the back of my mind, Im thinking about that filly," he said. Baffert and Garcia also teamed to win the $1.5 million Sprint by a neck with Secret Circle. Baffert earned his third win in the Juvenile, whose winner is typically tagged as the early Kentucky Derby favourite. His other entry, Tap It Rich, finished fifth. Havana, the 5-2 favourite trained by Todd Pletcher, was second. Strong Mandate, trained by Lukas, was third. After the early drama, 3-2 favourite Dank restored order by winning the $2 million Filly & Mare Turf by a half-length over Romantica. Ridden by Ryan Moore, Dank ran 1 1/4 miles in 1:58.73 and paid $5, $3.40 and $2.80. Another favourite, 3-1 Groupie Doll, won the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint for the second straight year by a half-length. Mizdirection defended her title in the $1 million Turf Sprint for co-owner Jim Rome, the sports talk host. She ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:12.25 under Smith, who extended his record for most Cup wins by a jockey to 20. He won two races on opening day Friday. wholesale jerseys .S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay. In a first-person article posted Monday on Sports Illustrateds website, Collins begins: "Im a 34-year-old NBA centre. wholesale nfl jerseys . The 23rd-seed crushed Italian Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Tuesday and joined fellow Canadians Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois in the second round. http://www.jerseyscheapnfl.us.com/... .J. Watson to back up Deron Williams at point guard. [url=http://www.jerseyscheapnfl.us.com/wn758/]Cheap Washington Nationals Jerseys . Their initial move was to replace him with a pitcher, giving themselves a backup plan in case Johnny Cuetos blister bothered him during his start Tuesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Beyond that, the NL Central leaders arent sure how theyll try to replace one of the leagues top hitters for up to a month. jerseys from china . -- John Farrell has plenty of reasons to be bummed that the Toronto Blue Jays wont be back in Kansas City this season. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Eli Manning is optimistic there will be a new collective bargaining agreement and an NFL season. "I have been optimistic the whole time and it sounds like they are trying to work it out, the owners and players are trying to get everything figured out," the New York Giants quarterback said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "I do feel we will have a season. "Hopefully, everything gets worked out quickly so we can get to training camp on time and get guys back to work and have a full season. Thats what the fans want. Obviously, they are the ones that make this possible, so hopefully we can get it done for them." Manning, who has refused to talk to the media following recent workouts with teammates, said he has avoided discussing the labour issue since the lockout began in March because he didnt have much to say and didnt want to say anything inappropriate. "You can only get in trouble with this type of situation," the 2008 Super Bowl MVP said. "I just wanted to get my work in with my receivers." Manning spent most of the interview talking about acting with his brother, Peyton. The two appeared in a video called "Football Cops" to promote DirecTVs NFL Sunday Ticket. The Mannings are cast as former players turned cops in the spoof in which the normally clean-shaven quarterbacks wear moustaches. Eli sports one that can either be described as a Fu Manchu or a handlebar, while Peyton settles for a regular bushy moustache. "I have always been envious of people who have been able to grow a moustache," Eli Manning said. "Mine just does not come in with the Tom Selleck thickness that Ive always wanted." Eli almost had to take it off because the producers were worried it made him unrecognizable. "They were worried people would say who was that with Peyton," Eli said. "But it looked too good and I had to stay with it." The video aired last week and more than 620,200 people had viewed it on YouTube by the time the weekend was over, including many of the Giants offensive linemen.dddddddddddd "The only good part about the lockout is that I havent had to see them every single day since this campaign came out," Eli Manning said. "I am sure they are working on something and got some takes from it and put together something else or have a spoof on it. Theyve had a lot of time on their hands, so it scares me a bit. Ive gotten a lot of texts and calls. Thats their job: to give me hell about it." For the most part, Manning said they have enjoyed the two minute, 38 second video that was filmed in Brooklyn. The taping took place during an eight-hour shoot on May 19, less than a week after Manning completed a passing camp with teammates in Hoboken, N.J. "All the passing camp and throwing to my receivers was just preparing me for the bad guys, to make sure I could hit them," said Manning, who comically subdues the hoodlums in the ad by throwing footballs at them instead of shooting them. "Its a different aim. When throwing to a receiver, you put a little lead on it and hit them in the hands, hit them out in front. This is youre aiming for the head. If you are stationary, you aim for the middle of the chest." Manning said he did all the scenes without a stunt double, including running across a rooftop at the end of the video and throwing a ball at a "bomber" on another roof. He added that a lot of the lines were improvised, and the producers took the ones they liked. "It was," he said, "a lot of fun." Looking back on the players workouts, Manning said he felt uncomfortable having the media and fans watching them, noting that organized team activities are generally closed. "We are getting together and getting some decent work, but not as quality work as we should be at this time when we are in OTAs and minicamps," Manning said. "I just wanted to work. We have a lot of young players and young receivers and new guys and I just wanted to get them up to date. "I dont want them to have redshirt years." cheap jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '