The Canucks had a great chance to restore the lead

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TORONTO -- Mark Casse finally has his first Queens Plate victory. Filly Lexie Lou captured the $1-million race Sunday at Woodbine Racetrack, giving the six-time Sovereign Award winner as Canadas top trainer his first Plate win. The 53-year-old American came close in 2011, finishing second to Inglorious with Hippolytus, but admitted becoming emotional after Lexie Lou crossed the finish line 1 1/2-lengths ahead of runner-up Amis Holiday, a 9-1 longshot. "My son, Colby, just started crying afterwards and to see it mean that much to him got me crying," said Casse, a 34-year racing veteran. "There was a lot of crying . . . I think I wouldve been OK had Colby not started crying. "When all youve done your entire life is been around race horses . . . I really dont know anything else. Ive been following the Queens Plate since I was a little boy and so to finally win it, I just pinch myself. I thought wed win it sooner or later. I knew I wasnt going to give up." The daughter of Sligo Bay-Oneexcessivenite served notice in the Woodbine Oaks on June 15 that she was indeed a Plate contender. Lexie Lou earned a comfortable 4 1/2-length win and covered the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:49.77, a full second faster than We Miss Arties winning time in the Plate Trial a race earlier. Breaking from the No. 14 post in the 15-horse field, Lexie Lou sat comfortably in ninth at the halfway point before steadily working up the field. She sat second behind Asserting Bear after a mile before surging into the lead, then holding off Amis Holiday to finish the 1 1/4-mile race on Woodbines polytrack in 2:03.94. "I think a lot of times theres too much preparation, too much training and we did very little with her," Casse said. "After the Oaks we sent her out to our farm, which is about an hour north of here, and let her eat grass. "When I saw her in the paddock today walking around with not a care in the world, I said to my wife, Shes going to be really really tough, because the first time we ran her she was kind of nervous. But not today." Asserting Bear finished third ahead of We Miss Artie, the 9/5 favourite who rallied to take fourth after a terrible start. The remainder of the field included: Niigon Express; Lions Bay; Matador; Heart to Heart; Coltimus Prime; Athenian Guard; Cap in Hand; One Destiny; Man o Bear; Tower of Texas; and Majestic Sunset. Lexie Lou paid $8.20, $4.50 and $3.30 while Amis Holiday returned $9.70 and $5.80. Asserting Bear paid $6. Jockey Patrick Husbands earned his second career Plate win but first since 03 when he guided Wando to a Triple Crown, the last horse to register that achievement. But the victory was almost anti-climatic for the veteran rider. "I breezed this filly Saturday and when I pulled her up I started crying because I couldnt believe I had another Queens Plate winner," Husbands said. "On the way back to the barn I told the assistant, Could you tell Mark I dont think they will beat this filly. "I went back to my car, I called Barbados and told everybody Im coming home to celebrate. Im on the flight (Sunday night) to Barbados to celebrate (Monday)." Javier Castellano, We Miss Arties jockey, said the poor start cost his horse the race. "I think with the big field my horse got a little nervous in the gate, he completely sat down behind the gate," Castellano said. "Thats why he broke straight in the air . . . it took a lot out of him. "He was too far behind. I lost a lot of ground going around horses." Jockey Luis Contreras had no such complaints about his trip or Amis Holiday starting from the No. 15 post. "We didnt need to be on the lead and I could see all the horses from the outside position," he said. "My horse gave a tremendous kick and we almost got there." Chantal Sutherland-Kruse, the jockey aboard Asserting Bear, said Lexie Lou was a deserving winner. "We did our best but Lexie Lou was just powerful," she said. The victory was the fifth in 12 career starts for Lexie Lou, with the $600,000 winners share boosting her all-time earnings past $1.2 million. Last year, Lexie Lou ran for owner-trainer John Ross, earning more than $300,000. But after her first start this year, Ross sold the filly to Gary Barber, the chairman and CEO of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). "I dont buy horses thinking Im going to win the Oaks," Casse said. "I buy them just thinking and hoping Im making a good buy and can make it work and sometimes funny things happen. "John Ross did a wonderful job with her, she came to us in great shape and we couldnt have done it without him. We were just in the right place at the right time and got lucky." Casse was non-commital about Lexie Lou running July 29 in the $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes, the second jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown at Fort Erie Racetrack. "A third race in a short time and, of course, a surface shes never been over," Casse said. "Well see, we could go there. "Gary is from California and they have synthetic there and it wouldnt shock me if she ends up in California." Kris Bryant Cubs Jersey . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons. Billy Williams Jersey . The third baseman whipped the ball across the diamond to second baseman Aaron Hill. He quickly tossed it to shortstop Chris Owings, who flipped over his shoulder to left fielder Cody Ross. http://www.baseballcubsauthentic.com/he ... bs-jersey/. Listen to the Rangers vs. Kings live on TSN Radio starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also stream the post-game press conferences live on TSN. Kyle Schwarber Jersey .J. Ellis have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract. Greg Maddux Cubs Jersey . However, the intensity and physicality that has characterized the postseason so far has caught Gretzky by surprise. "Its a little bit risqué right now," Gretzky told Philadelphia radio station 97.VANCOUVER - A night that started with a tribute to Daniel Sedin ended with the fourth line stealing the show.Jannik Hansen scored the first hat trick of his career and Bo Horvat and Derek Dorsett combined for five assists Sunday as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Chicago Blackawks 4-1.Radim Vrbata had the other goal and Ryan Miller made 24 saves as Vancouver (14-6-1) celebrated Sedins 1,000th NHL game with a hard-fought victory.We wanted to get the win for him. Its a measuring stick. Chicago is a very good team, said Hansen. We just dont want to be satisfied with winning a game here and there. We want to be the team that other teams are chasing.Hansen, who now has eight goals on the season and five in the last three games, snapped a 1-1 tie at 6:24 of the third, deflecting a Dorsett shot from the boards into the top corner.We strive this year to make it a four-line team. Its not a matter of one, two, three (or) four, said Hansen. Everyone knows the (Sedin) twins are going to get their matchup every night.After that its up to the nine other guys to supply the secondary scoring. As long as we can do that weve got a chance to win games.Horvat finished with the first three assists of his NHL career, while Dorsett chipped in with two of his own for Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins, who appears to have found a fourth line he can trust — something that predecessor John Tortorella could not last season.Bos been real good in the faceoff circle. They start with the puck lots of times. I think that makes a difference. They play smart. They dont complicate it, said Dejardins. Jannik had a great game going to the net and when you go to the net good things can happen.Horvat, who finished 13 for 16 on faceoffs, continued to make a strong case to stay with the Canucks instead of going back to junior.Were pretty confident as a line that we can go out there against some tough guys and some tough players, said Horvat, who played his eighth NHL game on Sunday. The more I play and the better I play, the harder the decision is going to be on them. Hopefully Im making it tough.Horvat beat Jonathan Toews, a player he tried to emulate as a youngster, on one of those draws in the moments leading up to Hansens winner.Believe it or not thats my idol, Horvat said with a smile. Thats the guy I wanted to model my game after and thats the guy I watched growing up playing in the NHL. To take a faceoff against him a couple times and to be on the same sheet of ice as him, its pretty cool.Dorsett said the 19-year-old centre who scored his first goal in Thursdays shootout loss to the Anaheim Ducks has impressed as he approaches the critical ninth NHL game for junior-age players trying to stick.The way (Horvat) carries himself on and off the ice is like hes a 10-year vet, said Dorsett. Hes a nice kid, he wants to learn and thats all you can ask for.Id be happy to play with him the rest of the year.Kris Versteeg had the only goal for Chicago (12-8-1), which got 26 savess from Cory Crawford.ddddddddddddThey played well, they played hard, said Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville, whose team came in having given up a league-low eight goals in the third period. They had a real purpose to the way they played.Chicago had a power play with about eight minutes left in the third, but Vancouvers penalty kill was up to the task. The Blackhawks, playing their second of a back-to-back and third game in four nights, pressed for the tie late, but were caught out on a rush when Vrbata scored his 10th of the season at 17:36.We rolled four lines, we were fresh, we did all the little things that we had to do be successful and everyones buying in, said Daniel Sedin, who was honoured in a pre-game ceremony. Thats a lot of fun when you can do that. No one feels the pressure to score each and every game, but everyone knows they can do it. Its a great feeling.Hansen, who had 11 goals all of last season, then won a race for the puck and scored into an empty net with 42 seconds left to add the exclamation point.Its been a while. I think it was back when I was playing in Denmark, Hansen said of the last time he recorded a hat trick. Its extremely nice to get it (but) its not one of those things I have on my bucket list.The Blackhawks came in having won three straight — including Saturdays 7-1 thrashing of the Edmonton Oilers — and five of their last six, but were down 1-0 after the first period before starting to impose their will as the second wore on.Versteeg, who came in with two goals and four assists in his last three games, scored his seventh of the season to tie things at 7:55 on the power play, deflecting home a point shot from Duncan Keith.The Canucks had a great chance to restore the lead on a man advantage of their own later in the period, but Crawford robbed Henrik Sedin with the heel of his skate.Theyve had a good start to the season, said Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane. It seems like a lot of their guys are re-energized, motivated, they get good goaltending and theyve had solid contributions from everyone. You look at their so-called third or fourth line tonight and they had three goals.Vancouver opened the scoring at 13:13 of the first on the power play when Dorsetts pass glanced off Horvats stick right to Hansen, who scored over Crawfords blocker.Confidence is a funny thing, said Hansen. Once the puck goes in you feel like every shot you take might have a chance.Notes: Henrik Sedin played his 1,000th game with Vancouver in March. ... Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis sat out with a lower-body injury after getting hurt on Thursday. ... Canucks forward Alexandre Burrows missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. ... The Canucks host Cory Schneider and the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday before starting a season-high seven-game road trip in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Friday. ... The Blackhawks continue their six-game road trip on Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '