ace before the Jackpot.Shanes Girlfriend, a romping if surprising (she was 8-1 in a field of nine) debut winner at Santa Anita late last month, shipped and stretched out for the Princess, and ran off to score by just over 13 lengths. Now, it must be noted that there was not one graded stakes winner am

WINNIPEG -- American Nathan Tyler shot a 3-under par 69 on Saturday to take a two stroke lead over countryman Carlos Sainz Jr., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., heading into the final round of The Players Cup. Tyler, a tour rookie, is looking to continue a successful season that has seen him make each cut on PGA Tour Canada and win three times on the All-American Gateway Tour. "Im ecstatic. Im ready to just keep doing what Im doing," said Tyler. "Ive won a few events this year, so Im pretty comfortable around the lead." Tyler built a two-shot lead with a bogey-free scorecard that saw him reach 15-under par with three birdies on the front nine and nine pars on the back. Sainz Jr., briefly reached 16-under par, but a bogey on the 11th and a double bogey on the 16th dropped him two back of the lead heading into Sunday. "I hit the ball absolutely unbelievable today," said Tyler. "I got nothing out of it because of some pretty gusty winds. I just hope to keep doing what Im doing and hopefully get a little closer for tomorrow." Hughes posted three birdies and a bogey for a 2-under 70 and put himself in Sundays final group. The Players Cup is Hughes first made cut in four events on PGA Tour Canada this season. "Today I felt some of the nerves I knew I would feel," said the 22-year old, who has an exemption into next weeks RBC Canadian Open on the PGA Tour. "Overall I was pretty pleased with the way I regrouped for the back nine and kept myself in it." Chiles Hugo Leon, who fired a 5-under par 67 to reach a 12-under total, was a shot behind Hughes and Sainz, Jr. Reginas Kent Eger and American J.J. Spaun were tied for fifth at 10-under par. The top three players on the Order of Merit after Sunday will gain entry into the RBC Canadian Open. Tylers projected earnings would push him inside the top three on the Order of Merit.Under Armour Shoes Clearance Sale .Y. -- Sabres forward Drew Stafford has witnessed plenty of turmoil during his eight seasons in Buffalo. Under Armour Shoes Cheap Online .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. http://www.underarmourwholesale.com/ .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. Discount Under Armour Shoes .Y. -- Canadas Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have another World Cup gold medal after winning the two-women bobsled race on Saturday in Lake Placid, N. Cheap Wholesale Under Armour Shoes . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new.As noted in this space last week about the strongly run Breeders Cup Juvenile by Classic Empire and Not This Time, there is much optimism for this years class of 2-year-old males. More encouraging signs came Saturday in stakes victories from Mastery and Gunnevera.Mastery, a most eye-catching debut winner at Santa Anita just two weeks before the Breeders Cup, won the Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar, a springboard to the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity on Dec. 10. Mastery was supposed to win the Bob Hope. He was 1-5. So it says something about Mastery that he also managed to impress.Mastery absolutely toyed with runner-up California Diamond through the stretch run of the Bob Hope. The official win margin was 1-1/4 lengths, but it would have been significantly larger if Mastery had been asked to run. The thing that was most striking about the stretch run of the Bob Hope, however, was the contrasting profiles of the two protagonists.California Diamond might not be the second coming of Hindoo, but he had seven starts before Saturday; he won five, four of which were stakes, including three straight stakes scores. California Diamond had all the seasoning that Mastery lacked, and yet Mastery performed through the stretch as though hes been doing this racing thing forever.If there is one caveat regarding Masterys victory Saturday, it was that the pace he set was slow -- in fact, the slowest of the five main-track races on the Del Mar card -- and by a significant margin. But there are a couple of points that might mitigate the slow fractions. For one, even though he was in front, Mastery still shut himself off, which I take as a strong indicator that he will successfully rate off the early lead.The other consideration is how Mastery finished. If he didnt finish well after that slow pace, then there wouldnt be nearly as much to get excited about. But Mastery went his seventh and final furlong in 11.61 seconds, which is fast, and strongly suggests stretching out will be no issue for him.Gunneveras win in the Delta Downs Jackpot was more of an in your face performance. He lagged early off a fairly strong but contested pace, and overwhelmed his field with a move at least five wide on the far turn that eventually carried him to the lead and then on to a near six-length romp.Gunneveras Delta Jackpot was flashy, but it is important to put his effort in some context. Gunnevera was the only member of the 10-horse field to have won a graded stakes race (he won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August), and he was also the only one in the field to have prior Grade 1 stakes experience (he finished fiftth in Keenelands Breeders Futurity in his most recent outing).ddddddddddddThat said, one of the several things to like about Classic Empire even before he won the Breeders Cup Juvenile is he won the Breeders Futurity despite stretching out to two turns for the first time in his first representative start in three months; Im not counting his Hopeful appearance, when he wheeled coming out of the gate as the favorite as a representative outing. It should be noted that Gunnevera was in a similar position when he ran in the Breeders Futurity.The Breeders Futurity was Gunneveras first start in two months, and it was also his first start around two turns. He wasnt able to overcome those hurdles the way Classic Empire did. Gunnevera was put to a heavy drive on the far turn at Keeneland, yet he gave a little ground and position through the Breeders Futurity stretch run. But while that says Gunnevera has quite a bit of improving to do before he can be considered on the same level as Classic Empire, the outing in the Breeders Futurity worked perfectly for Gunnevera in the context of the Delta Jackpot.Unfortunately, the 2-year-old filly division this year hasnt been as compelling as the juvenile males has been, but that may begin to change after the smashing victory from Shanes Girlfriend in the Delta Downs Princess Stakes one race before the Jackpot.Shanes Girlfriend, a romping if surprising (she was 8-1 in a field of nine) debut winner at Santa Anita late last month, shipped and stretched out for the Princess, and ran off to score by just over 13 lengths. Now, it must be noted that there was not one graded stakes winner among the nine opponents she crushed Saturday, yet I still feel Shanes Girlfriend upstaged Gunnevera.The Princess was run at a mile, the Jackpot was at 1 1/16 miles; thats close enough to make pace comparisons. When you do, youll find the Princesss pace was faster to the first quarter (23.06 to 23.18) and substantially faster to the three-quarter mark (1:11.71 to 1:12.52). Shanes Girlfriend did what she did being right on top of that faster early pace, a pace that was actually the strongest sustained pace (emphasis on the word sustained) all day at Delta, and all day at Delta Saturday was 11 races.And for the record, Shanes Girlfriend completed her mile in 1:37.98. Gunnevera got his mile in 1:38.64. Yes, I know Gunnevera had another sixteenth to go after that mile split, but he certainly wasnt speeding up late, even if he was drawing away. ' ' '