UR MAG

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is one of the few times in thoroughbred racing when getting first is not something to celebrate.

Last Saturday, during the draw for this Saturday's 152nd running of the race at Churchill Downs, that distinction went to Renegade.

Despite the ominous spot for Renegade, Churchill Downs' morning-line oddsmaker Nick Tammaro still set the 3-year-old colt as his early 4-1 favorite for the 1-1/4-mile race that serves as the start of racing's Triple Crown.

Drawing the inside post means Renegade will be the horse closest to the rail. While he would have the shortest path to the finish line, he will also have to avoid getting pinched along the rail as up to 19 competitors try to move in at the start.

The last horse to win from the No. 1 post position was Ferdinand in 1986, the last Derby win for legendary jockey Bill Shoemaker.

As for Renegade, the horse trained by Todd Pletcher has never finished out of the money in five starts. After placing twice and showing once in his 2-year-old campaign, Renegade has won both starts this year, including the Arkansas Derby a month ago.

Another horse seeking to buck a trend is Emerging Market. Trainer Chad Brown's horse, who has morning-line odds of 15-1, won the Louisiana Derby in just his second start. However, the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby in just a third start was Leonatus in 1883.

Brown, though, thinks his colt can end that 143-year streak.

Advertisement

"He has such a wonderful mind and is so calm and collected," said Brown, whose entry got the 15th gate.

Based on Tammaro's projected odds, Renegade is considered one of four horses that stand out in the field. The co-second choices are Further Ado and Commandment at 6-1. Both are trained by Brad Cox, a Louisville native. Commandment has won four straight, including the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on March 28, while Further Ado impressed many with his 11-length win in the Blue Grass Stakes a week later at Keeneland.

Commandment drew the sixth post, and Further Ado will break from the 17th. Further Ado moved into that spot after Silent Tactic was scratched on Wednesday.

The fourth choice at 8-1 is Chief Wallabee, who will break from the 12th gate. He finished second to Commandment in the Fountain of Youth Stakes in February and third in the Florida Derby. Trained by Bill Mott, who won the Kentucky Derby last year with Sovereignty, is adding blinkers to the colt in hopes it will improve his performance.

"He seemed to be maybe just a little more straight and maybe a little more true," Mott said after the draw.

Another horse drawing interest is The Puma, who won the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7 and followed that up by finishing second in the Florida Derby three weeks later. Trained by Gustavo Delgado, the colt will break ninth and has odds of 10-1.

Trainer Bob Baffert has a pair of longshots in the field as he seeks a record seventh Derby win. Litmus Test is 30-1 coming off a seventh-place finish in the Arkansas Derby, while Potente, at 20-1, finished second in the Santa Anita Derby to So Happy (15-1). Litmus Test is starting fourth, Potente 14th.

There are currently 20 horses entered, with three also-eligibles. Great White joined the field Wednesday after Silent Tactic was scratched. An also-eligible can enter the race, based on the points they acquired in prep races, if another starter is scratched before 9 a.m. ET Friday.

--Steve Bittenbender, Field Level Media

ROME (AP) — Vatican prosecutors on Thursday seemingly defied anappeals court orderto turn over to the defense all the evidence gathered in the Vatican’s big financial trial, setting the stage for another clash in the long-running case.

Vatican Trial

In a three-page letter, prosecutors said they would allow the appeals court judges to consult the material. But they didn’t deposit the documentation for the defense to see in the chancery as ordered, saying it was “irrelevant” to the trial and could harm the Vatican’s interests.

It wasn’t immediately clear howthe appeals courtwould respond. The next hearing is scheduled for June 22.

A vast inquiry

Prosecutors had acquired the material during their sprawling investigation into a 350-million-euro (around $410 million) investment by the Vatican Secretariat of State into a London property. In December 2023, after a two-year trial, a cardinal and eight other people were convicted of several financial charges. But the prosecutors’ overarching theory of a grand scheme to defraud the Holy Seewas thrown out.

Defense lawyers had argued from the start of the trial that their clients couldn't get a fair trial with key evidence either redacted or withheld entirely by the prosecution. They cited in particular the full interrogations of a key prosecution witness and contents of his sequestered laptops and cellphones.

Prosecutors had argued that the redactions were necessary to preserve the integrity of other, ongoing investigations and refused aninitial Oct. 6, 2021 court orderto turn over the documentation.

An order to turn over the evidence

Attorney Luigi Panella, defending money manager Enrico Crasso, had argued from the verystart of the trial, in July 2021, that the indictment was null because prosecutors had withheld evidence from the defense.

Five years later, the appeals court on March 17 agreed with him and other defense lawyers. The court ordered the prosecutors to deposit in the chancery “all the acts and documents of the investigation in their integral version” by April 30.

In response Thursday, the prosecutors repeated their objection to the court ruling and reasoned that the material was “irrelevant” to the case. They said it “could pose a grave danger” to the public interest, if given over to the defense lawyers. Prosecutors told the judges the material remained in their offices and was available for “consultation” to the judges via USB drive.

Court calls for retrial

The appeals court had determined that the refusal of prosecutors to provide all the evidence to the defense in the first round of the trial had nullified the original indictment. The appeals court declared a partial mistrial and ordered a retrial.

Defense lawyers said the prosecutors’ response to the appeals court order amounted to contempt.

Advertisement

“In what country in the world can it be that the acts (of an investigation) are shown to the judge but not to the defense?” Panella said in a telephone interview. “What concept of ‘fair trial’ can this type of statement represent?”

A request to end the trial

Attorneys Cataldo Intrieri and Massimo Bassi, defending former Vatican official Fabrizio Tirabassi, said that the prosecutors’ response was unprecedented.

“We wonder how a fair judgment can be reached under these conditions,” they said in a statement that urged the court to throw out the trial entirely.

Attorneys Fabio Viglione and Maria Concetta Marzo, representing Cardinal Angelo Becciu, said that the prosecutors’ response constituted a failure to comply with the court order.

“This is precisely the selective discretion that the court has ruled out: the prosecution cannot unilaterally decide which documents the defense has the right to access,” they said. “The right to defense, the equality of the parties, and the adversarial process require full access to the documents.”

A separate blow to the Vatican

Swiss federal prosecutors shelved an investigation initiated in 2020 after the Vatican Secretariat of State accused Crasso, its former money manager, of embezzlement, fraud and disloyal administration in a complaint filed with Swiss prosecutors. The accusations paralleled those against Crasso in the Vatican tribunal.

Crasso had managed the Secretariat of State’s assets while employed at Credit Suisse Italia and Credit Suisse in Switzerland, before he launched his own company and fund that took over the Vatican accounts.

In a decision dated April 23, Swiss federal prosecutor Annina Scherrer noted that the Vatican tribunal itself had acquitted Crasso and his company and fund of the same charges definitively and shelved the Swiss case.

But in her 31-page ruling, Scherrer noted “with a certain surprise” that her requests to Vatican prosecutors to question some of the key witnesses had been refused after clearly being sent to the Vatican Secretary of State to evaluate. She said that demonstrated the Secretariat of State’s “influence” over the entire Vatican judicial system, which is supposed to be independent.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’scollaborationwith The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — ACambodiancourt Thursday upheld the treason conviction and 27-year prison sentence for opposition leader Kem Sokha, whose 2017 arrest opened a broad government crackdown on political opponents in the country.

Cambodia Politics

The Phnom Penh Appeals Court also barred Kem Sokha from leaving the country for five years after he finishes his sentence, which he is serving under house arrest.

Cambodia’s government has long been accused of using the judicial system topersecute critics and political opponents. The government insists it promotes the rule of law under an electoral democracy, but political parties seen as potential rivals have been dissolved by the courts or had their leaders jailed or harassed.

Kem Sokha, now 72, wasconvicted in 2023following a long pretrial detention. He was accused of conspiring with the United States to topple the Cambodian government. The primary evidence against him was a video of him discussing political advice from U.S.-based pro-democracy groups.

His Cambodia National Rescue Party had been the only credible opponent of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, but it was dissolved by the Supreme Court after his arrest and was unable to contest the 2018 election.

The party of long-serving Prime MinisterHun Sensubsequently swept all the seats in the National Assembly. His son,Hun Manet, succeeded him in the position in 2023 buthas not liberalized the system.

Advertisement

Speaking before the appeals court earlier this month, Kem Sokha declared he had never conspired with any foreign country at the cost of the lives of Cambodian citizens or the loss of national territory and that he had acted in a spirit of nonviolence and national unity.

Kem Sokha’s lawyer, Pheng Heng, told reporters he regretted the court’s decision and that he and his client would have to decide whether to appeal further to the Supreme Court. He urged the government to promote national reconciliation.

Western embassies in Cambodia expressed concern over the ruling.

“We would like to see Kem Sokha released and his political freedoms restored,” the British Embassy said in a statement. “ We believe this would help strengthen democracy in Cambodia.”

Peck reported from Bangkok.

What's next for correspondents' dinner shooting suspect as he faces attempted assassination charge 07:08

The government is asking the court to detain White House Correspondents' Association Dinnershooting suspectCole Allen pending trial, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro filed amemorandummaking the request and included a new photo of Allen with his weapons that officials say he took shortly before the attack Saturday night.

"At approximately 8:03 p.m., while back inside his hotel room, the defendant used his cellphone to take a photograph of himself in the mirror," the memorandum states, pointing out items including a gun holster, sheathed knife, and ammunition bag in the photo. He wore a black dress shirt, black slacks, and bright red tie.

Abouthalf an hour later, authorities say, the suspectsprinted pastthe magnetometers and fired a shotgun blast beforefalling downand being restrained by officers.

The memorandum provided more details about Allen's actions in the weeks and days leading up to the dinner, alleging that Allen's attack involved "extensive planning and preparation" dating back to at least April 6, when he searched on his phone for "white house correspondents dinner 2026." Hours later, Allen booked a two-night stay at the Washington Hilton, the memorandum said, and on April 16, Allen again searched for articles on the dinner, including the event's host, schedule and expected attendees.

According to prosecutors, on the day of the dinner, Allen left his hotel room multiple times. Around 6:26 p.m., he allegedly used his phone to check the president's schedule on a site called CivicTracker. At 8:03 p.m., he took the selfie in the mirror, and about 10 minutes later, he visited the CivicTracker webpage again, according to the memorandum. He exited the hotel room around 8:15 p.m.

Advertisement

Minutes before the alleged attack, prosecutors said, Allen looked at a media outlet's video called "WATCH LIVE: President Trump, first lady en route to White House Correspondents' Dinner" on his phone. He then visited a website with live coverage of President Trump exiting his car for the dinner, followed by a web search for "trump white house correspondents dinner." Around 8:30 p.m., prescheduled emails went to Allen's friends and family with "Apology and Explanation" in the subject line.

"Shortly thereafter, the defendant rushed the screening checkpoint on the Terrace Level of the Washington Hilton with a raised shotgun," wrote the prosecution, discarding a black coat under which he had concealed a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun. He sprinted through a magnetometer and ran toward the stairs to the ballroom, shotgun in his hands.

Prosecutors said the six shots were fired — one by Allen, who allegedly fired his shotgun in the direction of the stairs leading down to the ballroom. Then, a Secret Service officer drew his service weapon and fired five times at Allen. Allen fell, injuring his knee, but he had not been shot. He was restrained by law enforcement and arrested.

"At the time of his arrest, the defendant was in possession of a Mossberg 12-gauge pump action shotgun with one spent cartridge in the barrel and eight unfired cartridges in the magazine tube," the filing said.

Allen wascharged Monday in federal courtwith three counts, including attempting to assassinate the president. The other two charges involved the use and transport of firearms.

The memorandum noted that Allen, if convicted, faces a possible maximum life sentence in prison.

"The defendant's actions were premeditated, violent, and calculated to cause death," the memorandum said. "Considering the relevant statutory factors, there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure the safety of other people or the community if the defendant were released from custody. The Court should detain the defendant pending trial."

Houston Rockets All-Star Kevin Durant is expected to miss Sunday’s Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle,ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.

If confirmed, Durant will miss his third game of the series. He missed Game 1 with a knee injury, then missed Game 3 with his sprained ankle.

Per the report, the bone bruise is an injury that would typically sideline a player 2-3 weeks during the regular season, putting Durant’s availability in question moving forward if the Rockets manage to extend the series Sunday night. The Lakers have a 3-0 series lead and can close it out with a win in Game 4.

Advertisement

The Rockets have struggled with and without Durant on the floor during this series and are now faced with becoming the first NBA team to ever rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a series or face elimination in the first round. Playing without Durant in Game 4, obviously, makes their task that much tougher.

Durant scored 20 points in the first half of Game 2. But the Lakers limited him to three points after halftime en route to a 101-94 win. The Rockets then blew a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds of Game 3 before going on to lose in overtime Friday night.

The Lakers have built their 3-0 lead despite playing without their top two scorers, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. LeBron James has led the Lakers’ effort while Los Angeles’ role players have stepped up in Reaves’ and Dončić’s absence.