OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- As Connect and Divining Rod battled through the Aqueduct stretch of Saturdays Grade 1 Cigar Mile, trainer Chad Brown wondered if the lack of a recent race would compromise his horses chances to win.But Connect, the 3-year-old on the outside under Javier Castellano, kept on persevering and was able to outduel Divining Rod, a 4-year-old to his inside, and win the $500,000 Cigar Mile by a short head.It was the fifth win from seven starts for Connect and his first in a Grade 1. He hadnt run since taking the Grade 2, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx on Sept. 24, beating Gun Runner, who had won Fridays Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.I was concerned because he hadnt had a recent race under his belt, but I know how much heart this horse has and how competitive he is, and he really showed a lot of heart today, Brown said. Its very rewarding to see a horse that shows you so much promise since theyre an unraced 2-year-old really turn out to be what you thought they could be. A 3-year-old beating olders in a race like this is a very high mark on his résumé.The win improved Connects record to 5 for 7 and pushed his career earnings to $1.25 million.The win also helped pad Browns résumé for a possible Eclipse Award as top trainer as the Cigar Mile was Browns 60th stakes victory of the year, his 41st graded stakes and his 11th Grade 1.Brown had chosen the Cigar Mile for Connect immediately after the Pennsylvania Derby, believing the horse would need significant time to recover from a hard race. He also felt the one-turn mile would be more significant for Connects second career as a stallion than would Fridays $500,000 Clark, a two-turn, 1-1/8-mile race at Churchill.Also, the Cigar Mile didnt have a Grade 1 winner in the field, and Connect was sent off as the 3-2 favorite in the 10-horse field.Connect settled into fifth position down the backstretch as Anchor Down sparred on the lead with Threefiveindia, also trained by Brown, through a quarter in 23.31 seconds and a half-mile in 46.44. Realm and Divining Rod were in the second flight.Divining Rod, equipped with blinkers for the first time, and Connect launched their bids almost simultaneously, with Divining Rod three wide and Connect four wide. Divining Rod held a brief advantage turning for home, but by the three-sixteenths pole, the pair was on equal terms. Divining Rod had the lead inside the sixteenth pole, but Connect kept on fighting and got his head on the wire first.You have to ride a little bit, you have to be focused and ride aggressive, and I tried to pass the other horse, Castellano said. He fought all the way to the end.Connect, a son of Curlin owned by Paul Pompa Jr., covered the mile in 1:34.34 and returned $5 as the 3-2 favorite.He ran his race. That was a great race, exciting finish; we just couldnt get there, said Arnaud Delacour, the trainer of Divining Rod. I thought that was a big stretch from both of them. Connect is a great horse.Realm finished third by a neck over War Story, who was followed by Anchor Down, Threefiveindia, Tale of Savall, Economic Model, Mylute, and Ocean Knight.Connect is a two-time winner at 1-1/8 miles, so it is expected that Pompa could have many suitors in terms of leasing the horse for a spot in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. The Pegasus is open to 12 horses, but those 12 slots have already been sold for $1 million apiece. However, many slot holders dont have a suitable horse.Pompa said he already has fielded phone calls about the possibility of leasing the horse for that race.Whatever I do Ill discuss with my trainer, Pompa said. Ozzie Smith Jersey . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. Andrew Miller Cardinals Jersey . Kyle Denbrook, a soccer player from Saint Marys University, took the CIS male athlete of the week honour. Stanley, a fourth-year business administration student from Charlottetown, scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Dalhousie on Friday and tallied again in a 1-0 win over Saint Marys on Sunday. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-enos-slaughter-jersey/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Mark McGwire Cardinals Jersey . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Tim McCarver Cardinals Jersey .1 million pounds ($61.2 million) on Saturday, giving the beleaguered English Premier League champions a major lift. EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New York Giants won two Super Bowls under Tom Coughlin by being able to pressure the opposing quarterback and getting just enough big plays from Eli Manning and the offense to pull out a lot of close games.In coach Ben McAdoos first season since taking over for Coughlin, the Giants (9-4) are using the same formula in a bid to end a four-year playoff drought.Its a formula that also has put the only two blemishes on the Dallas Cowboys record (11-2) this season.The Giants defense befuddled rookie quarterback Dak Prescott on a cold, damp night, and Manning overcame a miserable performance to hook up with Odell Beckham Jr. on a go-ahead, 61-yard catch-and-run late in the third quarter as New York ended the Cowboys 11-game winning streak with a 10-7 victory Sunday .I think that everything is in front of us, Giants linebacker Jonathan Casillas said. I think that we can be as good as we want to be. As long as we keep our head down and keep grinding away -- it is still a long season. We have some games left and I am planning on playing in January. That is the goal right now, to get through December and play in January.If the defense plays the way it did against Dallas, the Giants are going back to the playoffs for the first time since winning the Super Bowl in February 2012 against the Patriots.Steve Spagnuolos unit limited Dallas to a season-low 260 yards , held the Cowboys to 1 of 15 on third down and didnt allow Ezekiel Elliott to bust a big run despite gaining 107 yards rushing.New York cornerback Janoris Jenkins blanketed star receiver Dez Bryant for the second straight game, limiting him to one catch late and forcing a fumble on the same play. Bryant had two catches in two games against the Giants this season as the Cowboys scored a total of 26 points. They were scoring almost 28 per game this season entering Sunday night.While saying they didnt execute well, veteran Cowboys tight end Jason Witten gave credit to the Giants in a game they played without star defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. He is out for the rest of the regular season because of a sports hernia.They were pressuring us, Witten said. They were bringing some heat and we werent able to capitalize on it. I tell you what, our defense kept us in the game. I thought they did a heck of a job. Giving us a chance, we didnt play good enoough.ddddddddddddBeckham, who turned a short slant into a touchdown with an incredible burst of speed, felt the same way about the Giants offense.To me personally when you are not on the field and seeing what that defense does, that makes all the difference in the world, he said. The quote Ive heard for a long time is offense wins games, defense wins championships, and this is a championship defense.Here are five takeaways from the game:THE ROAD AHEAD: With three games left in the regular season, the Cowboys magic number for winning the NFC East is two. Any combination of wins by the Cowboys and losses by the Giants totaling two gives Dallas the division title. New York still has the best record among second-place teams in the NFC wild-card race. Dallas is home next weekend against Tampa Bay (8-5). The Giants host Detroit (9-4).REPLACING JPP: Rookie free agent Romeo Okwara started for Pierre-Paul at left end and led the Giants with eight tackles and one of their three sacks. It was his first career sack. Linebacker Devon Kennard also filled in at defensive end and tackle in passing situations. He had six tackles and a sack.DAK NOT A COLD-WEATHER GUY: Prescott didnt seem to like the cold and it didnt help that the ball was a little wet at times. He finished 17 of 37 for 165 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Knowing how talented our offense is, having high expectations of myself and stalling drive after drive, it gets frustrating, Prescott said.NO ROMO: Prescotts struggles against the fierce Giants pass rush and sticky secondary didnt have Dallas thinking about whether longtime starter Tony Romo should take over at quarterback.Finally recovered from his back issues, Romo is the clear backup these days to the superb rookie. But Prescott wasnt superb against New York.So, naturally, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked about Romo. He smiled and, with emphasis, said no when the subject of Romo seeing action came up.Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was asked if at any point he considered turning to Romo. Again, an emphatic no.We just feel good about Dak Prescott playing quarterback for us right now, Garrett said.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and -http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '