BENSALEM, Pa. -- The 12-horse field that went postward in the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on Saturday was comprised of horses at varying stages of their careers.Nyquist and Exaggerator had won on the biggest nationals stages. Gun Runner and Cupid had won important races but not at this level of competition. Others were in search of their first graded scores.Connect fell into the latter group, but when the dust cleared he had not only padded his resume but had done it in a style which suggests we will be seeing him in major races from here on in.Owned by Paul Pompa Jr. and trained by Chad Brown, Connect was making only his sixth career start. He had finished a well-beaten sixth in the Travers, his graded stakes debut, but had come out of that race ill.He had a pretty significant lung infection, Brown said by phone from Belmont Park. We cleaned that up and he came back to form today.Connect was given a ground-saving ride in the 1-1/8-mile Pennsylvania Derby by Javier Castellano, and held off Gun Runner through the final furlong to win by a half-length. It was four lengths back to Wild About Deb in third.Awesome Slew hopped out to a clear early lead in the $1.25 million Derby with Cupid galloping along behind him, several lengths ahead of Nyquist, who was third, and Gun Runner, in fourth.The fractions were a realistic 23.01 seconds, 47.35, and 1:11.81.On the far turn, Cupid began to flatten out while Nyquist made a three-wide move after Awesome Slew. Gun Runner commenced his bid four wide and Connect was making progress along the inside.Entering the stretch, Nyquist challenged for the lead while Connect made a quick move and slipped through inside horses. He had the lead at the furlong pole with Gun Runner challenging from the center of the track. They stayed that way to the wire.I was confident in the stretch, Castellano said. I had a lot of horse and didnt think the other horse was going to get by.Connect paid $23.20 as fifth choice in the race. His final time was 1:50.20.Nyquist couldnt sustain his drive in the stretch and came out on the wrong end of a four-horse photo for third, finishing sixth.He was in a perfect spot, trainer Doug ONeill said. Mario [Gutierrez] said he was kind of struggling with the track but he had a good trip and we have no excuses. Well take him home and talk about what we should do next.Exaggerator made a move outside horses nearing the far turn but never reached contention and finished seventh, seven lengths behind Nyquist. Awesome Slew held on for fourth and Cupid dropped back to eighth.Connect, a son of Curlin, is now 4 for 6 in his career. After losing his career debut at Aqueduct last December, he won three races in a row - a Belmont maiden race in May, a Belmont allowance in June, and the restricted Curlin Stakes early in the Saratoga meet.The Travers is the only race where he hasnt fired, Brown said. We have always have had a lot of confidence in this horse. Im proud of him. I mean I wouldnt have gone in predicting that we would win against Gun Runner and Nyquist. Those are very tough horses. But Im not surprised either.Brown said he did not have any immediate plans for Connect, as he had been focusing solely on this race.Id like to give credit to my team and also to Mr. Pompa, who once we got him healthy wanted to run in this race, Brown said. He has always been a horse that catches the eye. Hes a big, well-bred horse. Hes really easy to like. He had his day today. Fake Tigers Jerseys . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Detroit Tigers Gear . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . 10 Texas A&Ms offence dominated as usual against SMU. Custom Detroit Tigers Jerseys . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Tigers Jerseys China . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. MANHATTAN, Kan. -- The Big 12 has developed a reputation over the years for high-flying offenses, mainly because of the pass-happy exploits of teams like Texas Tech, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.Kansas State and Texas are bucking the trend.The two teams meet Saturday in what can only be described as an old-school matchup between teams that take pride in pounding the football. The Wildcats average more than 175 yards rushing per game and the Longhorns (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) nearly 240.Texas also has the leagues top running back in DOnta Foreman. The 250-pound bruiser averages 146 yards, second nationally to San Diego States Donnel Pumphrey, and has reached the end zone eight times through the Longhorns first six games.That man right there is rolling right now. Hes really impressive, Texas quarterback Shane Buechele said, and hes fun to watch. Just seeing what he can do with the ball, hes a great player, and just being able to hand it off to him and seeing what he can do, its a lot of fun.Not so much fun is trying to stop him.But if the Wildcats (3-3, 1-2) has one thing going for them, it just may be that they have the best run defense in the conference. They held the Sooners in check last weekend -- they were ripped apart through the air -- and have generally made things tough on opposing runners.Then again, Foreman serves up a totally different test.Hes a very powerful runner, stays on his feet extremely well, has excellent lower-body strength but can bounce the ball out as well, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. Hes a very talented, young back, and what is impressive to me is hes been consistent about it throughout the season.The Wildcats counter with a committee approach to running the ball -- Charles Jones, Dalvin Warmack, Justin Silman, Alex Barnes and fullback Winston Dimel all have had a part this season.Their performance will be especially crucial with quarterback Jesse Ertz dealing with a nagging shoulder injury . It prevented him from finishing the game against Oklahoma, though Snyder said early in the week that he expects his starter to play on Saturday.As the Wildcats prepare to meet the Longhorns, here arre some of the other key story lines:PROTECTING THE QBErtzs health could become a factor considering Texas ranks fourth nationally with 23 sacks .dddddddddddd Kansas State has shuffled the offensive line a bit and surrendered two sacks last week, but a young group has mostly played well this season.BACKUP PLANSThe Wildcats Joe Hubener struggled after taking over for Ertz last weekend, but Snyder indicated that he would be first off the bench. Alex Delton has also played this season but hes primarily a run-first threat, and Kansas State would prefer to keep some offensive balance.SHAKY PASS DOne reason the Wildcats want to throw the ball? Texas has the nations third-worst pass efficiency defense. Oklahomas Baker Mayfield shredded the Longhorns for 390 yards and three TDs a couple weeks ago, though Iowa State fared much worse last weekend.Weve got to play smart, and we have to be consistent in our play, Texas coach Charlie Strong said, but we have to go get stops, and we need to just -- on defense we need to go play defense.BIG NUMBERSWhile the Wildcats have struggled to move the ball this season, Texas has had no such problems. The Longhorns have piled up at least 500 yards of offense four times, more than the past two seasons combined. The school record for a season is six times.Part of our preaching is about playing a complete game, Texas offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said. If were playing good on the defensive side of the ball and special teams, then weve got to do our part on the offensive side of the ball. Were just continuing to preach that.K-STATE DOMINANCEThe Longhorns have only won once in seven tries in Manhattan, back in 2002, and the Wildcats are the only Big 12 team to have a series lead. They are 9-7 against Texas all-time.It would mean a lot to keep that streak alive, said Kansas State offensive lineman Abdul Beecham, a Texas native. K-State is all about tradition and to keep that tradition going would mean a lot to not only me, but to my teammates and the school as well. ' ' '