Sports shorts Irish War Cry favorite to win Belmont Stakes

Irish War Cry is back on the Triple Crown trail as the 7-2 favorite for the Belmont Stakes.

The colt claimed that status after expected favorite Classic Empire was forced out Wednesday because of an abscess in his right front hoof.

No one was more surprised at the turn of events than trainer Graham Motion. He left his base in Fair Hill, Maryland, early in the day and by the time he arrived in New York, his colt was the favorite in the 12-horse field for Saturday’s race.

“It’s just very odd,” he said after the draw at Rockefeller Plaza. “This goes to show how quickly things can go wrong. It just takes a little thing like a foot abscess. They’re animals, and things can go wrong at any time.”

Classic Empire was coming off a runner-up finish in the Preakness on May 20 after being fourth in the Kentucky Derby.

He had been training well up to the Belmont before trainer Mark Casse found the abscess on Wednesday. It’s a recurrence of the problem that bothered Classic Empire after his loss in the Holy Bull in February.

“He’s such a tough horse, he doesn’t really let you know until it’s really painful to him,” Casse said. “If he hadn’t, he would have run in the race and probably not run as well, and then have it flare up. I’m looking toward it as a bright spot, that he showed it three days out and not the day after.”

Nashville police are investigating a misdemeanor assault complaint made by a man who says former Buffalo Bills and New York Jets coach Rex Ryan grabbed him by the neck.

Police spokesman Don Aaron said that Matthew Havel, a 30-year-old from Pueblo, Colorado, made the complaint Sunday night.

Havel told police that he saw the Ryan brothers Rex and former NFL defensive coordinator Rob Ryan at the Margaritaville restaurant in downtown Nashville near Bridgestone Arena. Aaron said Havel indicated he went up to the Ryans’ table and was there for over an hour before Rex Ryan “reached across and grabbed at his neck.”

Havel told police the incident was unprovoked.

Aaron said no arrests have been made and no charges are presently outstanding.

Rex Ryan is a longtime Nashville Predators ticket holder who has been seen at many of their playoff games, including one of their second-round road matchups in St. Louis. He also was shown Saturday smashing a Pittsburgh Penguins car for charity in front of Bridgestone Arena while Rob looked on before the Predators’ Game 3 victory in the Stanley Cup Final.