LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – If Larry Demeritte is searching for positive signs ahead of his first Kentucky Derby as a trainer, that is where his horse is assigned.

The longtime West Saratoga competitor resides in Barn 42 at Churchill Downs, the same location that housed Seattle Slew before he won the 1977 Derby and captured the Triple Crown. This was the first Derby in which Demeritte took part.

He is now the second black trainer since 1951 to saddle a horse in the big race, which can be held for the a hundred and fiftieth time on Saturday. The other, Hank Allen, finished sixth in 1989 with the Northern Wolf team.

Black coaches dominated the Derby’s early years, winning seven of the first 17 between 1875 and 1891.

“We are so grateful to be here and enjoy every minute of it,” Demeritte said.

For the 74-year-old from the Bahamas, all the pieces has mattered since he was diagnosed with cancer in 1996 and underwent chemotherapy. His father was a coach in the islands, and Dermeritte still has the accent of his native country, where he was a number one coach for 2 years.

“My motto is: ‘I do not buy low cost horses. I purchase good horses cheaply,” he said with a smile.

The most costly horse in the 20-horse Derby is second-choice morning horse Sierra Leone, purchased for $2.3 million. Purchased for less than $11,000, the West Saratoga stallion is the pride of the 11-horse Demeritte stable at The Thoroughbred Center in nearby Lexington. The stallion earned $460,140.

“He’s getting better with every start,” he said. “I’ve been around a lot of good horses and this horse is really up there with a lot of them.”

This is West Saratoga owner Harry Veruchi’s first derby.

“I bought my first horse in 1982, and two weeks later he won at Centennial Race Track in Littleton, Colorado,” Veruchi said. “I assumed: This is easy. Now, being here, who would have considered it? I do not know anyone who has run in the Kentucky Derby, and even anyone who has won a graded stakes.

West Saratoga is named after the street in Littleton where Veruchi grew up. It is positioned six blocks from the Centennial track, which closed in 1983.

The just one in their group with any Derby experience is jockey Jesus Castanon. In 2011 aboard Shackleford he finished fourth. They set the pace and led at the eighth pole, only to be overtaken by the eventual winner Animal Kingdom.

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“I thought I was going to win it,” Castanon said. “I was going crazy in my mind.”

Demeritte has led horses in the Derby in recent years.

“I’ve been practicing,” he said with a smile. “I used to pray to get to the Derby. I feel blessed with this horse.”

Demeritte looks to the sky on Saturday, when the forecast calls for a 43% likelihood of rain. The gray stallion never ran on a wet track, but his father did. Exaggerator finished second in the 2016 Derby and went on to win the Preakness and Haskell. Both races took place on uneven tracks.

“It’s really amazing how we managed to get this position on this horse,” Demeritte said. “I hope people see our history and take an interest in the sport because this horse proves that anyone with a dream can get on the Derby stage.”

In a recent online scam, the web tried to deceive fans with a photo purporting to point out pop icons Janet Jackson and Madonna relaxing together in Rio.

User X, @QueenofPopMUSIC, posted a photo that went viral. Her caption: “BREAKING: Janet Jackson is in Brazil with Madonna for a special concert as part of #TheCelebrationTour in Rio.”

Die-hard supporters of the chart-topping “Funny How Time Flies” quickly debunked the hoax, citing years of hostility between the two stars.

“This would never happen! They have beef that will never thaw,” one person he tweeted.

Social media detectives discovered the truth behind the doctored image. They revealed that Ms. Jackson had been digitally inserted into the snapshot, confirming Rhythm Nation’s suspicions that the photo was fake.

X users discovered that the original photo was taken in Milan, Italy in 2023 by photographer Jacopo Raule. The “Material Girl” wore black fur and leather at the Palazzo Parigi hotel last November when she was spotted by paparazzi.

“This photo shows Madonna in Milan Fashion Week last fall. “Janet is poorly photoshopped,” one person said he wrotedestroying the fake photo.

breaking 🚨: Janet Jackson is in Brazil with Madonna for a special concert in Rio #CelebrationTrip pic.twitter.com/SVnYT8KYIQ

— 𝐌 (@QueenofPopMUSlC) April 30, 2024

Apart from how badly Janet was superimposed on the photo, fans found other reasons to find that it was a scam.

“Nobody would ever wear that much in Rio. Please try again,” tweet To read.

“Yes, that’s right” – User X he wrote. “Wearing fur in Rio…yeah…my cat would photoshop a picture of Janet better than this too.”

Although Madonna briefly dated Janet’s megastar brother Michael in the early 1990s, the two singers have never met.

According to Jermaine Jackson’s book “You Are Not Alone: ​​​​Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes,” the “Papa Don’t Preach” singer shared critical comments about Janet with her “Thriller” boyfriend, and he immediately he felt that yes.

“They were out to dinner one night and she had the nerve to criticize Janet,” Jermaine wrote.

Jermaine said Michael moved away from Madonna, showing he was loyal to his sister.

While it’s unclear whether MJ told her sister what the Detroit native said, she once said she didn’t hate Madonna but had “good reasons.”

The media picked up on the tension and kept asking each other about themselves.

By the early 2000s, the two seemed to have put an end to their problems. When Janet faced backlash after her 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, during which her breast was exposed due to an incorrect costume, Madonna defended her and said the press should have had better things to write about or report on.

“There’s a lot of hypocrisy in Janet Jackson’s beating,” she told CNN that her nipple lump happened during primetime as families watched. “There are lots of other things that kids have access to.”

Eight years later, Madonna was headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, and it seemed as if the singer had taken down every white flag she waved.

“You don’t have to show your nipples to be interesting. If so, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re innovative, right?” – Madonna said in an interview before her Super Bowl performance.

Despite minor jabs back and forth, in 2023, when Madonna fell ill, Janet reached out and wished her a speedy recovery: According to to the Mirror.

“Janet heard that Madonna was feeling unwell, so they contacted her. They didn’t always agree, but they respect each other because they are two of the last megastars of their musical generation,” we read in the publication he saidquoting an anonymous informant.

Adding: “Janet can relate to the pressures of touring.”

Both ladies have achieved stunning success as singers, and while they might or may not like one another, there’s someone who doesn’t like either of them.

In his recently released memoir “Karma: My Autobiography,” Boy George of the Nineteen Eighties group Culture Club said each women weren’t on his good list.

“As for me and Janet, let’s wait a while,” the “Karma Chameleon” singer wrote According to To people.

He talked about meeting her on the set of Solid Gold and said she wasn’t friendly and didn’t attempt to be. But I just went out, dressed up in my best Boy George and walked around backstage to make sure that everyone saw me.

Later that day, the British singer stated that somebody from her team had approached him for comment on the Janet tape. He said, “Next time you meet someone, be nice.”

This remark was passed on to Janet, who invited him into her dressing room, where she explained that she didn’t recognize him.

“Are you saying you would be nice to me if you knew who I was?”

At the same time, he sharply criticized Madonna, saying she was “too full of herself.”

“Every gay loves Madonna and there is no one gayer than me,” he wrote in his memoirs.

“Madonna is everything it says on the tin, but she adds new ingredients every day,” writes the singer.

He added: “I do know for a indisputable fact that she is simply too self-absorbed to even mention me. She once said, “Boy George was mean to me in the ’80s and he’s still mean.” Honestly, I wasn’t really given a probability.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – If Larry Demeritte is searching for positive signs ahead of his first Kentucky Derby as a trainer, that is where his horse is assigned.

The longtime West Saratoga competitor resides in Barn 42 at Churchill Downs, the same location that housed Seattle Slew before he won the 1977 Derby and captured the Triple Crown. This was the first Derby during which Demeritte took part.

He is now the second black trainer since 1951 to saddle a horse in the one hundred and fiftieth Derby on Saturday. The second, Hank Allen, finished sixth in 1989 with the Northern Wolf team.

Black coaches dominated the Derby’s early years, winning seven of the first 17 between 1875 and 1891.

“We are so grateful to be here and enjoy every minute of it,” Demeritte said.

For the 74-year-old from the Bahamas, all the pieces has mattered since he was diagnosed with cancer in 1996 and underwent chemotherapy. His father was a coach in the islands, and Dermeritte still has the accent of his native country, where he was a number one coach for 2 years.

“My motto is: ‘I do not buy low cost horses. I purchase good horses cheaply,” he said with a smile.

Purchased for $11,000, West Saratoga is the pride of the 11-horse Demeritte stable at The Thoroughbred Center in nearby Lexington. The stallion earned $460,140.

“He’s getting better with every start,” he said. “I’ve been around a lot of good horses and this horse is really up there with a lot of them.”

The costliest horse in the 20-horse Derby is second-choice morning horse Sierra Leone, purchased for $2.3 million.

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This is owner Harry Veruchi’s first derby.

“I bought my first horse in 1982, and two weeks later he won at Centennial Race Track in Littleton, Colorado,” Veruchi said. “I believed: This is straightforward. Now, being here, who would have thought of it? I do not know anyone who has run in the Kentucky Derby, and even anyone who has won a graded stakes.

West Saratoga is known as after the street in Littleton where Veruchi grew up. It is positioned six blocks from the Centennial track, which closed in 1983.

The just one of their group with any Derby experience is jockey Jesus Castanon. In 2011 aboard Shackleford he finished fourth. They set the pace and led at the eighth pole, only to be overtaken by the eventual winner Animal Kingdom.

“I thought I was going to win it,” Castanon said. “I was going crazy in my mind.”

Demeritte has led horses in the Derby in recent times.

“I’ve been practicing,” he said, his smile revealing the gap in his front teeth. “I used to pray to get to the Derby. I feel blessed with this horse.”

Demeritte looks to the sky on Saturday, when the forecast calls for a 43% likelihood of rain. The gray stallion never ran on a wet track, but his father did.

Exaggerator finished second in the 2016 Derby and went on to win the Preakness and Haskell. Both races took place on uneven tracks.

“It’s really amazing how we managed to get this position on this horse,” Demeritte said. “I hope people see our history and take an interest in the sport because this horse proves that anyone with a dream can get on the Derby stage.”