Sports Digest: Forte is 3-1 favorite for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby

Todd Pletcher-trained colt Forte and Brad Cox’s filly Wet Paint are the morning line favorites for the 149th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.

Forte, the 2-year-old champion whose 190 points led the Derby qualifying trail, drew the No. 15 post at 3-1 odds on Monday for the $3 million premier race for 3-year-olds. He brings in a five-race winning streak and has won 6-of-7 starts, including last month’s Florida Derby won by a length over Mage, who will start from the No. 8 post at 15-1 odds.

Stablemate Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice after drawing the No. 5 post on Monday, with Cox’s Angel of Empire (154 points) the 8-1 third choice after drawing the No. 14 post.

Wet Paint will lead Friday’s $1.25 million Oaks from the No. 7 post at 5-2 odds. One of three fillies trained by Louisville-born Cox among 14 entrants for the 1 1/8th mile race, she has won all three starts this year and enters with consecutive Grade 3 stakes wins in the Fantasy and Honeybee respectively at Oaklawn Park.

Stablemate Botanical is the 4-1 second choice from the No. 6 post with trainer Norm Casse’s Southlawn the 8-1 third choice from the No. 4 post.

COLLEGES

BASEBALL: Jonathan Wilson drove in Andrew Pike on a groundout to short in the bottom of the sixth inning for the go-ahead run, giving the The University of Southern Maine an 8-7 win over Plymouth State at Gorham.

Kyle Douin hit a three-run homer in the third and Cam Seymour added a solo shot in the fifth for USM (15-17, 10-4 LEC). Pike and Brogan Searle-Belanger each had an RBI in the second inning. Matt Burnett allowed one hit and struck out four of five batters to earn the save.

Bryan McGrath tied the game at seven with a grand slam in the top of the sixth and finished with five RBI. Sam Malgeri went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI for Plymouth State (11-19, 3-11).

SOCCER

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Two-time champion Wolfsburg secured a place in another final after scoring a late winner in extra time to beat Arsenal 3-2 for a 5-4 victory on aggregate at London.

Wolfsburg, which won the competition in 2013 and ’14 and was a runner-up in 2016, ’18 and ’20, will play Barcelona in the final in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on June 3.

TENNIS

MADRID OPEN: Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva’s impressive run came to an end after a loss to second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.

After three straight-set victories against top-40 opponents in her main-draw debut, the 16-year-old wild card couldn’t get past Sabalenka in the fourth round, losing 6-3, 6-1 in her first center-court appearance in the Spanish capital.

Sabalenka’s next opponent will be Mayar Sherif, who defeated Elise Merten 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 after nearly three hours to become the first Egyptian to reach the quarterfinals of a WTA 1000 tournament. She was already the first Egyptian woman to play in a Grand Slam, and the first to win a tour title.

In the men’s draw, Daniil Medvedev came from a break down twice in the final set to reach the last 16 at the expense of fellow Russian Alexander Shevchenkowith by 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

The victory took Medvedev to a tour-best 33-4 record this season. He will next face qualifier Aslan Karatsev, who defeated 16th-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Eighth-seeded American Taylor Fritz defeated Cristian Garin 6-1, 7-6 (4), and fellow American Frances Tiafoe lost to Pedro Cachin 6-1, 7-6 (2). Jan-Lennard Struff defeated Dusan Lajovic 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-3.