Nov 29, 2017 3 min read

At The Meadows

Using Lasix for the second time, Lady Ping rolled to an easy front-end victory in 1:53.1, a career best, in Wednesday’s $18,000 Filly & Mare Winners Over $10,000 Life/Preferred Handicap Trot at The Meadows.

Lady Ping won an early duel for the lead with Goodtogo Hanover and easily thwarted the first-over challenge of Panana Republic. She widened in the lane for Dave Palone and downed Goodtogo Hanover by 5-1/2 lengths, with Classical Annie third.

Ron Burke trains Lady Ping, a 5-year-old daughter of Muscle Mass-Ping Putter who now boasts a lifetime bankroll of $192,564, for Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi LLC.

In Wednesday’s co-feature, a $17,000 Winners Over $10,000 Life Trotting Handicap, Crosbys Clam Bake made it two straight with a wire-to-wire triumph in 1:55 for Aaron Merriman and trainer Randy Bendis, who owns with Jack Piatt II and Tom Pollack. The 7-year-old Kadabra-Pacific Elegance gelding extended his career earnings to $551,016.

With five wins on the 12-race card, Merriman lifted his 2017 total to 995 in his quest to become only the fourth driver with 1,000 victories in a single season.

Edwards to interview for ASU vacancy

Former NFL coach and current ESPN analyst Herm Edwards will interview for the vacant Arizona State coaching job this week.

Edwards spoke about his interest in the job on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and a Phoenix radio station on Wednesday.

Edwards has not coached since 2008, when he was fired after a 2-14 season with the Kansas City Chiefs. He coached the New York Jets from 2001-05 and has spent the last nine years as an analyst for ESPN.

Edwards last coached at the college level in 1989, as a cornerbacks coach for San Jose State.

Arizona State athletic director Ray Anderson represented Edwards during his days as an agent.

Arizona State is searching for a replacement for Todd Graham, who was fired Sunday after six seasons.

More cuts at ESPN

ESPN is eliminating 150 production and technical employees as the sports broadcasting giant continues to shift its focus to a more digital future.

The company says the layoffs, which were announced Wednesday morning in a memo to employees, don’t include on-air talent and will have a minimal impact on the network’s signature SportsCenter news program.

“The majority of the jobs eliminated are in studio production, digital content, and technology and they generally reflect decisions to do less in certain instances and re-direct resources,” ESPN president John Skipper wrote in memo. “We will continue to invest in ways which will best position us to serve the modern sports fan and support the success of our business.”

The 38-year-old network has been squeezed by rising fees to broadcast live events. ESPN also has lost about 10 million subscribers during the past six years, based on estimates by Nielsen Media Research.

The company says it will grow its business in several key areas, including the planned launch early next year of “ESPN+”, an app-based service that will allow viewers to purchase sporting events a la carte.