Nov 4, 2019 4 min read

Zendt wins 3,000th

Brian Zendt collected career win 3,000 when he drove Saratoga Gia to victory in Monday’s ninth race at The Meadows.

“It’s a good accomplishment for me because I don’t drive every race,” he said. “It seems a long time since I got 2,000.”

He took the first step towards his next milestone by bringing Cupcake Boss home – at 23-1 – in Race 11.

Zendt, 43, who began driving in 1995, also has 249 career training wins. He currently operates a stable typically numbering three to five head but can see a day when he expands.

Zendt is part of a storied harness racing family. His dad, Bill, has been a leading trainer at The Meadows for decades and remains active and successful. Bill’s late father, Wilbur, was a prominent trainer/driver. Brian’s brother, Phillip, is a trainer based at The Meadows, and their sister, Bethann, is a longtime Standardbred owner and the wife of Dave Palone, harness racing’s winningest driver.

Wild Things sign pitcher

The Wild Things announced Monday the signing of right-handed pitcher Jake Dexter.

The 6-2 200-pound Dexter was a two-way player for the University of Southern Maine. Though Dexter was a contributor in the Huskies’ infield, he flashed game-changing ability out of the bullpen with 2.08 career ERA with 148 strikeouts in 147 innings and 34 saves.

Dexter signed a professional contract with the Los Angeles Angels this past June, making seven appearances with the Arizona League affiliate.

“Jake was the most impressive arm during our post-draft workout in June and the Angels signed him that day,” said Wild Things general manager Tony Buccilli. “He was borderline unhittable against his college counterparts. We saw an intense demeanor reflecting in his work on the mound.”

WVU’s Haskins pleads guilty

West Virginia tight end Jovani Haskins has pleaded guilty to a charge related to a driving incident.

The Dominion Post reports Haskins was fined $500 plus court costs after pleading guilty to reckless driving Monday in Monongalia County Magistrate Court.

Under a plea agreement, a guilty plea to fleeing from a police officer was deferred and a charge of driving left of center was dismissed. Assistant Prosecutor Erik Brown says Haskins also must perform 100 hours of community service, complete a driving class and acquire no new violations for one year.

Campus police say an officer chased a car that was speeding and almost crashed into another vehicle July 28. The pursuit continued until the car parked in a student housing lot with the driver taking off on foot. Haskins’ student identification card was found inside the car.

Winslow Jr. takes plea deal

Former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to raping an unconscious teen in 2003 and to sexual battery involving a 54-year-old hitchhiker in a deal that spared him the possibility of life in prison.

Winslow initially hesitated and seemed to agonize over his decision.

He asked the judge for more time before he finally entered the guilty pleas moments before he was about to be retried on six felonies including kidnapping, sodomy, forced oral copulation and two charges of forcible rape in San Diego County Superior Court that could have sent him to prison for life if he was convicted.

In exchange for his plea, the court agreed to sentence him to between 12 and 18 years in prison for the two charges and dismiss the others.

In June, a jury found him guilty of raping a homeless woman in Encinitas, north of San Diego. Jurors also convicted him of two misdemeanors involving two other women.

But that jury failed to agree on other charges, including the alleged rape of the hitchhiker and the rape of the unconscious 17-year-old girl in 2003 when he was 19. Under the plea deal, the attack on the hitchhiker was reduced to sexual battery.

The 36-year-old former tight end was at one point one of the highest-paid in the NFL.