Page 47 - 0609

Groton Daily Independent
Saturday, June 09, 2018 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 330 ~ 47 of 59
burned out before the long stretch run. Others have moved too late and let the leaders get away. Historically, deep closers have not fared well in the Belmont, so riders will seek to put their horses within
a few lengths at the quarter pole.
Justify has to overcome the No. 1 post position and Baffert will be watching closely to see if the colt
breaks cleanly from the gate. Once he does, jockey Mike Smith will settle Justify much like Elliott tried with Smarty Jones, a similarly speedy colt.
“It’s just about getting the horse in a good, happy, comfortable place, wherever that may be,” Smith said. “He’s got such a natural high cruising speed and he can just kind of keep on going.”
If Justify wins on Saturday, he will have faced the largest field (nine) of any of the previous 12 Triple Crown winners.
He is bidding to join Seattle Slew in 1977 as the only undefeated Triple Crown champions. After not rac- ing as a 2-year-old, Justify has made up for lost time. He’s 5-0, having raced for the first time on Feb. 18. “I couldn’t be happier with the way he looks,” Baffert said. “He looks no different than the way American
Pharoah did coming in here.”
Justify won the Kentucky Derby by 2 1/2 lengths and the Preakness by a half-length on sloppy tracks,
putting him in position to deliver a second Triple Crown in four years to the struggling sport. A crowd capped at 90,000 is expected at Belmont Park. The forecast calls for 80 degrees and a 20 percent chance of rain. “I was just surprised on how well he handled the atmosphere at the Derby with the crowd, how he handled it at the Preakness because every time he shows up people start yelling and screaming and he
just looks at them like, ‘Thank you,’” Baffert said. “Once he enters the building, it’ll be like Elvis.” ___
For more Belmont coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/Horseracing
Celebrity suicides highlight troubling trend in midlife By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO (AP) — The deaths of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade high- light a troubling trend — rising suicides among middle-aged Americans.
Mental health problems, often undiagnosed, are usually involved and experts say knowing warning signs and who is at risk can help stop a crisis from becoming a tragedy.
Bourdain, 61, and Spade, 55, died three days and a continent apart this week amid a new U.S. report showing an uptick in suicides rates in nearly every state since 1999. Middle-aged adults — ages 45 to 64 — had the largest rate increase, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Previous studies have suggested economic downturns and the nation’s opioid crisis contributed to the rise in middle-aged suicides.
Dr. Christine Moutier, a psychiatrist and chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, said Friday it’s important for everyone to know the warning signs and to intervene when fam- ily members, friends or co-workers appear troubled. Asking if they’ve had suicidal thoughts is not harmful and lets them know you care, she said.
Behavior that may indicate someone is suicidal includes:
—Talking about feeling hopeless, trapped, a burden to others or wanting to die.
—Unusual mood swings or withdrawing from family, friends and usual activities.
—Giving away important possessions.
—Increased use of alcohol or drugs.
This week’s report found that many suicides were in people with no known mental illness. But Dr. Joshua
Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said that contradicts years of data, suggesting many have “gone undiagnosed and untreated. It’s very troubling.”
Gordon said doctors need to ask patients at every opportunity about their mental health and evaluate their risk for suicide.
“When you ask everybody and not just people you might suspect, you double the number you detect,”