Sierra

Japanese horse racing has been on the precipice of breaking through on the U.S. scene. It seemed like it was almost there in 2021 when it won three Breeders’ Cup races. But after that it leveled off.

Through 10 races at this year’s Breeders’ Cup, horses from Japan underperformed. But in the 11th, the most important race in the two-day event, the breakthrough became official when Forever Young held off Sierra Leone, last year’s winner, to win the $7-million Breeders’ Cup Classic by a half-length.

The last time we saw Forever Young in this country was a year ago when the 4-year-old colt finished third in the Classic. Before that, he was third in the Kentucky Derby by a whisker while being on the receiving end of some bumping down the stretch by Sierra Leone. Without that he might have been victorious in a race that was won by Mystik Dan.

The commonality between the 2021 and 2025 Breeders’ Cup days was that both were run at Del Mar.

Forever Young was almost the victim of some legal chicanery on Saturday as trainer Chad Brown entered a horse — called a rabbit — with little chance to win so that he could set a fast pace. Sierra Leone, also trained by Brown, needs a fast pace to weaken the other horses, which would benefit Sierra Leone’s late running style.

But this time, Forever Young overcame all the obstacles thrown at him. He ran a very tactical race being placed close to the lead and never farther back than third.

Forever Young paid $9.00 to win. He was followed in order by Sierra Leone, Fierceness, Journalism, Mindframe, Baeza, Nevada Beach, Antiquarian and Contrary Thinking, who was the rabbit in the 1 1/4- mile race.

It was the third Breeders’ Cup win for trainer Yoshito Yahagi. When asked if this was his most satisfying win, Yahagi said, through a translator: “I will never, ever get satisfied until I get retired as a trainer.”

Forever Young was the third foreign horse to win the Classic, joining Argentine-bred Invasor in 2006 and Irish-bred Black Tie Affair in 1991.

“So last time here, the horse was 75% conditioned,” Yahagi said. “And this time we create 100% condition. Forever Young is an amazing horse.”

The winning jockey was Ryusei Sakai.

“We got the No. 1 in America,” Yahagi said to NBC.

The Classic lost a lot of luster when the favorite, Sovereignty, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, was scratched earlier in the week when he spiked a fever. Sovereignty was the top-rated horse in the country and a possible horse-of-the-year winner. Many were hoping for a rematch with Journalism, who finished second in both those races and won the Preakness, which Sovereignty did not run in.

Trainer Bill Mott only brought two horses to the Breeders’ Cup, Sovereignty and Scylla. While Sovereignty didn’t make the starting gate on Saturday, Scylla ($17.20 to win) sure did, winning the biggest race of the year for female horses, the $2-million Distaff.

“It’s certainly difficult to see what happened to Sovereignty,” Mott said. “I think everybody that’s connected [with this sport] has been through it and we knew when it happened, he wouldn’t be able to compete and not at the level that he would need to. And it seems as though he’s recovering well but he’s really not the story here.

“I mean this one is about Scylla and about Junior [Alvarado, his jockey] and the Juddmonte connections.”

Alvarado took her to the front and never looked back, winning the 1 1/8-mile race by 5 1/2 lengths. Nitrogen was second and Regaled finished third. Favorite Seismic Beauty contended early but then faded to 12th in the 13-horse field.

The second richest race on the card, the $5-million Turf, was supposed be a matchup of two-time winner Rebel’s Romance and Minnie Hauk, who had five wins and two seconds in seven starts. They ran together for most of the 1 1/2-mile race but long shot Ethical Diamond started rolling in the top of the stretch and cruised to a 1 1/4-length win. Rebel’s Romance was second.

The Irish-bred Ethical Diamond, trained by William Mullins and ridden by Dylan Browne McMonagle, paid $57.40 to win.

The first Breeders’ Cup race of the day, the $1-million Filly & Mare Sprint, became less interesting when two of the favorites, Sweet Azteca (2-1 morning line) and Tamara (7-2), were scratched by the veterinarian. There was a third scratch that took the field down to seven.

Bob Baffert had three of the horses in the race, including Splendora, who won in dominating fashion by 4 3/4 lengths and paid $7.80. He was midpack until the far turn of the seven-furlong race before jockey Flavien Prat let him loose in the stretch.

It was Baffert’s 20th Breeders’ Cup win, tying him for second with the late Wayne Lukas. Aidan O’Brien won his 21st Breeders’ Cup race on Friday.

“[Lukas] changed every industry for the better,” Baffert said. “He brought elegance to the game. … To be part of it and then to tie him, it’s an honor for me. … I still miss him. I loved having conversations with him. It’s an honor to tie him.”

Shisospicy ($12.60) broke on top and held the lead to the finish to win the $1-million Turf Sprint, which was ran at five furlongs. The 3-year-old filly is trained by Jose Francisco D’Angelo and was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., who picked up his 22nd Cup victory.

She’s Quality was eased shortly out of the gate in the Turf Sprint by jockey Colin Keane and walked onto the equine ambulance. She was transported to an equine hospital and is back in her barn being monitored.

Ortiz picked up his 23rd win in the next race when he won the $2-million Sprint aboard Bentornato. It was also the second straight victory for D’Angelo. Bentornato broke on top and was never headed in the six-furlong race. It was only his second race of the year for the 4-year-old ridgling. Bentornato finished second in last year’s Sprint, losing to Straight No Chaser, who finished seventh on Saturday.

There were three additional Breeders’ Cup races after the Classic, the turf Mile, Dirt Mile and Filly & Mare Turf.

Rescuers in the rugged Eastern Sierra are searching for a Seattle man who has been missing since early September — and possibly longer — after climbing among some of California’s most remote and daunting mountain peaks.

Billy Pierson, an experienced alpinist, was in California getting in shape for an upcoming trip to Nepal, according to a comment his brother, Steve Pierson, left on Facebook.

On Aug. 9, the alpinist was hiking with a friend. “After their hike, he separated from that friend and is believed to have headed toward Inyo County,” the Inyo County Sheriff’s office said in a news release. “He was later reported missing on September 10, 2025.”

It was not immediately clear when Billy Pierson separated from his friend, or who was the person who reported him missing. The Inyo County Sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Billy Pierson, an experienced alpinist, was in California getting in shape for an upcoming trip to Nepal.

(Inyo County Sheriff)

It is believed Pierson was attempting the Palisades Traverse, a classic and technical mountaineering route along the Sierra crest that covers close to 20 miles and crosses the summits of five mountains taller than 14,000 feet.

In addition to climbing the challenging peaks, mountaineers also often have to navigate the Palisades Glacier, one of the last true glaciers remaining in California.

Steve Pierson said his brother’s plan was to begin, or end, his epic trip at Temple Crag, a familiar landmark to seasoned Sierra climbers and hikers that towers above the magnificent, glacier-fed Big Pine Lakes.

The Inyo County Sheriff’s office, working with Inyo County Search and Rescue, scoured the area around Temple Crag with no success.

Pierson is 5’9”, 165 lbs, and was last known to be carrying a large, navy blue or gray backpack. He was wearing black and yellow shoes and liked to hike in a baseball cap with a bandana underneath.

News that Pierson is missing follows several other incidents this summer in which hikers got dangerously lost or were found dead.

On Sept. 12, an Argentinian climber fell 2,000 feet to his death on Mt. Shasta. The 45-year old tech executive had summited successfully, but lost his way on the descent, winding up on the steep and icy Wintum Glacier. He attempted a controlled slide to reach the safety of a trail below, but lost control, collided with a boulder, and eventually slid the length of the glacier.

Also in September, a San Luis Obispo County man — Kirk Thomas-Olsen, 61 — was found dead in Yosemite National Park more than 20 days after he was expected to return from his solo hike.

In August, a boy scout troop hiking in the Emigrant Wilderness north of Yosemite National Park came upon a 78-year old man who had spent a night without food, water or shelter in the mountains. He had lost his pack and seemed incoherent when the scouts found him and escorted him to safety.

Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman has known Jon Ellinghouse for a long time.

Before facing Sierra Canyon on Thursday night at Orange Coast College, Sherman said he wouldn’t mind telling the Trailblazers coach directly that he thought Ellinghouse’s team was the best he had seen the school produce.

After No. 2 Sierra Canyon dismantled No. 7 Orange Lutheran 41-9, Sherman was certain.

“No doubt,” he said.

Eric Sondheimer, The Times’ high school sports columnist, nicknamed the Trailblazers’ swarming, antagonizing defense the “Kaboom Squad” — a superhero-like, nonstop force of power, speed and IQ.

How do you stop a defensive front such as Sierra Canyon’s?

Orange Lutheran (3-2) was still searching for an answer in the muggy-air aftermath of a suffocating loss that featured 10 tackles for loss and six sacks.

“There were some unbelievable special plays defensively,” said Ellinghouse after Sierra Canyon improved to 5-0.

Junior defensive back Madden Riordan sealed the game with an interception. Senior defensive lineman Mikhal Johnson recorded two sacks. Junior defensive tackle Kasi Currie had two tackles for loss and an interception over a four-play span in the second quarter.

The Trailblazers sideline shouted in the third quarter when senior defensive back Trey Brown snuck in for a booming sack.

“Everybody was hype for me,” Brown said.

It was relentless. The Lancers completed just five passes on 17 attempts.

Senior defensive end Richard Wesley’s scream in the middle of the postgame huddle said it all.

“I’m happy,” Wesley — who made a sack — roared, extending the “y” for emphasis.

Don’t let the scoreboard fool you; it could have been an Orange Lutheran goose egg — so much so that Ellinghouse said he considered the game a shutout.

The Trailblazers began their first drive with a tipped-pass interception from Lancers freshman defensive back Kiingbaraka Kizzee — stalling in the red zone and settling for a field goal — and ended the first half with a blocked field goal and a 71-yard touchdown return from junior Matthew Zapien.

None of the Lancers’ scores came from a steady drive. On the other hand, the Trailblazers scored with ease.

Ellinghouse called a trick, double-reverse leading to Sierra Canyon senior quarterback Laird Finkel finding big man Brayden Tautolo in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown to make it 14-3 in the first quarter.

After an Orange Lutheran three-and-out, Louisiana State defensive back commit Havon Finney Jr. scored on a 62-yard punt return. It didn’t let up.

Sierra Canyon junior running back Jaxsen Stokes scored on a 16-yard run in addition to a pair of three-yard touchdown runs. Even Wesley contributed on offense with a 16-yard reception.

A big question remains.

After dominant wins against JSerra, Oaks Christian and Downey, as well as Punahou (Hawaii) — to a 233–16 total points differential — what’s stopping Sierra Canyon from challenging Mater Dei, St. John Bosco, and others for the Southern Section Division 1 crown?

Ellinghouse is ready to see if his team has what it takes to dominate in Mission League play.

And so are his players.

“Me and my teammates were watching that Mater Dei versus Corona Centennial — we just thought to ourselves, why not us this year?” Currie said. “We’re gonna win this year. I believe that; I’m stating that we’re gonna win this year.”

Pow! Bam! Whack!

Sierra Canyon has a defense in high school football that needs comic book treatment.

Call them “The Kaboom Squad.”

At any moment, whether it’s a lineman, linebacker or defensive back delivering the blow, be prepared to be wowed.

With size, quickness and depth, the Trailblazers have shut out opponents for 12 consecutive quarters. The opponents haven’t been bad: JSerra, Oaks Christian and Honolulu Punahou.

Will they go through their 10-game regular-season schedule unscored upon? Absolutely not. But the reason they have three shutouts in lopsided victories is that the second stringers are performing as well as first stringers when coach Jon Ellinghouse clears the bench.

Their 63-0 win over Oaks Christian broadcast on Spectrum only added to the Trailblazers’ reputation.

It’s kaboom time as Sam Amuti of Sierra Canyon High prepares to level a Punahou ballcarrier.

(Craig Weston)

A combination of returnees and transfers gives the Trailblazers a defense with few weaknesses.

Nobody is perfect, and perhaps Downey and star quarterback Oscar Rios will be the first to end the shutout streak on Friday, but this is Sierra Canyon’s best defense since the spring of the 2021 COVID season when the Trailblazers put together 18 consecutive quarters of allowing zero points and gave a scare to St. John Bosco.

All the Trailblazers’ positions are filled with talented starters and quality backups. The defensive line starts with Texas commit Richard Wesley, wearing No. 99, the number of Rams great Aaron Donald. The linebackers have a smart, fearless tackler in Ronen Zamorano. The secondary has so many college-bound players that the players’ NIL deals could pay for a trip to Hawaii. Madden Riordan (USC), Havon Finney Jr. (Louisiana State) and Brandon Lockhart (USC) lead the way. And coming soon when the sit-out period ends on Sept. 29 is kicker Carter Sobel, who was a standout at Chaminade and will add to bad field position for opposing offenses.

Sierra Canyon’s Spencer Parham gets emotional for a defense that hasn’t allowed any points in 12 quarters.

(Craig Weston)

Having seen the physicality of St. John Bosco’s offensive and defensive lines last week in a 21-14 win over Baltimore St. Frances, Sierra Canyon (3-0) still needs to keep progressing to be on the same level of the Trinity League powers needed to win a Southern Section Division 1 championship.

The Trailblazers are definitely closing the gap with the Braves and No. 1 Mater Dei. They get a good tune-up for the Division 1 playoffs with a matchup against Orange Lutheran on Sept. 18, a team they lost to last season 33-26.

Chris Rizzo, a former Taft head coach, is the Trailblazers’ defensive coordinator. He wears his baseball cap backward on the sideline with sunglasses and has many options for defensive packages.

Asked if the defense has any weaknesses, Rizzo said, “We have some weaknesses. We’re not perfect by any means. We’ve got some things we have to fix and keep getting better.”

The defense is also helping Sierra Canyon’s offense improve because it’s so difficult to move the ball during practices.

“It makes our guys better,” Ellinghouse said.

Rizzo declined to reveal which unit he thinks is best. “The secondary is pretty star-studded,” he said. “The defensive line is deep. They embrace the grind and play for each other.”

Only time will tell whether this defense is as good as some think. There’s plenty of games ahead to prove if the Trailblazers are truly The Kaboom Squad.

As with paint colours or lipstick shades, naming a mountain range requires serious consideration. It should suggest character, create intrigue, and kindle desire. Who doesn’t want to explore the Crazy Mountains of Montana, or make a fiery pact with California’s Diablo Range? While studying a map of Spain, my interest was piqued by a patch of grey and green emptiness bearing the enticing words: Sierra de la Demanda.

I’ve travelled all over Spain for work and play in the last two decades, but somehow these “demanding” mountains had eluded me. Located in the remote northern interior, halfway between Madrid and Santander, their isolation (and a dearth of English-language Google results) only added to the mystique. The Sierra de la Demanda covers a vast area across Spain’s least populated regions of Burgos, Soria and La Rioja. An investigation of more detailed maps revealed an almost roadless expanse of limestone peaks, valleys, ravines, rivers, gorges and glacial lakes, with the highest peak, San Lorenzo, towering at 2,271 metres (7,451ft). The calling was real.

This is not the Spain of white villages and dusty olive groves. On the Demanda’s north face, where the climate is wetter and cooler, the improvised allotments, stone ruins and makeshift shacks are reminiscent of the forgotten corners of eastern Europe. Climbing higher, above the treeline, the terrain becomes harsh and rocky with sweeping views across plunging, pine-covered valleys. But unlike the dramatic outline of Spain’s more famous mountain ranges, the Demanda appear gradually, almost secretly, their true splendour only emerging once you’re deep in their midst. Every season brings its own charms. Winter is a snowy picture postcard, but in spring the meltwater sends waterfalls thundering down the mountainsides among wildflower meadows. Summer is hot and arid, but by autumn the temperatures hover in the mid-20Cs with (mostly) solid blue skies, and the ground is swathed in pink heather and alpine flowers.

The town of Ezcaray, on the north side, is the closest thing to a tourist hub – a scenic former textile centre on the River Oja that operates as a base for the small ski resort of Valdezcaray, built in the 1970s (the Palacio Azcárate has doubles from €90, B&B). The sealed road ends abruptly after the ski centre, becoming a rocky trail that makes for a nail-biting drive (especially in a hire car) along a ridge that’s at more than 1,800 metres (6,000ft), before looping back to Ezcaray in a dizzying descent of hairpin bends. The views are stupendous in every direction – fold upon fold of untouched mountain wilderness and, apart from the occasional hiking trail signpost, nothing human-made in sight.

Halfway around the loop road, if you’re craving more back-country adventure, a dirt track, appearing as an almost imperceptible black line on the Michelin map and marked with a rusty, hand-painted sign, takes you down into the southern foothills via the Lagunas de Neila, a cluster of glacial lakes, surrounded by cliffs and pine forests. The lakes can only be reached on foot, and at an altitude of 6,000ft make for an invigorating dip. The Laguna Negra is named after its dark waters, but in the late afternoon sun it appears a deep, shimmering blue. The water is, as you would expect, bracing, but it’s the sheer scale of the surroundings, and the solitude, that will take your breath away. The only sound accompanying my swim was a chorus of surprisingly loud frogs, ribbeting from the reeds.

On their south side, heading downhill from the lagunas, the Demanda feel different. The climate turns drier and warmer, and Spain becomes familiar again, with its oak forests, medieval ermitas (chapels) and sleepy villages where old men wave from their chairs outside the taverna. Although there are plenty of well-marked hiking and mountain bike trails here, this is still “España vacía” – empty Spain – and human activity remains a rare sight outside the towns. This phenomenon of the interior’s depopulation is much discussed by Spanish politicians and citizens, and the low density is tangible here – traffic is light and most of the activity is among the animal kingdom. Deer leap through the trees, boar amble across the road, and as the forests give way to open rocky landscapes, griffon vultures perch in their hundreds along the high cliffs before swooping and circling in the late afternoon thermals.

The village of Quintanar de la Sierra, in the southern foothills, makes a good base to explore the Demanda, and the Hostal Domingo offers affordable rooms (doubles from €55, room-only). Like all the villages in the area, life moves slowly and peacefully. Locals get around on horses and in beat-up 4x4s, the shops shut all afternoon, nobody speaks English, and everyone, young and old, socialises in the town plaza where a café con leche will set you back €1.50. Like the ski centre, the hotels and bars are a non-ironic throwback to the 1970s, their only concession to the 21st century being charmingly rudimentary websites and an email address. This is the land that social media forgot, and is better off for it. Although it may appear on the surface that there’s not much in the way of tourist attractions, as you delve deeper into its hidden corners, an intriguing and eclectic landscape of history and culture reveals itself.

Dinosaurs roamed this part of Spain, and hundreds of their footprints are visible near the town of Salas de los Infantes, which also boasts a dinosaur museum. Moving on a few miles, and a few million years, is the eerie Necrópolis de Cuyacabras, dating from the ninth to 11th centuries, where dozens of adult- and child-size tombs are carved from a slab of rock in the depth of a pine forest. Meandering through the villages, Roman bridges, abandoned monasteries and ruins of all eras – from medieval to mid-century – appear at every turn. For lovers of industrial archaeology (AKA clambering around abandoned buildings), an enticing disused railway runs through Salas, its crumbling stations and rusty tracks half hidden beneath tangles of vegetation.

One town where the monastery remains in immaculate order is Santo Domingo de Silos (stay in the Hotel Tres Coronas de Silos, an 18th-century palace nearby; doubles from €95, room only). Its abbey, dating back to at least the 10th century, became world famous in 1994 when its monks scored a chart-topping album of Gregorian chants, and visitors can listen to the vespers being sung every evening.

Three miles over the hill from Silos, you’ll find yourself at an altogether different but equally revered site – Sad Hill cemetery, one of cinema’s most well-known locations, where the closing scene of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly was filmed in 1966. Twenty miles west, venturing deeper into fantasy land, is the Territorio Artlanza, which claims to be the largest sculpture in the world. A magical, full-scale reproduction of a medieval Castilian village, created by Félix Yáñez, a local artist, from materials salvaged from rubbish dumps, it includes porticoed squares, a perfectly equipped school, a carpentry shop, bakery, forge, canteen, wine cellars, an alchemist’s pharmacy and even a small chapel.

Empty patches on maps that elicit few Google search results are rare in these hyperconnected, overshared times. There is a timelessness to the Sierra de la Demanda that feels like innocence, and while other parts of Spain struggle with the pressures of over-tourism, these mountains are a lungful of fresh air. The charms of the Demanda are simple and unshowy, and ironically, make few demands on the visitor – except to breathe deeply and tread lightly.

The highly coveted High Sierra Camps in Yosemite National Park that have been closed since 2018 will remain closed this summer because potable water and toilets won’t be available, according to park officials.

“This decision was made in collaboration with the National Park Service [NPS], which manages the utilities necessary to run the camps,” according to the park’s website. “Impacted guests have been contacted and can book alternate accommodations within the park and will be offered priority booking for next year’s lottery.”

Every year, more than 13,000 people stay at the Yosemite camps — five separate locations that offer various glamping amenities such as high-end meals and access to running water. Waste is recycled and composted and guests have access to either flush or solar-powered composting toilets, according to the park. Showers are available at May Lake and Sunrise Camps, depending on water availability.

The cabins fully reopened for the last time in 2018 and opened on a limited basis during the summer of 2024. Only three of the camps welcomed guests and the camp’s 56 tent cabins have mostly stayed closed due to COVID restrictions and extreme weather.

The Yosemite camps are spaced 6 to 10 miles apart along a loop trail and are open seasonally from June to September. Dates are heavily dependent on weather. Park visitors can book both guided and unguided trips between the cabins. Guided trips are either five or seven days and include a guide and all three meals at each camp. Unguided trips are self-guided and include two meals, with sack lunches available for an additional fee.

Visitors can enter a lottery for the 2026 season, which will open Nov. 1 and close Nov. 30 at the end of the day. Winners are notified by email.