HORSE RACING

Tacitus was made the slight favorite over Preakness winner War of Will in a Belmont Stakes that wraps up a wacky Triple Crown.

Tacitus and War of Will got the outside No. 10 and 9 post positions, respectively, on Tuesday in the draw, but those should not be a problem in the 1 1/2-mile race on Saturday at Belmont Park.

Hopefully, this race won’t have any controversy or unexpected excitement, like the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

A year after Justify electrified the racing world by capturing the Triple Crown, thoroughbred’s biggest event for 3-year-olds ended in chaos after Maximum Security was disqualified after finishing first in the Derby. Country House was placed first.

Within days, the owners of Maximum Security and County House said they would be skipping the Preakness, meaning there would be no Triple Crown.

War of Will was impressive in winning the Preakness but the race was overshadowed when a rival colt threw its rider and ran around the track during the race.

Now comes the Belmont. Ten colts were entered and it seems to be a two-horse race between horses trained by Bill Mott and Mark Casse.

SOCCER

FIFA: French President Emmanuel Macron angered the head of European football on Tuesday by using a speech at a FIFA reception to denounce a proposal to transform the Champions League into a largely closed competition.

Macron’s criticism at an opening event for the Women’s World Cup was delivered in front of UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, who told The Associated Press it was “clear interference of politics in sports.”

Macron’s comments, based on Ceferin’s account, echoed a public intervention by the French leader earlier Tuesday when he urged UEFA to abandon the concept being championed by elite clubs determined to lock in their positions in the Champions League from 2024.

The media was not invited to the reception and the address by Macron at the Grand Palais in the French capital.

“During his speech he was mentioning UEFA and saying that we should be careful about changes of the Champions League and that solidarity is important,” Ceferin told the AP from the event. “The president’s speech was a clear interference of politics in sports which surprised us very much.”

U.S. UNDER-20 MEN: Sebastian Soto tied the score with his second goal of the match in the 74th minute and Justin Rennicks got the go-ahead goal in the 83rd to lead the United States over France 3-2 Tuesday at Bydgoszcz, Poland, and into its third straight quarterfinal appearance at the Under-20 World Cup.

The U.S. plays Ecuador on Saturday at Gdynia, and the winner advances to a semifinal against South Korea or Senegal.

WNBA: Chelsea Gray scored a career-high 29 points and keyed the Los Angeles Sparks’ rally in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Liberty 78-73 on Tuesday.

HOCKEY

NHL: Chicago  hired Marc Crawford as an assistant coach on Jeremy Colliton’s staff. The 58-year-old Crawford was the interim head coach for Ottawa at the end of last season. He also has served as the head coach for Colorado, Vancouver, Los Angeles and Dallas, leading the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup title in 1996.

• Nashville hired Dan Lambert as an assistant coach. He spent the last two seasons as head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Spokane Chiefs.

– News service report