Unbeaten favorite Hughes established himself as an early Kentucky Derby favorite by taking control through the far turn and pulling away for a 2 1/4-length victory over American History in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. Named for U.S. Olympic men’s hockey hero Jack Hughes, whose overtime goal clinched the gold medal in last winter’s Milan-Cortina Games, the bay colt trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert seized the moment on his biggest stage to date and didn’t look back. He covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.27 to improve to 5-0 with three wins by at least six lengths.

Because he grew up playing hockey with and against Johnny Gaudreau in their teenage years, Vincent Conanan talks about the late NHL star plent…