Off the wire

LITTLE ROCK — HORSE RACING

3 injuries cloud record day

Breakdowns - at least two of them fatal - marred a record slate of stakes races Saturday at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., in which four horses earned automatic spots in the Breeders' Cup. Teuflesberg, the 17th-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, pulled up short in the Grade 3 Phoenix Handicap with fractures to both front legs. He was expected to have surgery early next week to fuse bones in his ankles, said veterinarian Alan Ruggles. The ugliest injury of the day didn't happen on the track but in the paddock as Dream of Angels was being saddled for the Phoenix. The horse was euthanized because of severe head trauma, severe bleeding and cranial and spinal cord problems. Gold Train also was euthanized after pulling up lame with a fractured right foot just past the quarter-pole in the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity. The Futurity, the highlight of a record five graded stakes races for the Lexington track, was won by Wicked Style, who showed good speed from start to finish. The victory gave the George Arnold-trained 2-year-old an automatic berth in next month's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, whose winner is often the early favorite for the KentuckyDerby. Robby Albarado guided the colt to the front-running victory, beating Slew's Tiznow by more than 3 lengths. Wicked Style paid $24.20, $10.80 and $6.40. Slew's Tiznow returned $6.20 and $4.60, and Old Man Buck paid $13.20 to show. Purim won the other Grade 1 race of the day, the Shadwell Turf Mile. The 20-to-1 shot, trained by Thomas Proctor and ridden by Jamie Theriot, held off Cosmonaut by a neck to win a berth in the Breeders Cup Mile. Purim paid $43.80, $16.20 and $9. Cosmonaut was $5.80 and $3.60. Shakis was $3.20. In the Grade 3 Phoenix, 14-to-1 shot Off Duty took the lead just past the halfway point and held off Rebellion by a half-length. With Larry Melancon aboard, the colt won for the eighth time in 15 starts to earn a spot in the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Off Duty paid $29.40, $12.80 and $8, Rebellion returned $9.60 and $6.20, and Saint Anddan paid $4 to show. In the Grade 2 First Lady, Vacare - the second horse on the board at 2-1 - won under Corey Nakatani to clinch a berth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf. She paid $7.80, $4 and $3.40. Precious Kitten returned $4.40 and $3.20, and Quite a Bride paid $4 to show. Even-money favorite, French-bred Lady of Venice was fourth.

War Pass took the early lead and nevermissed a beat, cruising to an easy 1 1 /2-length victory in the $400,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., on Saturday. The 2-year-old colt improved to 3 for3 for trainer Nick Zito. War Pass, purchased for $180,000 last year by Robert La Penta, was the 9-2 third choice and returned $11.20, $6.70 and $5.20. Pyro, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, returned $19.60 and $9.40, and Z Humor paid $10.80 to show. The winning time forthe mile Grade 1 Champagne was 1:36.12. War Pass earned an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup because the Champagne was one of 24 Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" races. In other stakes at Belmont, 3-5 favorite Indian Blessing ($3.30) pulled away in the stretch and won the $400,000 Frizette Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, giving trainer Bob Baffert a top contender for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in three weeks. Indian Blessing, ridden by Garrett Gomez, is 2 for 2. Nobiz Like Shobiz ($5.90) made it 3 for 3 since moving to the grass with an impressive 4-length victory in the $300,000 Jamaica Handicap. Trainer Barclay Tagg has said his 3-year-old colt, who finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby, would skip the Breeders' Cup and run instead in the Hollywood Derby.

TRACK AND FIELD IAAF president calls Jones 'fraud'

International Association of Athletics Federations President Lamine Diack said Saturday he was "deeply disappointed" with the news that Marion Jones had admitted to taking banned drugs when she won three Olympic golds and two bronze medals in 2000. "If she had trusted to her own natural gifts and allied them to self sacrifice and hard work I sincerely believe that she could have been an honest champion at the Sydney [Australia] Games," Diack said in a statement. "Now, instead, Marion Jones will be remembered as one of the biggest frauds in sporting history." Jones pleaded guilty Friday in the U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs. After the hearing, she announced her retirement from the sport. The IAAF will work with the International Olympic Committee to determine whether Jones should be stripped of her medals from Sydney and other results. Under statute of limitations rules, the IOC and other sports bodies can go back eight yearsto remove medals and nullify results. In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600-meter relay and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay. Jones won a gold (100 meters) and bronze (long jump) at the 1999 worlds in Seville, Spain, and two gold (200 and 400 relay) and a silver (100) at the 2001 world championships in Edmonton, Alberta.

BASKETBALL

Nuggets guard breaks hand

Denver Nuggets guard Anthony Carter broke a bone in his right hand during practice Saturday morning. He fractured the third metacarpal, the team said. No timeline was set for his return. Carter averaged 3.0 points, 5.5 assists and 1.5 rebounds in two games for the Nuggets last season. In eight years in the NBA, Carter has averaged 4.7 points, 3.7 assists and two rebounds in 364 games for Miami, San Antonio, Minnesota and Denver.

Al Jefferson had 11 points and 17 rebounds, fellow newcomer Ryan Gomes scored 12 points, and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat Efes Pilsen 84-81 Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey, in the first game of the NBA Europe Live tour. Gomes had 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half. Ricky Davis scored 12 points. Drew Nicholas scored 24 points, and Andre Hutson had 15 points and 19 rebounds for the Turkish team.

Kevin Garnett had 19 points and 16 rebounds in his Celtics debut, and Boston ruined Andrea Bargnani's homecoming with an 89-85 preseason victory over the Toronto Raptors in Rome. Paul Pierce added 21 points for Boston, while Ray Allen had an off night with only 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

TENNIS

Venus Williams upset in final

Top-seeded Venus Wiliams was upset by Virginie Razzano 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4 Saturday in the final of the Japan Open in Tokyo. Williams had three match points in the tiebreaker of the second set but couldn't finish off the fifth-seeded Razzano, who won her second consecutive WTA tournament. On the men's side, top-seeded David Ferrer of Spain defeated Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6 (3), 6-3 and will face Richard Gasquet of France in today's final. Gasquet defeated second-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 6-3.

Top-ranked Justine Henin defeatedJelena Jankovic 7-6 (2), 7-5 Saturday and will play Tatiana Golovin for the title of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. Golovin reached her second consecutive Porsche GP final by upsetting second-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-4. The winner of today's final can choose between a Porsche 911 convertible or $92,410 in cash.

Top-seeded Tommy Robredo defeated Nicolas Mahut of France 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 Saturday in the semifinals of the Moselle Open in Metz, France. The Spaniard faces third-seeded Andy Murray of Scotland in today's final. Murray knocked out second-seeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the ATP indoor event.

Top-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Pauline Parmentier of France advanced to the final of the Tashkent (Uzbekistan) Open on Saturday. Azareanka beat fourth-seeded Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in their semifinal, and Parmentier upset third-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-2, 7-5.

FIGURE SKATING U.S. defeats Japan in team event

Caroline Zhang and Johnny Weir helped the United States defeat Japan in a team figure skating competition Saturday in Yokohama, Japan. The U.S. women defeated the heavily favored Japanese women, featuring world champion Miki Ando, by a total of 289.00 points to 284.90. The U.S. men outpaced Japan 362.81 to 334.48. Ando fell on a combination and briefly stopped her performance before finishing 10 points back of world junior champion Zhang, who scored 56.78. Weir outpaced Yasuharu Nanri 73.90 to 51.07, with a routine that featured a triple lutz.

BOXING

Peter survives 3 knockdowns

Samuel Peter survived three early knockdowns to pull away from Jameel McCline and keep the WBC heavyweight championship Saturday night at Madison Square Garden New York. Peter (29-1) was handed the belt by the WBC after champion Oleg Maskaev dropped out of the fight because of a back injury. Peter said he would show he was deserving of the title with his work in the ring, and after the first three rounds the 27-year-old fighter did just that. McCline, who was supposed to fight on the undercard before being moved up to the big bout, dropped to 38-8-3.