HORSE RACING
Tonalist takes Gold Cup
Tonalist won the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park in New York. It was a triumphant return for the 3-year-old at his favorite track. He is 3 for 3 at Belmont, including the victory in the Belmont Stakes that denied California Chrome the Triple Crown. The Gold Cup was a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" stakes, guaranteeing Tonalist a berth in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita. Tonalist, the 3-1 favorite, beat Zivo by 1 3/4 lengths with Long River third. Tonalist paid $8.10, $4.30 and $3.40. Zivo returned $5.10 and $3.80, and Long River, a 52-1 outsider, paid $17.40. The time was 2:02.12 on the fast track. Moreno finished fourth but was disqualified and placed last for abruptly veering into the path of Wicked Strong on the final turn. Wicked Strong stumbled, unseating Rajiv Maragh who was taken to a local hospital for X-rays of his right arm. Wicked Strong ran on riderless, avoiding contact with other horses and was eventually caught by an outrider. In other Belmont Park races Saturday, Stephanie's Kitten picked the right time to get her first victory of the season in the $600,000 Flower Bowl for fillies and mares on the turf. The 6-5 favorite, Stephanie's Kitten beat Abaco by 1 1/4 lengths. John Velazquez rode for trainer Chad Brown as she covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.15, paying $4.40 to win. Main Sequence extended his winning streak in the U.S. to three in the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. Main Sequence edged Twilight Eclipse by a neck and survived a claim of foul alleging interference right before the finish lodged by Jose Lezcano aboard the runner-up. Main Sequence paid $5.90 to win as he ran the 1 1/2 miles in 2:26.32. Private Zone is heading back to the Breeders' Cup Sprint after a repeat victory in the $400,000 Vosburgh. Regular rider Martin Pedroza was aboard for new trainer Alfredo Velazquez as Private Zone edged Dads Caps by a neck in 1:08.95 for the 6 furlongs. He paid $13.80 to win.
TENNIS
Murray set for final
Second-seeded Andy Murray rallied from a set down to beat Juan Monaco of Argentina 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 Saturday and reach the final of the Shenzhen Open at Shenzhen, China. From 3-3 in the second set, Murray won nine consecutive games to beat Monaco in 1 hour, 42 minutes and set up a match with fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain in today's final. Robredo overpowered sixth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-1, 6-4. In the third set, Murray dropped just four points on serve and converted all three of his break points. In today's final, he will be bidding for his first title since his Wimbledon triumph in 2013. Robredo had 10 aces and converted four of seven break points to beat Giraldo in 70 minutes.
• Petra Kvitova backed up her lopsided victory over Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon with another emphatic victory over the Canadian to capture the inaugural Wuhan Open title on Saturday at Wuhan, China. The third-seeded Czech saved seven of eight break points she faced in the second set to close out a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the sixth-seeded Bouchard in scorching conditions. It was Kvitova's third title of the year and also secured her spot at the season-ending WTA finals in Singapore, alongside No. 1 Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Maria Sharapova.
• Top-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan beat Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the Malaysian Open final at Kuala Lumpur. Playing in his first tournament since reaching the U.S. Open final, Nishikori converted six of his 13 break points and fired eight aces to defeat Nieminen in 1 hour, 37 minutes. Nishikori will face fourth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France in today's final. Benneteau beat second-seeded Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 6-4, 6-4.
BASKETBALL
Griner dunks; USA wins
Brittney Griner scored 15 points, including what is believed to be the first dunk in the women's world championship, as the U.S. used a dominant second half to beat China 87-56 on Saturday in their world championship opener at Istanbul. Griner, 6-8, dunked one-handed early in the first quarter off a pass from Maya Moore, who finished with 15 points also for the Americans (1-0). Griner missed all of the U.S. training camp while she was recovering from a retinal injury suffered in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals. The U.S. only led by seven at the half before outscoring China 21-8 in the third quarter to blow the game open. Tina Charles added 15 rebounds for the Americans, who will play Serbia today. Xiaojia Chen and Mengran Sun each scored 10 points to lead China, which will play Angola today.
FOOTBALL
Buffalo pair out
Buffalo Bills guard Chris Williams and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin have been ruled out for today's game against the Houston Texans. The team announced on Saturday that both players will not make the trip to Houston. They were previously listed as doubtful. Williams, Buffalo's starting left guard, has been limited with a back injury since training camp. He exited Buffalo's Week 3 loss to San Diego early after aggravating the injury. Rookie Cyril Richardson is expected to receive his first career start in place of Williams. A fifth-round pick out of Baylor, Richardson worked with the starting unit at left guard during the portions of practice open to the media during the week. Goodwin is out with a concussion. He took a hard hit late in Buffalo's loss to the Chargers, but suffered the head injury at Wednesday's practice according to the Bills. Wide receiver Marcus Easley (knee) and linebacker Randell Johnson (linebacker) are also out. Linebacker Keith Rivers (groin), safety Da'Norris Searcy (ankle) and cornerback Ron Brooks (illness) are probable.
BASEBALL
Reds extend Jocketty
The Cincinnati Reds extended General Manager Walt Jocketty's contract through the 2016 season Saturday, giving him a chance to try to dig the franchise out from a disappointing year. Jocketty was promoted to general manger in 2008. The Reds reached the playoffs three times in four years under manager Dusty Baker, who was fired after the Reds lost the wild card game to Pittsburgh last year. The Reds had their share of injuries and fared far worse this season under Manager Bryan Price, who was promoted from pitching coach. They were 74-86 with two games to play Saturday, their worst showing since 2008. Price also is under contract through 2016. Jocketty's deal was set to expire at the end of the season. His status was the only major question that the team had to settle before heading into the offseason.
• The Los Angeles Angels have ended negotiations with the city of Anaheim over a renewed lease on the baseball team's existing stadium and are considering options for a new home ballpark. The team has also held talks with the nearby Orange County city of Tustin about a possible park, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. The decision to end talks with Anaheim comes a year after the city approved a framework for negotiations under which the team would pay $150 million to refurbish Angel Stadium and get a $1-per-year lease on the parking lot. Angels owner Arte Moreno would be allowed to develop the site to recoup stadium-renovation costs. Anaheim's mayor has objected to the framework, and suggested the city should share in development profits.
BOXING
Lebedev retains title
Denis Lebedev of Russia successfully defended his WBA cruiserweight title when he knocked out Pawel Kolodziej of Poland on Saturday in Moscow. Lebedev floored Kolodziej with a left in the second round to keep his title at the Dynamo Sports Palace. Lebedev (26-2, 20 KO) gave Kolodziej his first career defeat after 33 victories. It was Lebedev's first fight since May 2013. It came after a scheduled rematch against Panama's Guillermo Jones was called off in April when Jones failed a drug test. That rematch was mandated after Jones beat Lebedev for the belt last year, only to test positive for a banned substance on that occasion, too.
Sports on 09/28/2014