Los Angeles Times

Santa Anita won’t use downhill course

- — John Cherwa

Santa Anita will keep its signature 61⁄2-furlong downhill turf course closed to sprints for its sixweek fall meeting, it was announced Thursday.

The course has been closed to sprints since March 31 when Arms Runner was the 23rd of 30 fatalities at Santa Anita during its winter and spring meet.

Arms Runner suffered a fatal injury while crossing over the 80-foot portion of the course that is on the dirt before resuming running on the grass. Santa Anita closed the course to sprints after that fatality.

A Tennessee man charged with killing former NBA player Lorenzen Wright was sentenced to 16 years in prison on a separate gun charge. Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Billy Turner during a hearing Thursday in Memphis . ... A state judge ordered Jerry Sandusky be taken to a central Pennsylvan­ia courtroom next month for resentenci­ng on his 45-count child sexual abuse conviction, six months after an appeals court ruled mandatory minimums had been improperly applied . ... Brazilian prosecutor­s are recommendi­ng the investigat­ion of soccer star Neymar on a rape allegation be closed, saying there is a lack of evidence . ... The federal Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigat­ion into Connecticu­t’s policy that allows transgende­r high school athletes to compete as the gender they identify with . ... The trial for former Michigan State basketball star Mateen Cleaves on sexual assault charges began in Flint, Mich.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal advanced to the Rogers Cup quarterfin­als in Montreal, beating Argentina’s Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4. Nadal will face Fabio Fognini of Italy. Also advancing were secondseed­ed Dominic Thiem, who beat Marin Cilic, and sixth-seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia, who beat Montreal teenager Felix Auger-Aliassime . ... Serena Williams beat Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrov­a 7-5, 6-4 to reach the Rogers Cup quarterfin­als in Toronto. The eighth-seeded Williams will face No. 2 Naomi Osaka of Japan, a winner over Polish qualifier Iga Swiatek in the late match. Thirdranke­d Karolina Pliskova, who is in position to reclaim the top spot in the world ranking this week, beat Anett Kontaveit, setting up a match against Bianca Andreescu of Canada. Andreescu beat fifthseede­d Kiki Bertens of the Netherland­s . ... Roger Federer and Nadal are joining Novak Djokovic on the ATP Player Council.

Troy Merritt tied the Liberty National course record with a nineunder-par 62 to take a one-shot lead in the Northern Trust at Jersey City, N.J. Dustin Johnson ran off four straight birdies late in his round for a 63. Tiger Woods shot a four-over 75 for his second-worst score in 89 rounds of the FedEx Cup playoffs, leaving him 13 shots behind Merritt and in danger of missing the cut . ... Jane Park, Anne van Dam and Mi Hyang Lee took advantage of calm conditions in the opening round of the Ladies Scottish Open in North Berwick, each shooting eight-under 63 to share the lead.

Sam Mikulak took the lead at the U.S. men’s gymnastics championsh­ips in Kansas City, Mo., moving closer to a sixth national title after posting an all-around score of 86.750, well clear of 2017 national champion Yul Moldauer. Mikulak, 26, scored 15.35 on the parallel bars for the highest mark of the night on any event to help give the two-time Olympian a big cushion heading into the finals.

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