Positive drug tests on horses lead GGF to ban trainer
A Southern California trainer has been suspended for one year by Golden Gate Fields stewards after three horses in his care tested positive for a banned drug, the California Horse Racing Board announced Tuesday.
Owner/trainer John Martin of Marina del Rey had half of the suspension stayed as long as he does not commit any other serious medication violations, state racing officials said in a news release.
Martin, who has 1,941 victories in 7,631 starts, according to Equibase, also was fined $20,000.
Three horses Martin ran at Golden Gate Fields and the Big Fresno Fair tested positive for ergoloid mesylates, state officials said. Ergoloid mesylates are used to treat Alzheimer’s and certain mood disorders in humans, according to the horse racing board. State officials said the drug is thought to be used in racing as an anti-bleeding treatment.
Investigators also found three bottles of improperly labeled medications when searching Martin’s barn, the release said.
Martin was fined $500 after his horse, Adios Cali, tested positive for too much betamethasone in her system at Del Mar in 2018, the Los Angeles Times reported last year.
College football
COSTELLO’S STATUS UP IN THE AIR >> Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello is “somewhere between questionable and doubtful” for Saturday’s game against No. 15 Washington, Cardinal coach David Shaw said. Costello will attempt to throw at practice later in the day. Costello missed Stanford’s 31-28 win over Oregon State on Saturday with a thumb injury. His backup, redshirt sophomore Davis Mills, completed 18 of 25 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns as the Cardinal (2-3, 1-2 Pac12) broke a three-game losing streak.
Track and field
SALAZAR-TRAINED BRAZIER WINS 800 GOLD AT TRACK WORLDS >> Less than 24 hours after distance running coach Alberto Salazar was banned for doping offenses, an athlete from his training camp won gold in the 800 meters in Doha, Qatar.
American Donavan Brazier took command of the field at the halfway point and built a comfortable lead to win in a championshiprecord 1 minute 42.34 seconds, ahead of Amel Tuka of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The 22-year-old Brazier also broke the 34-yearold U.S record of 1:42.60, set by Johnny Gray in 1985 at a meet in then-West Germany.
The Salazar ban overshadowed an otherwise triumphant night for the U.S. as Noah Lyles won the 200 and Sam Kendricks defended his pole vault title.
Lyles ran 19.83 to beat Andre de Grasse. Lyles, a 22-year-old who grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, is the youngest man to win the 200-meter world title.
Kendricks, a 2nd Lt. in the Army Reserve, defeated Armand Duplantis after both cleared 5.97 meters, the best height at a world championships since 2001. They failed their attempts at 6.02. Kendricks took the title because he had fewer failures at lower heights, four compared to five for Duplantis. It was an SEC rivalry on the world stage, as Kendricks competed at the University of Mississippi and Duplantis, who represents Sweden but was raised in Louisiana, won the 2019 NCAA championship at LSU.
WNBA
JONES HELPS SUN EVEN SERIES AS DELLE DONNE EXITS >> Jonquel Jones scored 32 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, and the visiting Connecticut Sun took advantage of Elena Delle Donne’s early injury exit to beat the Washington Mystics 9987 in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals and even the best-offive series.
Alyssa Thomas added 21 points and 12 rebounds, and Courtney Williams had 22 points for the Sun, which dominated the paint after the 6-foot-5 Delle Donne departed in the first quarter with back spasms. Game 3 is Sunday in Connecticut.
Connecticut outrebounded Washington 4127 overall and 17-6 on the offensive glass. Jones, who didn’t have an offensive board in the first game, had a WNBA Finals record nine. She also only took eight shots in the series opener, a 95-86 loss.
Emma Meeseman scored 22 points for Washington.
College basketball
RUTGERS’ STRINGER TO RECEIVE LEGENDS OF COACHING >> Rutgers’ C. Vivian Stringer will receive the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching honor next spring. The award is given annually to college basketball coaches who exemplify the late UCLA legend’s standard of success and personal integrity. Stringer was announced as the recipient Tuesday.
Golf
KOREAN TOUR SUSPENDS PLAYER 3 YEARS FOR OBSCENE GESTURE >> Bio Kim won the tournament and then lost his job. The Korea PGA suspended him for three years for making an obscene gesture at the crowd on the 16th hole of the final round because of noise from a cellphone camera.
Tennis
MURRAY WINS 2ND SINGLES MATCH SINCE RETURN FROM HIP SURGERY >> Andy Murray continued his positive return to singles play after hip surgery with a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7) win over 13th-ranked Matteo Berrettini of Italy in the first round of the China Open in Beijing. Murray, who had a hip resurfacing operation in January, fired eight aces and saved five of seven break points to pick up his second tour-level singles win since returning in August.
Gymnastics
BILES AIMS TO WRITE MORE HISTORY AT WORLDS >> Simone Biles has already written her name into gymnastics history many times over. A few more times won’t hurt, though. At the upcoming world championships in Germany, Biles can break the record for most medals won by any gymnast. More than that, she can write herself into the sport’s Code of Points forever.
Biles showed off her triple-twisting double-flip — the triple-double for short — when winning the U.S. title in August. If she lands it at worlds, it will go in the Code as “the Biles.” The same goes for her doubledouble beam dismount.
“Getting the skills named after me is really exciting, just to go out there and prove to myself that I can do them, especially under all of the pressure that will be there that night,” Biles said Tuesday. “I feel like putting my name on a skill is really rewarding just because it’ll be in the Code forever as well as the medals.”
It’s the last major championships before next year’s Olympics in Tokyo.