LEXINGTON, Ky. — Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra will not run in the Belmont Stakes, opening the way for jockey Calvin Borel to return to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in his quest for a personal Triple Crown.
Jess Jackson, Rachel Alexandra’s co-owner, said Friday the filly “deserves a well-earned vacation” after running — and winning — four graded stakes races since March 14.
“I think Mr. Jackson is all about the horse, not the races,” Borel said. “It’s not the money. It’s his horse.”
Menchov poised to win Giro
MOUNT VESUVIUS, Italy — Russia’s Denis Menchov all but wrapped up the Giro d’Italia, keeping the leader’s pink jersey after a 102-mile stage that took riders up the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.
Carlos Sastre of Spain won the 19th stage with a solo attack up the steep volcano. Sastre, the defending Tour de France winner, finished in 4 hours, 33 minutes, 23 seconds to move from fifth to fourth.
Menchov crossed fourth with the same time as Danilo Di Luca, retaining an 18-second lead over the Italian in the overall standings.
Lance Armstrong, who fell midway through the stage, finished a respectable 1:42 behind Sastre. He remained 12th overall, 13:29 behind.
Thomas Danielson of Boulder- based Garmin-Slipstream finished 31st, and teammate Bradley Wiggins is 69th overall.
• Australian sprint ace Robbie McEwen will miss the Tour de France after breaking his shinbone in Belgium.
Olympic champion dies in fall
CHAMONIX, France — Karine Ruby, a former Olympic snowboarding champion who had been training to become a mountain guide, died in a climbing accident on Mont Blanc. She was 31.
Ruby was roped to other climbers when she and some members of the group fell into a deep crack in the glacier on the way down the mountain, Chamonix police official Laurent Sayssac said.
A 38-year-old man from the Paris region died in the fall, and a 27-year-old man was evacuated by helicopter with serious injuries and hospitalized, Sayssac added.
Ruby won a gold medal in the giant slalom at the 1998 Nagano Olympics and a silver in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
Footnotes.
The Philadelphia 76ers have an agreement in principle with Eddie Jordan to become their head coach. Jordan is 230-288 in coaching stints with the Washington Wizards and the Sacramento Kings.
• David Reutimann turned a lap of 156.794 mph to win the pole for Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.
• The trucks race scheduled at Dover was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for tonight.
• New Mexico football coach Mike Locksley, on the job less than six months, has been accused of sexual harassment, age discrimination and retaliation by former administrative assistant Sylvia Lopez, who quit her job May 15.
• Ruslan Chagaev failed a “medical requirement,” forcing his challenge for Nikolai Valuev‘s WBA heavyweight title to be called off a day before the fight.
The Associated Press
