Sports briefs for October 14, 2003

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003 | 10:53 a.m.

Funny Cide, winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, will be ridden in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic by Hall of Fame jockey Julie Krone, who has made a strong comeback on the West Coast after a three-and-a-half-year retirement.

Jose Santos was Funny Cide's rider in this year's Triple Crown races, but is already committed to riding Volponi, the defending champion of the Classic, in this year's race, at Santa Anita Park on Oct. 25. So Funny Cide's trainer, Barclay Tagg, turned to Krone, the only female jockey to win a Triple Crown race (the Belmont Stakes in 1993); she could become the first woman to win a Breeders' Cup race.

"Jose could not get released from his commitment, and Barclay had won a few races with Julie when she rode on the East Coast," said Jack Knowlton, the managing partner of Sackatoga Stable, which owns Funny Cide. "Barclay thinks Julie fits Funny Cide, and she certainly knows that track."

The 10-member Sackatoga group will now pre-enter Funny Cide in the Classic, which requires a $40,000 down payment on a total entry fee of $120,000.

UNLV sits fourth

With four players in the top 20 after 36 holes, the UNLV men's team was fourth and just three strokes out of the lead going into today's final round at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate at Birmingham, Ala. J.C. Deacon led the Rebels with 66-69--135 to share seventh place. Ryan Moore and Travis Whisman had 137s to sit in a 12th-place tie and Ryan Keeney was in 17th at 139.

Martina gets the call

Martina Navratilova will lead the U.S. team at next month's Fed Cup, and at 47 will be the oldest player to compete in the event's 40-year history. Meghann Shaughnessy, Lisa Raymond and Alexandra Stevenson also were chosen for the team that will play Belgium in the semifinals in Moscow on Nov. 19-20.

WNBA stars advance

Cheryl Ford scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds today, leading the WNBA Select team past South Korea's Wooribank Haesane 86-53 in an opening game at the inaugural Women's World Cup at Samara, Russia.