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Sports Briefs

■ Racing
Dog beats horse
A perennial bar-room debate among sports fans was finally settled on Wednesday as a one-off inter-species race in Britain saw a top racehorse embarrassed by a retired, sausage-eating greyhound. The 400m race at Kempton Park racecourse, just north of London, saw six-year-old horse Tiny Tim face off against canine hopeful Simply Fabulous, two years older and thus definitely middle-aged in dog years. Tiny Tim entered the race as the bookmakers' clear favorite but was humbled on the track, with Simply Fabulous sprinting away to clinch the race by seven horse lengths -- or around 15 dog lengths. The greyhound's owner, David Hood, was jubilant at the victory, saying that the dogs were "just about the ultimate athlete." "We came into this race as underdogs but we were confident, he had a good plate of bangers [sausages] and mash for breakfast, which is what he eats. And despite his age, 49 dog years, he seems as well as ever."

■ Auto Racing
Berger, Ferrari in Shanghai
Austrian Gerhard Berger will drive Michael Schumacher's F2003-GA title-winning Ferrari at the official opening of Shanghai's new Formula One circuit tomorrow. The Italian team said that Berger, who raced for Ferrari for six years in a career spanning 210 grands prix, would join team boss Jean Todt and Italian test driver Luca Badoer at the ceremony. Shanghai is scheduled to host China's first grand prix on September 26. Berger, who retired in 1997, was until last year BMW's motorsport director working with Williams. The 44-year-old last drove a Formula One car in April, lapping the Imola circuit in Ayrton Senna's 1985 Lotus to mark the 10th anniversary of the deaths of his former McLaren team mate and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger.

■ Golf
Parnevik back for Ryder Cup
Jesper Parnevik has rejoined the European Tour to make himself eligible for Ryder Cup selection, but the Swede didn't sound very happy about it on Thursday. "I still think the policy is wrong," Parnevik said of the rules that requires players to compete in 11 European Tour events to be eligible for the European Ryder Cup team. Last month, the Swede resigned his European tour membership, because he was unwilling to meet the 11-tournament requirement, but he subsequently discovered that the US and British Open qualifiers would count towards that number. More importantly, Parnevik has been told by Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer that if he doesn't make the team, he will not have to complete his 11 events. Parnevik previously was under the impression he would be banned for two years if he didn't play the 11 events.

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