Wed, Mar 26, 2008 page19

• Sport Briefs

  • AGENCIES
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  ■ HORSE RACING

  Jockey fails breath test

  Officials at a New Zealand race meeting on Monday breath-tested a jockey they suspected had been drinking and ruled him too drunk to handle a horse. Stewards at the Riverton Racing Club on New Zealand's South Island used a newly awarded power to demand a breath test when they became suspicious of the rider's behavior. The test showed the jockey had been drinking alcohol and he was stood down for the remainder of the meeting. The jockey now faces a disciplinary hearing and could be fined, suspended or disqualified from riding.

  ■ BOXING

  Danny Green quits

  WBA light heavyweight world champion Danny Green quit boxing yesterday, saying he wanted to protect his health and spend more time with his family. The 35-year-old Green, (25-3 with 22 knockouts) had been preparing in Sydney for a mandatory defense of his WBA title against Argentina's Hugo Garay on April 27. "I am getting out on my terms, with my dignity and respect intact," Green said. "I have made the decision of an intelligent man -- looking to 25 years in the future." Green turned professional in 2001 after coming to prominence at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and won his first 16 bouts before a fifth-round disqualification against Germany's Markus Beyer in a WBC world title challenge in August 2003. Green won the WBC interim super middleweight belt with a sixth-round stoppage of Canadian Eric Lucas four months later, before a second loss -- this time on points -- to Beyer in March 2005.

  ■ BOXING

  Judah expresses confidence

  Zab Judah is so sure he's going to stop Shane Mosley he's willing to put his money on it. Judah offered to bet Mosley US$100,000 that he's going to win their welterweight bout at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on May 31 by knockout. "That's free money," the 30-year-old Judah said on Monday at a news conference to publicize the fight. "If he's so confident and so much in shape, then why didn't he take it? The last time I put a US$100,000 bet on the table was against Corey Spinks. What did I do? I knocked him out." Judah is 36-5 with 25 knockouts. "He's getting knocked out May 31," Judah said. "He's older now and he's not as fast. I've been talking to Winky [Wright] and Vernon [Forrest] and they tell me his punching power is not the same. I'm a 100 percent better fighter." The 36-year-old Mosley held the WBC and WBA light-middleweight championships from September 2003 to March 2004.

  ■ HORSE RACING

  Rags to Riches retired

  Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches was retired on Monday. Rags to Riches was the first filly in 102 years to win the Belmont, edging Preakness Stakes winner Curlin by a head in a thrilling duel last June at Belmont Park in New York. The champion three-year-old filly will be shipped to Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. She will be bred to leading sire Giant's Causeway. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Rags to Riches finished her career with five wins in seven starts and earned US$1.3 million. Rags to Riches finished second in her last race, the Gazelle Stakes at Belmont last Sept. 15. The day after, it was discovered she had a hairline fracture of her right front pastern. The filly recently re-injured the pastern -- an area between the ankle and the hoof. "It's a sad day for racing and all of her fans," Pletcher said in a statement.
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