Baffert insults Sahadi at draw

The draw for tomorrow's $1 million Santa Anita Derby turned contentious yesterday as the star-studded, six-horse field was lined up.

Bob Baffert, who has saddled three of the last four winners of the 1 1/8-mile stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby, enraged Jenine Sahadi, trainer of The Deputy, when he flippantly asked jockey Chris McCarron who was training the colt, McCarron or Sahadi.

"Thank God my horse has a lot of class, because some people don't," said Sahadi. Then she stormed out of the breakfast meeting.

"He ruined a perfectly good day," she said back at her barn.

Sahadi is trying to become the first female trainer to win the Santa Anita Derby. She will send her Irish-bred former grass runner, the morning-line second choice at 2-1, against five rivals, including Baffert's long shot, 8-1 Captain Steve, and unbeaten War Chant, who drew the No. 4 post and was made the 9-5 favorite.

"I'm very excited," Sahadi said. The Deputy won his first two starts this year, then finished second to Fusaichi Pegasus in the San Felipe on March 19.

"He should improve off that race," Sahadi said.

D. Wayne Lucas will saddle Surfside, who was the 6-1 early fourth choice behind 4-1 Anees, the 1999 2-year-old champion, and ahead of Cocky, 8-1.

-- Three horses died from falls and a fourth died from a breathing problem in races leading up to the grueling Grand National steeplechase at Aintree in Liverpool, England. It was the opening day of the meet.

Track and field

Kelly Blair won two of the three remaining events to win the heptathlon at the Texas Relays in Austin.

Blair won the long jump at 20 feet, 5 1/2 inches and the javelin at 147-9 and was third in the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 17.25 seconds. She took the title with 6,217 points. Christie Smith of Akron was second with 5,932 points.

-- Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, world record-holder in the high jump, goes before an arbitration panel today to try to prove that he did not use cocaine.

He tested positive for cocaine at last summer's Pan American Games in the Canada. He was stripped of his gold medal.

Hockey

Karl Goehring returned from a concussion and stopped 30 shots as North Dakota beat defending champion Maine 2-0 and advanced to the NCAA hockey championship game in Providence, R.I.

Jeff Farkas scored an unassisted goal with 1:57 left as Boston College rallied with three third-period goals to beat St. Lawrence 4-2 in the other semifinal of the Frozen Four.

-- Stephanie O'Sullivan scored with 4:24 remaining to give the United States a 4-3 victory over Finland in the Women's World Hockey Championships in London, Ontario.

Five-time defending champion Canada, the Pool A winner, will play Finland in the other semifinal.

Shelley Looney put the U.S. within a goal at 10:08 of the third period, and Cammi Granato tied it with 6:04 remaining with her second goal of the game.

Soccer

U.S. soccer star Michelle Akers underwent shoulder surgery in Orlando, Fla., and will need three months to recover. The midfielder, 34, a member of the 1999 World Cup champions, is expected to be ready for Olympic preparation this summer.

Auto racing

In a break from tradition, CART champion Juan Montoya won't have to pass the traditional rookie test to race in the May 28 Indianapolis 500.

Montoya is hoping to make his first start in Indianapolis. The Indy Racing League decided he would not be required to go through its rookie orientation program because of his experience on high-speed ovals in CART, said IRL director of racing operations Brian Barnhart.

The rookie program begins today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. They'll have the track to themselves today and tomorrow. Veterans will be able to test their cars Sunday through Tuesday.

Boxing

A school hall monitor has been accused of trying to sell two of of Mike Tyson's stolen championship belts on the Internet.

Tyson's 1986 WBC and WBA heavyweight title belts, which police value at $50,000 each, were listed for sale several weeks ago on eBay, a California-based online auction site.

"Tyson's lawyers got wind that his championship belts were being posted on eBay for auction, and they contacted the Las Vegas Metro Police," Albany Detective James Miller said.

Police say Tyson reported the belts were stolen from a Las Vegas storage locker.