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The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2007

HORSE RACING

Jockey Prado Sidelined 6 Weeks

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Edgar Prado, who rode Barbaro to a Kentucky Derby victory in 2006, will be sidelined at least six weeks after breaking his right ankle at Saratoga Race Course.

Prado was hurt Saturday when his mount, Admiral Bird, stumbled after running the seventh race. The jockey fell to the turf course and remained there several minutes while treated by paramedics.

He was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center, where several screws were inserted into his ankle. He was released from the hospital Monday.

AUTO RACING

Schumacher Takes NHRA Playoff Lead

CLERMONT, Ind. - Defending Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher took the NHRA playoff lead Monday with his sixth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory in eight years.

Schumacher drove away from Larry Dixon in the final, finishing in 4.575 seconds at 331.94 mph, to earn a spot in the winner's circle with Funny Car victor Mike Ashley, Pro Stock points leader Dave Connolly, and Pro Stock Motorcycle winner Craig Treble.

The three-time defending world champion leads the points standings for the first time this season. He's 31 points ahead of second-place Dixon and 102 in front of fifth-place Bob Vandergriff, with the top four drivers after the four-race playoff advancing to the championship round.

SOCCER

Glazers Say Man U 'Not For Sale'

MANCHESTER, England - The Glazer family will not sell Manchester United, despite reports of potential billion-dollar takeover bids from China and United Arab Emirates.

'United is not for sale,' the family's spokesman said Sunday. 'The Glazer family is 100 percent committed to long-term investment and ownership in the club ... demonstrated by the expenditure during the transfer window.

'The position has not changed and nor will it.'

A Chinese consortium has reportedly expressed interest in the club, while a rival group with connections to the Emirates royal family is also considering a bid.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer bought United for $1.47 billion in 2005.

U.S. ROSTER: Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Clint Dempsey lead a full-strength roster picked by U.S. coach Bob Bradley for Sunday's exhibition game against Brazil at Soldier Field in Chicago.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Amid tributes to a Spanish player who died and victims of the Greek wildfires, Sevilla routed AEK Athens 4-1 behind Luis Fabiano's two goals to reach the group stage of the Champions League.

BASKETBALL

Shock Headed Back To WNBA Finals

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Deanna Nolan scored 20 of her franchise playoff-record 30 points in the first half to help the defending champion Detroit Shock advance to the WNBA finals with an 81-65 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals Monday night.

The Shock will face Phoenix starting Wednesday night as they go for their second straight title and third in five years. Detroit has won both postseason series this year 2-1 after losing Game 1 on the road, and is now 7-0 when facing elimination the last two seasons.

Indiana led by 13 points in the opening minutes, but lost both the lead and All-Star forward Tamika Catchings in the second quarter. Catchings, who missed the final 13 regular-season games with a left-foot injury, strained her right Achilles' tendon in the last minute of the first half and did not return.

GYMNASTICS

China Has Fantastic Finish In Qualifying

STUTTGART, Germany - It's not often gymnasts get curtain calls in qualifying at the world gymnastics championships.

It's not often gymnasts blow away the competition like China did.

After looking decidedly mediocre - well, as mediocre as the defending world champions can get - for much of the night Monday, the Chinese let everybody know they quite like their gold medals and intend to leave here with another set.

'A great finish,' defending world champion Yang Wei said. 'It's something we can enjoy.'

The rest of the competition sure won't.

China finished with 374.275 points, largely thanks to a finale on the still rings that immediately should be packaged as an instructional DVD. That put the Chinese a whopping 3.550 points ahead of the closest thing it has to competition, Olympic champion Japan. They have 12.1 points on injury-plagued Russia, a gap so big the defending silver medalists would need to throw in an extra routine to catch up.

Yang edged Hiroyuki Tomita for the highest individual score, a repeat of last year's all-around final. And China had the highest scores on floor, still rings, parallel bars and pommel horse.

A Tribune wire report

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