Miscellany

Afternoon Deelites outdueled Timber Country in their much-anticipated first meeting and won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita to reaffirm the colt’s status as the Kentucky Derby favorite.

Owned by composer Burt Bacharach, Afternoon Deelites held off the D. Wayne Lukas trained 2-year-old champion by a length in what amounted to match race at Santa Anita, Calif.

At New Orleans, Petionville closely stalked the pace and took over in the stretch to win the $350,000 Louisiana Derby by a neck over In Character, tying a stakes record and picking up his fourth win in four career starts.

At Miami, former two-time world champion Raul “Jibaro” Perez of Mexico, struck with an illegal blow during a fight against Rafael Meran, was released from a hospital.

Perez fell to one knee after Meran struck him behind the head at 1:35 of the second round of Saturday night’s bout. The fight, which was for the WBC Latin American super-featherweight title, was declared a no contest because it ended with an illegal blow.

The anticipated return of Phil Simms to the NFL with the Cleveland Browns ended abruptly when NBC announced the quarterback had agreed to a contract with the network. Simms’ duties will extend beyond football, with assignments at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.