Hepton Eases Into 1St
Fred Hepton, locked in a duel with former champion Helen Morgan, may be able to look back on Friday night as the night he locked up his first training title at Playfair Race Course.
Hepton sent out two winners on an 11-race program, each time defeating a Morgan-trained contender, to take a slim lead in the 1994 standings. The two conditioners began the night tied with 16 wins apiece.
Morgan, the 1991 titlist, saddled Manito Lassie to win the fifth race. Hepton answered by taking the ninth with Big Red’s Roan. Morgan trainee Sensational Knight ran third.
Then, Hepton won the 11th with Uncle Ot, which outlasted Morgan’s charge, Rocket’s Gun, by a length. Had Morgan won both, she would have gained a threevictory edge in Playfair’s closest training race since 1988.
Leading jockey Marty Wentz included both Hepton horses among his three wins while running his winning streak to 27 days. Scott Bergsrud also rode three winners. Aki Kato had two, including Nu Royal Girl, which rallied to win the featured 10th race.
Nu Royal Girl, although 3 for 5 at the meet, paid $15.
Hockey: Scott Levins, of the National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators and a former Spokane Brave, will sign autographs from noon to 2 p.m. today at the Ice Arena Sport Shop located inside Eagles Ice-A-Rena.
Free hats will be available while they last.
Tickets for a Sept. 20 NHL preseason game between the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars at the Tri-Cities Coliseum go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. It’s the first NHL game to be played in the Tri-Cities.
Tickets can be purchased at the TriCities Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling (509) 783-9999. DJ’s Sound City in Spokane is a Ticketmaster outlet.
Idaho football: Lewiston, which capped a 10-2 season by defeating Madison of Rexburg in the title game last year, received five first-place votes and was ranked No. 1 in the Idaho A-1 Division II Associated Press preseason poll.
Coeur d’Alene, which finished 6-4 in its final season at the Division I level, will compete in Division II. The Vikings were ranked second with three first-place votes.
CdA’s newest high school, Lake City, and Post Falls each received votes.
In A-2, Lakeland of Rathdrum was selected third and Bonners Ferry fifth behind Weiser, last year’s state runner-up, and 1993 champion Preston.
3-on-3 basketball: A record 239 teams will take to the streets near North Idaho College today and Sunday for the sixth annual Coeur d’Alene Shootout 3-on-3 tournament.
Shootout officials hope to raise $20,000 for local charities and high schools.
Play will be held on 27 courts, with 19 divisions of men, women, boys and girls beginning this morning at 9. The title games will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at center court.
The women’s open division final is scheduled for 10:30 and the men’s open final for noon.