Miscellany

An early morning crowd estimated at 7,500 turned out to watch Cigar breeze through his final tuneup before Saturday’s $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

When Cigar appeared at 6:45 a.m., thousands lined the rail at Saratoga (N.Y.) Race Course, far more than the usual number who attend the morning workouts open to the public.

Jockey Jerry Bailey put Cigar through a five-furlong run in 1:00.98, including fractions of :23.37 and :35.39.

Last month, the 6-year-old horse matched Citation’s modern North American record of 16 straight wins by taking the $1.05 million Arlington Citation Challenge. A win in the Pacific Classic, to be held in San Diego, would make Cigar the first North American horse this century to win 17 straight.

A $150,000 sports car went unclaimed at Sestriere, Italy, as gold medalists from Atlanta failed to produce outstanding performances on Europe’s highest track in the first major post-Olympics competition.

It was the first time in three years that the top prize, at stake for the athlete setting a world record, was not awarded.

In the most technical race, the 110-meter hurdles, Olympic champion Allen Johnson clocked a modest 13.25 seconds while defeating fellow American Roger Kingdom and world record holder Colin Jackson of Britain.

Olympic gold medal boxer David Reid and Oscar De La Hoya appeared at a news conference in New York to announce De La Hoya’s next fight, scheduled for Oct. 12 in Las Vegas against Miguel Angel Gonzalez (41-0).

Reid said that he has talked to Bob Arum of Top Rank Boxing, the promoter for De La Hoya (22-0), and expected to announce a deal as soon as next week.

At Mason, Ohio, Todd Martin became the highest-seeded player to lose at this year’s ATP Championship when he was beaten by Germany’s Bernd Karbacher 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round.

Third-seeded Michael Chang was tested by Andrei Medvedev, but Chang survived with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory. Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek outlasted Vincent Spadea 7-6 (10-8), 7-5.