In brief: Zenyatta extends perfect record

Horse racing: Zenyatta made a successful return to the races Saturday, winning the $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., by 1 1/4 lengths and extending her career victory streak to 15-0.

The 6-year-old mare trailed a field of seven rivals going 11/8miles in her season debut before unleashing her trademark late run to win under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.

Zenyatta was timed in 1:48.20 on the synthetic surface. and paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10 as the overwhelming 1-5 wagering favorite in her first race in four months.

•Zardana defeats Rachel Alexandra: Rachel Alexandra was beaten by Zenyatta’s stablemate, Zardana, in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies at the Fair Grounds Race Course.

Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year, was racing for the first time in more than six months in what was expected to be a warm-up for her showdown with Zenyatta at the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn on April 9. Ridden by Calvin Borel, she was a 1-9 favorite.

•Lookin at Lucky rallies: Lookin at Lucky recovered from being jostled by Noble’s Promise in the backstretch and closed strong to win the $300,000 Rebel Stakes by a head at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Lookin at Lucky was four wide in the turn for home and outran Noble’s Promise to the finish line in the 11/16-mile race. Dublin finished third, three lengths back.

Lookin at Lucky paid $4.20, $2.80 and $2.20.

Countrymen Els, Schwartzel tied

Golf: South African Charl Schwartzel ran off four birdies in the opening six holes to catch up, then stayed in the game with three big par putts on the back nine for a 5-under-par 67 at Doral, Fla., and a share of the lead with Ernie Els going into the final round of the CA Championship.

Els was in front for most of the day on the Blue Monster until he started missing birdie opportunities. He had to settle for a 2-under 70 to join the 25-year-old Schwartzel at 12-under 204.

•Collins leads in Puerto Rico: Chad Collins chipped in for eagle on the par-5 second hole to top the Puerto Rico Open leaderboard at 9 under before second-round play was suspended because of darkness in the rain-delayed PGA Tour event at Rio Grande.

Collins, a former Methodist College player who has won twice on the Nationwide Tour, was 6 under through 11 holes in the second round after completing a first-round 69 at Trump International Golf Club-Puerto Rico.

Austrian wins slalom World Cup title

Skiing: Reinfried Herbst gave Austria its only men’s title of the season, clinching the slalom crystal globe in the final race in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, Germany.

Ted Ligety of the United States, who clinched the giant slalom title Friday, clipped the first gate of the second run and dropped out.

•Riesch takes women’s title: Olympic champion Maria Riesch of Germany won her second straight slalom World Cup title with a third-place finish in the final race of the season in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, Germany.

Marlies Schild of Austria won the race, with teammate Kathrin Zettel placing second.

Vettel will start on pole in Bahrain

Auto racing: Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull will start Formula One’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix from the pole position today, while Michael Schumacher will start in seventh place in his comeback with Mercedes.

Vettel set a fastest time of 1 minute, 54.101 seconds to edge Ferrari pair Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, who have both won at the desert track.

•IndyCar qualifying gets red light: Qualifying for the IndyCar season-opener on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil, was postponed because the main straight lacked enough grip to make racing safe.

Drivers ran practice sessions, giving officials time to try to improve track conditions overnight. Qualifying was rescheduled for Sunday morning ahead of the race.

James testifies in Tech lawsuit

College football: Mike Leach sat across from his accuser as Craig James gave sworn testimony in the former coach’s lawsuit against Texas Tech at Lubbock, Texas.

James, whose complaint of mistreatment of his son led to Leach’s firing, declined to comment as he walked into the university’s administration building before his deposition.

Leach gave more than five hours of sworn testimony. When asked if he would be questioning James, he said, “I’m not allowed to.”

Adam James, the son of the ESPN analyst and former NFL player, also testified under oath.

Jones sets 60-meter world indoor mark

Miscellany: LoLo Jones recovered from near-elimination in the semifinals to defend her title in the 60-meter hurdles, setting the record at the world indoor championships in Doha, Qatar.

Jones set the championships record in 7.72 seconds, 0.03 seconds better than Perdita Felicien of Canada in 2004.

•Huck retains WBO title: Marco Huck of Germany has retained his WBO cruiserweight boxing title by knocking out Adam Richards of the United States in the third round in Berlin.

Huck connected with a flurry of punches after already flooring Richards earlier and the American went down with 30 seconds left in the third round.