Zanjero was the morning line favorite for the $350,000 Kentucky Cup Classic. One of five stakes races on the card at Turfway Park on Saturday.

The 4-year-old colt trained by Steve Asmussen drew the second post in the six-horse field and has been listed as the 9-5 favorite for the 1 1-8 mile race over Polytrack.

Zanjero finished 12th in the 2007 Kentucky Derby but won the West Virginia Governors Handicap in his last start on Aug. 2. He has four starts this year, with a win and two second-place finishes.

Stream Cat, winner of the Arlington Handicap in July, is the second choice at 2-1. The 5-year-old finished third behind Hard Spun and Street Sense in last years race.

Trainer Larry Jones, who saddled Hard Spun last year, returns with Honest Man, the third choice at 5-2. Extreme Supreme (5-1), Yates Black Cat (8-1) and Canela (20-1) round out the field.

Wishful Tomcat and You Go West Girl raced to narrow victories Wednesday. In turf stakes for New York breds at Belmont Park.
Wishful Tomcat beat Big Truck by a head in the $76,950 Floral Park Stakes for 3-year-olds. Ramon Dominguez was aboard for trainer Gary Contessa as Wishful Tomcat ran the one mile on the firm course in 1:34.53. Wishful Tomcat got his third win in nine starts, paying $12.40 to win.

You Go West Girl got up by a nose over Love Cove in the $78,250 Hey Babaloulou Stakes for fillies and mares. The 4-year-old ridden by Edgar Prado for trainer Tom Proctor earned her fifth win in 11 starts. She ran the 1 1-16 miles in 1:42.01, paying $7.70 to win.

Santa Anita opened racing at its Oak Tree meeting Wednesday. On a new synthetic surface that is being closely scrutinized leading up to next months Breeders Cup.

Forget sigh, track president Ron Charles said at days end. This was a big `whew.

Having a successful month of racing going into the sports richest two days could help attract reigning Horse of the Year Curlin to challenge Big Brown in the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic.

Owner Jess Jackson said this week he is unsure about trying Curlin on a synthetic surface for the first time, and that the tracks condition would play into his decision to participate in what could be one of the sports greatest races.

Theres nothing more important than to show the rest of the country and the world that the surface is fair, consistent, and most importantly safe, said Charles, who has fielded calls worldwide from tracks considering switching to synthetic surfaces and horsemen weighing whether to enter the Breeders Cup.

Wednesdays opening day feature, the $100,000 Morvich Handicap, didnt reveal anything about the new surface because it was run on the turf.

But it did give the winner, 22-1 long shot California Flag, an automatic berth in the BC Turf Sprint, one of 14 Breeders Cup races to be run Oct. 24-25 at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Joe Talamo, California Flag covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:11.10, bettering the old track mark of 1:11.13 by Lennyfrommalibu on Jan. 22, 2004. He paid $47.40, $16.40 and $9.

Well pay the entry fee and go in the Breeders Cup, trainer Brian Koriner said.

Beaten by three lengths, wagering favorite Get Funky returned $3.40 and $2.80, and One Union paid $5.60 to show.

Easy on the Eye clipped heels with Ten Meropa a few strides out of the gate, sending jockey Corey Nakatani tumbling to the ground. Easy on the Eye ran the rest of the race until being caught by an outrider well beyond the finish line, while Nakatani was taken to a hospital for X-rays.

Richard Mandella described most of his fellow trainers as being very happy with the surface since training on it began a few weeks ago.

Tyler Baze, last years leading rider at Oak Tree, said he had no problems in the days first race, adding, The track seems nice.

Talamo, who also rode in the first race, said, The new surface felt great. I thought the fractions were very realistic.

Fans surveying the track on a sunny day with temperatures hitting the mid-90s noticed the surface is closer to dirt in colordark brown instead of the pale yellow of Polytrack at Del Mar.

Across town, Hollywood Park has Cushion Track, the same surface that failed to drain last winter when torrential rains hit Santa Anita. The fiasco cost the track 11 days of racing and millions of dollars in repairs, which involved mixing Pro-Ride material into the Cushion Track, which got it to drain.

Once the winter meeting ended in April, Santa Anita officials decided to completely replace the surface with Pro-Ride, a mix of dirt, fibers and polymer binders.

What you see right now is pretty much the track we hope to see for Breeders Cup, Charles said.

Workers cleaned up manure from the surface between races Wednesday, but the track is groomed as little as possible, a change from dirt tracks that are harrowed after each race. It will be watered only if the surface needs cooling off, Charles said.

I have great hopes itll just be better than ever, Breeders Cup, too, said Mandella, who is also on Oak Trees board of directors.

After watching the days first few races, he said the track looks like its favoring the best horse. Youre seeing real racing from the quarter pole home, instead of someone just staggering home surviving.

In the days other incident, Honor Your Wager pulled up after the finish line of the second race with a lame right front leg and was vanned off the track.

Results Wednesday in English football. (home teams listed first):
League Cup

Second Round

Brighton 2, Manchester City 2, ET (Brighton wins 5-3 on penalties)

Third Round

Aston Villa 0, Queens Park Rangers 1

Blackburn 1, Everton 0

Ipswich 1, Wigan 4

Newcastle 1, Tottenham 2

Portsmouth 0, Chelsea 4.

—-
Results Wednesday from the second round of the German Cup. (home teams listed first):

Kickers Offenbach 0, Karlsruher 2

FC Oberneuland 0, Wolfsburg 7

SV Wehen Wiesbaden 1, Alemannia Aachen 0

Borussia Dortmund 2, Hertha Berlin 1, ET

Hamburger SV 2, VfL Bochum 0

Carl Zeiss Jena 1, FSV Frankfurt 0

VfB Stuttgart 2, Arminia Bielefeld 0

Bayern Munich 2, FC Nuremberg 0

SC Freiburg 3, 1899 Hoffenheim 1.

—-
Results Wednesday in Scottish football. (home teams listed first):

League Cup

Third Round

Kilmarnock 4, Aberdeen 2

Motherwell 1, Hamilton 2, ET

Partick 1, Rangers 2, ET.

Chelsea cruised into the fourth round of the League Cup with a 4-0 win at Portsmouth on Wednesday. While Tottenham began its title defense with a 2-1 victory at Newcastle in a meeting of the Premier League’s crisis clubs

Championship side Queens Park Rangers ousted five-time champion Aston Villa 1-0 after Damion Stewart planted a 58th-minute header past United States goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

Everton, a semifinalist last season, went down 1-0 at Blackburn and Wigan won 4-1 at Ipswich.

It was a miserable night for Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, whose FA Cup-winning side has now conceded 10 goals in two matches.

Frank Lampard put Chelsea ahead at Fratton Park from the penalty spot in the 36th minute after Michael Ballack was brought down by Nadir Belhadj.

Salomon Kalou fed Florent Malouda to double the tally in the 45th, and then provided Lampard’s second in the 49th before getting a goal of his own to complete the 4-0 victory in the 64th.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba started for the first time since May’s Champions League final defeat to Manchester United. He shot wide of goalkeeper David James inside the opening two minutes.

St. James’ Park was less than half full as Newcastle lost its third straight match since manager Kevin Keegan quit last month to plunge the club into turmoil.

A turgid first half between the sides occupying the bottom two league spots saw Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate come close twice to scoring. He then rescued Spurs after the break by hooking wide one shot from Damien Duff and blocking another from Michael Owen.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored his first goal since moving to Spurs last month, soaring to head Aaron Lennon’s cross past goalkeeper Shay Given in the 62nd.

Woodgate blocked Geremi’s free kick before Jamie O’Hara put Spurs 2-0 up in the 66th.

O’Hara intercepted Fabricio Coloccini’s pass across the defense before Steven Taylor could clear and scored on the eve of his 22nd birthday.

Michael Owen pulled one backed for the beleaguered Magpies in the 90th.

It couldn’t prevent jeers from the crowd of less than 20,000, which is unlikely to impress possible investors with owner Mike Ashley having responded to fan protests by putting the club up for sale.

Former England striker Robbie Fowler made an immediate impact on his Blackburn debut, playing a one-two with Martin Olsson, who fired past goalkeeper Tim Howard in the 10th.

The 33-year-old Fowler is on a three-month, performance-related deal after leaving Cardiff.

Wigan breezed past Ipswich, regaining control after Lee Cattermole’s 52nd-minute goal was canceled out by Jonathan Walters’ volley in the 61st.

Olivier Kapo took just three minutes to restore Wigan’s advantage, with Paul Scharner (70) and substitute Henri Camara (90) completing a 4-1 victory.

FC Cologne has little time to regroup after its disappointing elimination from the German Cup. Next facing Bundesliga leader Schalke.
Cologne’s 3-1 loss at second-division FSV Mainz followed defeats against Bayern Munich and Arminia Bielefeld.

“We are certainly in an absolutely critical phase,” said Cologne coach Christoph Daum, whose job is not yet in danger but could be if the struggles continue.

“We’re talking about the basics here – not about any special tactics,” Daum added. “We’re missing the courage out there.”

Daum, who won the German league title with Stuttgart in 1992, has promised changes ahead of Friday’s match against Schalke.

“I will look exactly at who wants to continue and take the consequences,” Daum said.

Daum is expected to drop his 4-4-2 system and return to the 4-2-3-1 lineup, with which Cologne has gained all four of its points.

Schalke comes into the game with three straight victories and four wins in a five-game undefeated stretch since losing to Atletico Madrid in qualifying for the Champions League.

The team has not lost in the Bundesliga and leads the league with 11 points – one point ahead of Hoffenheim, Stuttgart and Hamburger SV.

Perhaps the biggest key has been defender Heiko Westermann, who has turned into a serious scoring threat since moving forward as a midfielder.

“It really surprises me as well that Heiko is scoring so many goals,” Schalke coach Fred Rutten said after Schalke’s 2-0 German Cup victory over Hannover, with both goals coming from Westermann.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has been impressed with Westermann, who has scored five goals and set up two others in five games since the switch to the midfield.

“He is a phenomenon,” Loew said. “I can imagine him in the national team.”

On Saturday, Werder Bremen hosts Hoffenheim. After beating Bayern Munich 5-2 last weekend, Bremen struggled to beat Erzgebirge Aue 2-1 in the German Cup.

Both Stuttgart and Hamburg also have 10 points. Stuttgart plays at Borussia Dortmund and Hamburg hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Also Saturday, Bayern Munich hosts Hannover, Hertha Berlin hosts Energie Cottbus and Bayer Leverkusen visits Bochum. On Sunday, Eintracht Frankfurt hosts Arminia Bielefeld and Wolfsburg plays at Karlruhe.

Seven-time defending champion Lyon is already opening up a gap on its French league rivals. And the team will look to improve on its four-point lead against Nancy on Saturday.

Lyon strengthened its squad with several new players, and with others coming back to form or returning from injury, the team is perhaps even stronger than in recent years. The club is also financially healthy and can afford to keep spending – a bad sign for Marseille, Bordeaux and Paris Saint-Germain.

After six games, Lyon leads with 16 points, while Marseille follows with 12 and Toulouse has 11. Marseille has a tricky match at Le Mans on Saturday, and Toulouse travels to Valenciennes on Sunday.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas met with financial analysts on Wednesday and revealed that OL Groupe – the club’s holding company which incorporates hotel and leisure facilities – made a net profit of ?20.1 million (US$29.5 million) over the 2007-08 season.

Aulas plans to invest ?350 million (US$515 million) for a new stadium to be ready by 2012, and he knows that with striker Karim Benzema attracting interest from Europe’s biggest clubs he can raise cash easily.

The 20-year-old Benzema has five years left on his Lyon contract, and Aulas said he would only sell him for ?100 million (US$147 million).

“It’s a private agreement. It’s a commitment between Karim and the club,” Aulas said. “Our objective is still to win the Champions League with Benzema.”

Lyon defender Cris, recently back from a knee injury, is confident this current Lyon squad is the best for many years.

“There are two players for every position,” Cris told Lyon’s Web site. “The coach has several options for every match and the bench is always very strong. In the previous matches, we saw that the substitutes could make a big difference.”

Ghana captain John Mensah has been helping out as an emergency left back as Fabio Grosso recovers from a rib injury, while strikers Fred and Frederic Piquionne are offering good support to Benzema – the league’s top scorer with five goals.

Marseille lost to Sochaux in the League Cup on Wednesday and coach Eric Gerets has told his players to snap out of their slump quickly.

“There are big matches coming up and we can’t let our rivals get too far ahead,” Gerets said. “We can’t miss out.”

Also Saturday, it’s: Auxerre vs. Le Havre; Caen vs. Nantes; Rennes vs. Nice; Sochaux vs. Lorient; and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Grenoble.

Monaco faces Lille, and Bordeaux takes on Saint-Etienne on Sunday.

Rafael van der Vaart scored three goals to help defending champion Real Madrid. Trounce last-place Sporting Gijon 7-1 in the Spanish league on Wednesday.

Raul Gonzalez added two more at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, while there was also a goal apiece for Gonzalo Higuain and Arjen Robben in Madrid’s third straight victory that kept it a point off the lead.

The defeat compounded a dismal three days for Gijon, which had lost its previous game 6-1 to FC Barcelona on Sunday and has leaked 19 goals in four losses since it returned to the top flight after a decade’s absence.

Earlier, Villarreal moved to the top of the standings with a 2-0 win over Racing Santander, with Joan Capdevila and Joseba Llorente scoring first-half goals as their team maintained its unbeaten start to the season.

Also, Samuel Eto’o netted twice and Eidur Gudjohnsen scored a late goal to give Barcelona a 3-2 win over Real Betis.

In other games, Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Getafe, Sevilla beat Espanyol 2-0 and Osasuna drew 0-0 with Deportivo La Coruna.

Villarreal leads with 10 points, one more than Atletico and Madrid. Sevilla has eight, while Barcelona, Valencia, Almeria and Espanyol all have seven.

On Thursday, it’s: Malaga vs. Valencia; Valladolid vs. Almeria; Recreativo Huelva vs. Athletic Bilbao; and Mallorca vs. Numancia.

Villarreal gave Santander little hope of gaining its first win of the season by racing into a two-goal lead.

Capdevila headed the first goal in the 29th minute when the Spain defender met Angel Lopez’s cross from the right.

Striker Llorente scored his second goal in three days by racing in to deliver a powerful header five minutes later, again from Angel’s cross.

Gijon’s suffering began in the 18th minute when Van der Vaart volleyed home after Raul had deftly flicked a header from Ruben De La Red’s chip.

The Netherlands midfielder, who joined Madrid from Hamburg in the offseason, doubled his tally 15 minutes later when his back-heel from Higuain’s pass took a deflection off Gijon defender Ivan Hernandez.

Higuain side-footed Madrid’s third goal in the 37th after receiving Robben’s pass across the penalty area, while Van der Vaart completed his hat trick in the 47th with another side-footed shot after Robben and Raul had combined.

Robben scored Madrid’s fifth goal in the 51st, although Gijon forward Kike Mateo fired his team’s consolation goal two minutes later.

Raul netted his first goal of the season in the 59th after Robben’s fierce shot had been turned onto the bar by goalkeeper Sergio Sanchez, and Madrid’s captain then chipped home to complete the victory five minutes later.

Barcelona continued its recovery from its worst start for 35 years in which it failed to win its opening two league games.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, celebrating the 100th day of his tenure, rested captain Carles Puyol and left striker Thierry Henry on the bench. Henry had missed the game at Gijon due to illness.

Eto’o scored in the 17th minute when he created space after receiving Lionel Messi’s pass before firing a rising shot into the roof of the net.

Messi helped produce the Cameroon striker’s second goal – the 100th of his Barcelona career – six minutes later, the Argentina forward sending in a low cross which Eto’o clipped home at the near post.

With Barcelona seemingly relaxing, Betis scored its first goal of the season in the 59th minute when Fabian Monzon fired home after receiving Jesus “Capi” Capitan’s tapped free kick.

The visitors stunned Barcelona by equalizing eight minutes later through striker Jose Mari Romero, who broke free of the defense and chipped over goalkeeper Victor Valdes and into the net.

Guardiola replaced Eto’o and Seydou Keita with Bojan Krkic and Gudjohnsen in the 71st, and the coach was rewarded nine minutes later when the Iceland international slid in to turn Daniel Alves’ cross into goal.

Atletico striker Florent Sinama Pongolle scored in the 30th minute, controlling a long ball from Tomas Ujfalusi and slipping past defender Lucas Licht before firing home for his fourth goal of the season.

Getafe leveled in the 76th minute through Juan Albin’s header, only for his teammate David Cortes to turn home Maxi Rodriguez’s pass across goal for Atletico’s winner six minutes later.

Sevilla midfielder Enzo Maresca’s 58th-minute header and striker Javier Chevanton’s 86th-minute shot maintained their team’s unbeaten start while ending Espanyol’s.

Ireland’s former Liverpool defender, Steve Finnan, was included in Espanyol’s starting lineup for the first time after having appeared as a substitute in the team’s draw with Getafe on Saturday.

Osasuna failed to take advantage of the dismissal of Deportivo midfielder Julian De Guzman in the 52nd and remains winless this season.

The final session of Keeneland September Yearling Sale saw average prices drop more. Than 15 percent from 2007, while the overall average for the 15-day sale fell 10.2 percent from last year.

Still Keeneland says it totaled nearly $328 million in sales, making this the fourth-highest grossing September sale.

The top price Tuesday was $50,000 paid by Diamond G Ranch Inc. for a colt by Chapel Royal. The colt, consigned by Eaton Sales, agent for Overbrook Farm, is out of the Deputy Minister mare McConnell Springs and a half-sister to stakes-placed Talullah Lula.

For the day, 149 horses sold for $1,135,600, down 26.8 percent from a year ago when 172 horses brought $1,551,500. The days average of $7,621 was down 15.5 percent from $9,020 in 2007, while the median dipped 13 percent to $5,000 from $5,750 last year.

The 15-day sale totaled $327,999,100, down 14.8 percent from last years $385,018,600. Average price of $90,984 dipped 10.2 percent from $101,347 reported in 2007. The median of $37,000 was down 11.9 percent from last year.

Trainer Larry Jones plans to retire after next year Breeders Cup. Ending a career in which his filly Eight Belles collapsed and died after finishing second in the Kentucky Derby.

Im just physically tired, and it seems like I have a hard time keeping everybody happy, Jones said.

In an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, Jones said that before this falls yearling sales he called several clientsincluding Rick Porter, who owned Eight Bellesand told them not to buy any horses with the intention of having him train them.

Jones said he will continue to train the horses in his stable at least next year but expects to be mostly retired after the 2009 Breeders Cup. As for the elusive goal of winning the Kentucky Derby, Jones called next year more than likely my last shot.

Porter said Jones mentioned two weeks ago he planned to retire once his current horses finished racing, but the trainers decision is a complete shock to me. Jones is currently racing his stable at Delaware Park.

Porter and Jones also teamed to finish second in last years Kentucky Derby with Hard Spun.

I knew Larry was all stressed out, burning the midnight oil, Porter said Tuesday. I didnt think it had gotten to the point where he would throw in the towel.

While Jones trained some of the top horses the past few years, the Eight Belles tragedy weighed heavily on him.

Im not saying it took a toll on the decision, but it took a toll on my life, Jones said. Its hard to keep letting yourself get so involved and so attached to these things. Not that I would do anything different, even today, but do I want something like that to happen to me again? No I dont.

Jones endured the brunt of criticism over the second high-profile breakdown during a Triple Crown race in three years. He called the days following the Derby the most trying of his career.

Critics charged Jones with injecting Eight Belles with steroids and said jockey Gabriel Saez worked the whip too forcefully in the final yards.

A steroids test came back negative, and Jones defended Saezs ride. That didnt stop the protest letters from filling Jones mailbox as he found himself becoming the chief defender for racings problems.

Eight Belles death has helped change some of racings rules. More than 10 states have adopted a steroid ban, including Kentucky, and the Breeders Cup will be run in California this year with a ban on anabolic steroids.

Former Kentucky Gov. Brereton Jones owns another of Jones horsesKentucky Oaks winner Proud Spell, one of the years top 3-year-old fillies. He wasnt surprised by the trainers decision.

Larry is a fabulous person, a wonderful guy. Hes a very hands-on trainer. He likes to feed them himself, he rides them himself. He enjoys doing that, said Jones, who is not related. He all of a sudden found himself training not the normal 40 or 50 but 125 or more. It was just more than any mortal human could do the way he likes to train horses.

Porter agreed that Larry Jones increased workload influenced his decision.

Physically, he feels exhausted, Porter said. He needs a breather. When he gets it all settled out, gets down to a reasonable number of horses, Id bet a lot of money hed be back.

Jones acknowledged he wouldnt rule out a return. But, for now, he says his focus is on spending time with his family.

I have worked my entire life; 2003 is the last time I took time off, he said. On Christmas Day, Id be out at the barn feeding horses. I think it would be nice to sit in the house and drink coffee.