Notes on a Scorecard - Oct. 29, 1990

Even in callous Las Vegas, horseplayers wept after Go For Wand broke down in the Breeders’ Cup Saturday. . . .

What made things worse was NBC replaying the tragedy over and over and over again. It was sickening. . . .

Go For Wand’s death is a reminder that the most fragile of all athletes is the thoroughbred, a 1,000-pound animal racing as fast as 40 m.p.h. on spindly legs. . . .

Not enough credit has been given the winner of the Distaff, Bayakoa, a remarkable mare who has won 16 of her last 21 races and two consecutive Breeders’ Cups. . . .

Unbridled won the two biggest races, the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but horse-of-the-year honors should go to Criminal Type, who was more consistent and beat much better fields. . . .

If Sprint runner-up Dayjur had jumped a shadow in his previous race, how come he wasn’t wearing a shadow roll at Belmont Park?. . . .

No wonder Chris McCarron didn’t win a race. His mounts went off at odds of 113-1, 17-1, 36-1 and 23-1. . . .

Gary Stevens’ ride on Turf winner In The Wings was as good as any all day. . . .

What did Evander Holyfield prove Thursday night when he won the heavyweight title from Buster Mathis--uh, Douglas--in Las Vegas? He can jab. . . .

“I left after the first round,” ringsider Bill Cosby said. “Holyfield outjabbed Buster. I didn’t need to see any more. The fight was over. The tip-off came when Buster entered the ring and his breasts bounced off his face.”. . . .

The trouble with Buster was that he hadn’t eaten in almost eight minutes and was in a hurry to return to his dressing room for a snack. . . .

Now it’s easy to believe those reports that Douglas weighed 275 pounds when he finally got back into the gym after his upset of Mike Tyson. . . .

Douglas joins Tim Witherspoon, Greg Page and Tony Tubbs on the list of recent heavyweight champions who came into the ring flabby for their first title defense and lost. . . .

Winner-take-all is unrealistic, but maybe a percentage of the purse should go to the winner and a lesser amount to the loser. In boxing, champions have been guaranteed 20 times as much as challengers. But in tennis or golf, being the defending champion assures you of nothing except a spot in the field. . . .

Second best-conditioned heavyweight on the card Thursday was Riddick Bowe. . . .

Look-alikes: Holyfield and former New York Giant linebacker Harry Carson. . . .

British promoter Mickey Duff on Holyfield-George Foreman: “It will be a tough fight for five rounds. Then youth will prevail.”. . . .

Holyfield opened as a 5-1 favorite over Foreman at one Las Vegas betting parlor and 3 1/2-1 at another. . . .

If Holyfield had lost to Douglas, he would have been guaranteed $3 million and Foreman $4 million for a non-title match. Instead, Holyfield will get $20 million and Foreman $12 million. . . .

All three fights at the Mirage have been stinkers--

Holyfield-Douglas, Michael Nunn-Marlon Starling and Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran. . . .

The rematch of a great fight, Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor, is set for February. No title will be at stake and the weight will be 144 pounds, four over the junior-welterweight limit. . . .

Name game: Junior-middleweight boxer Kenneth Whack. . . .

That increase in box seat ticket prices at Dodger Stadium should help Peter O’Malley pay Darryl Strawberry. . . .

Because of the body of his work, Todd Marinovich deserves to get his starting quarterback job back at USC if his classroom attendance picks up. . . .

Washington is playing the finest college football in the nation. . . .

Michigan is the best 4-3 team. . . .

Lou Holtz doesn’t give Raghib Ismail enough to do. The Rocket takes off from the line of scrimmage faster than maybe anybody ever. . . .

Stanford’s upset of Notre Dame becomes more incredible every week. . . .

Yeah, Pat Dye would have gone for the tie if Auburn had been in the same situation as Mississippi State Saturday. . . .

The improved Miami Dolphins now can win easily even on days when Dan Marino throws only one touchdown pass. . . .

Think New Orleans’ offense is conservative enough? Steve Walsh completed 19 passes for a grand total of 120 yards against Detroit. . . .

Sunday wasn’t quite the same without the Raiders. . . .

From Jerry Tarkanian, coach of NCAA basketball champion Nevada Las Vegas: “We got H Waldman and if we would have gotten Shon Tarver, we would have had two honor students in the backcourt. I don’t know if I could have related to them.”