Holy Bull Eclipses Field in Woodward

In what was supposed to be the toughest test of his career, Holy Bull scored a five-length victory in the Woodward Stakes at Belmont on Saturday, virtually clinching the 3-year-old and horse-of-the-year titles.

Trainer Jimmy Croll was adamant that this was Holy Bull’s last start of the year. He won’t enter the Breeders’ Cup, which usually determines the winners of the Eclipse Awards.

Holy Bull took the lead from Southland-based Bertrando on the far turn and extended his margin through the stretch. “It was unbelievable,” jockey Mike Smith said. “I felt like he was growing wings.”

Holy Bull covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46 4/5, with Devil His Due second and Colonial Affair third.

The Woodward was one of six Grade I stakes on the card. Trainer Wayne Lukas’ undefeated 2-year-old filly, Flanders, won the one-mile Matron; Montreal Red won the Futurity Stakes; Sky Beauty won the Ruffian Handicap despite carrying 130 pounds; Royal Mountain Inn won the Man o’ War, and Harlan won the Vosburgh.

Boxing

Vincent Pettway won the International Boxing Federation junior-middleweight title by knocking out Gianfranco Rosi of Italy at 2:59 of the fourth round of a scheduled 12-round fight in Las Vegas. Rosi had held the title since 1989.

Mexico’s Ricardo Lopez knocked down Yodsing au Saengmorokot of Thailand twice in the first round and retained his World Boxing Council strawweight title when the referee stopped the fight. . . . Axel Schulz of Germany outpointed former World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion James (Bonecrusher) Smith in a 10-round bout in Leverkusen, Germany. Smith, 41, was fighting for the first time since being stopped in the third round by Lionel Butler in January. . . . Former world heavyweight champion Mike Weaver stopped fellow American Bill Corrigan in the second round at Macao.

Auto Racing

Emerson Fittipaldi won the pole position for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pa., with a record-breaking lap. The Brazilian broke the record with a lap of 185.600 m.p.h. on the one-mile oval, surpassing the 181.435 set in 1992 by Michael Andretti.

Johnny Benson Jr. took the lead late in the SplitFire 200 at Dover, Del., when Jason Keller tangled with a lapped car and held on for his first victory.

Don Prudhomme kept the top spot in top fuel qualifying for today’s NHRA Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals in Mohnton, Pa. John Force led the funny car competition with a run of 5.090 at 293.25 in a Chevrolet Lumina. Darrell Alderman remained on top in pro stock with run of 7.108 at 193.38 in a Dodge Avenger.

Hockey

The Mighty Ducks re-signed veteran defenseman Randy Ladouceur to a two-year contract that will pay him about $600,000 this season. Ladouceur, 34, is in his 13th NHL season. The team also signed forwards Shaun Van Allen and Denny Lambert and minor league forward Dean Ewen and goalie John Tanner. Minor league goalie Allan Bester, defenseman Mark Ferner and forward Brian Sullivan are playing out their options.

The Buffalo Sabres signed forward Pat LaFontaine to a five-year contract extension worth $22.5 million.

Rowing

Strong winds forced cancellation of the afternoon finals at the World Rowing Championships at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. The races will be held today.

In morning finals, Great Britain’s Steven Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent won the pairs’ gold medal, Great Britain won the eights race over Denmark, Italy won the lightweight double sculls gold, Canada’s Colleen Miller and Wendy Wiebe retained their world championship title in the women’s lightweight double sculls and Christine Gosse and Helene Cortin of France retained their women’s pair without coxswain title.