Owner Sells 75% of Cigar for Estimated $25 Million

Allen Paulson sold 75% of Cigar, his superstar racehorse, to Coolmore Farms of Ireland on Tuesday in a deal valued at about $25 million.

Cigar, who retired after he finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last month, will stand at Ashford Stud, Coolmore’s American division adjacent to Paulson’s Brookside Farm in Versailles, Ky.

“I have a lot of good mares to put him to, and he’ll be right next door,” said Paulson, who earlier had turned down a $30 million offer for Cigar from Japanese interests.

The deal, contingent on Cigar’s passing a veterinary examination, is yet to be signed.

Tennis

Stefan Edberg, playing the final ATP tournament of a brilliant 14-year career that gave him singles titles in six Grand Slam events, lost to fellow Swede Nicklas Kulti in the first round of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

Edberg, who won 41 singles titles on the Grand Prix and ATP Tours, retires from the game with $20.6 million in prize money.

He is expected to play his final competitive matches later this month when Sweden faces France in the Davis Cup final.

Third-seeded Jim Courier defeated Spain’s Javier Sanchez, 6-4, 6-3, in the Kremlin Cup tournament in Moscow. Another American, Alex O’Brien, ousted fifth-seeded Alex Corretja of Spain, 6-3, 6-2.

Jurisprudence

Mike Cito, accused of playing football with a razor-sharp helmet buckle that injured opponents, hired attorney Michael Danoff to fight his expulsion from St. Pius X High School in Albuquerque, N.M. Game officials stopped the game Oct. 12 between St. Pius and Albuquerque Academy after Academy players were cut.

Basketball

Pete Carril, whose Princeton teams were sentimental NCAA tournament favorites, and John Thompson, who transformed Georgetown into one of college basketball’s top teams, were nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Other nominees include former Laker standout Jamaal Wilkes, Alex English, Sidney Moncrief, Bobby Jones, Dennis Johnson, Jo Jo White and the late Gus Johnson. Alex Hannum, who got his start turning faltering pro teams into contenders as player-coach of the St. Louis Hawks in 1956-57, was another first-time nominee.

The NCAA has cleared Nebraska Coach Danny Nee of wrongdoing in claims of paying a recruiter to bring Nigerian star Osita Nwachukwu to Nebraska, the school said. But Nee was cited for two minor violations and was barred from off-campus recruiting for the first two days of recruiting in mid-March.

Jeff Sheppard, a 6-foot-3 Kentucky senior, will be red-shirted for the 1996-97 season, said Coach Rick Pitino, adding that Sheppard sought it to gain more playing time next season in hopes of improving his pro prospects. . . . Gettysburg forward Phil Tonkins, a first-team All-Centennial Conference player last year, will end his career because of an irregular heartbeat, the Gettysburg Times reported.

Soccer

Reinaldo, a former star of Brazil’s national soccer team, was charged with using cocaine, law officials said in Rio de Janeiro. . . . Augusto Arroyo Hernandez, administrator of a local soccer team, was detained in Guatemala City in connection with the stampede at a soccer stadium that left 84 people dead. He was in charge of ticket booths and gate personnel at the stadium. . . . Thomas Rongen, the 1996 Major League Soccer coach of the year with Tampa Bay, was hired to coach the New England Revolution. Rongen replaces Frank Stapleton, who resigned Sept. 26.

Miscellany

Former world champion cyclist Lance Armstrong is out of the hospital after undergoing brain surgery and chemotherapy in Austin, Texas. Doctors have given Armstrong, 25, a 65%-85% chance for full recovery. . . . Veteran IMG negotiator Sean McManus will apparently replace David Kenin as president of CBS sports and perhaps seek to regain the NFL as soon as IMG and CBS can agree on his start-up date. Kenin was dismissed 2 1/2 years after he replaced Neal Pilson in a department that had lost, in succession, the NBA, major league baseball and finally the NFL in December 1993. . . . Roger Clemens, possibly making a break with the Boston Red Sox, and John Wetteland, most valuable player in the World Series, were among 11 players filing for free agency. . . . Baseball owners rejected a 10-year deal with Nike sporting goods.