Finger Lakes Gives Zippy the Thumb

A horse named Zippy Chippy tied a record for the most consecutive losses to begin a racing career, 85, and the veteran thoroughbred’s reward was banishment from the Finger Lakes racetrack at Farmington, N.Y., where he recorded the loss Tuesday.

Even though Zippy Chippy has never won a race, fans bet on him just the same.

“It was for the public’s protection,” steward Rick Coyne of the Finger Lakes Racing Assn. said about the ban. “He was sort of a cult figure. That’s half the problem.”

Zippy Chippy, a 7-year old New York-bred gelding, has finished second six times, once by only a neck on Oct. 3, 1995.

Owner-trainer Felix Monserrate, who bought Zippy Chippy for $2,500 in 1995, has not decided whether to give the horse a shot at breaking the consecutive-loss record he now shares with two other horses, Gussie Mae and Really A Tenor, at another track.

Golf

Bob Friend shot a five-under-par 67 for a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Canadian Open at Oakville. Friend, son of the former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher of the same name, was eight under at 136, a stroke ahead of Billy Andrade.

Bruce Summerhays had nine birdies in an eight-under 64 and held a one-stroke lead over four other golfers after the first round of the Senior PGA Tour’s Comfort Classic in Indianapolis.

At 65 were Terry Dill, Simon Hobday, George Archer and Bobby Stroble.

Rookie Se Ri Pak, looking for her fifth LPGA victory of the year, shot a four-under 68 and took a one-shot lead after the second round of the Safeco Classic at Kent, Wash. Pak’s nine-under 135 total allowed her to overtake first-round leader Sherri Steinhauer.

Auto Racing

The tires used by Winston Cup driver Jeff Gordon in winning the CMT 300 at Loudon, N.H., Aug. 30, were not tampered with, NASCAR’s vice president of competition said. Mike Helton said independent tests conducted on tires used by Gordon and Mark Martin had not been altered.

Martin’s team owner, Jack Roush, had complained that Gordon must have been doing something illegal when he won after taking on only two new tires in a late pit stop of the race in Loudon.

Rusty Wallace, mired in a 53-race winless streak, won the pole for Sunday’s Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 at Richmond, Va., qualifying his Ford at 125.377 mph.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the Autolite Platinum 250 Busch Grand National race, leading 236 of the 250 laps to win the crash-filled event at Richmond, Va.

The estate of Kenneth Fox of Lansing, Mich., one of three fans killed at Michigan International Speedway during a CART car race July 26, has filed an $11-million wrongful-death lawsuit against the track.

Hockey

Pittsburgh Penguin co-owner Roger Marino dismissed as “preposterous” a published report that claimed the New York Rangers are considering a bid to acquire superstar Jaromir Jagr. . . . Former King coach Mike Murphy, fired as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs in June, was hired by the Ottawa Senators as an assistant. . . . Bruce Driver, the New Jersey Devils’ all-time leader among defensemen in goals and points, retired after a 15-year career. . . . Dallas defenseman Richard Matvichuk, who underwent knee surgery in June, re-signed with the Stars but is expected to sit out the start of the season while he recuperates. . . . The expansion Nashville Predators signed free-agent right wing Sergei Krivokrasov, who spent the last six seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Track and Field

Marion Jones recorded the third-fastest 200 meters ever at 21.62 seconds to win the World Cup at Johannesburg, South Africa. Jones’ victory kept her undefeated in 36 finals this year in the 100, 200, long long jump and relays. Only Florence Griffith Joyner, the world-record holder, has run faster than Jones in the 200 with times of 21.34 and 21.56.

Obadele Thompson of Barbados won the men’s 100 in 9.87--only .03 of a second off the world record of 9.84 by Canada’s Donovan Bailey. Seun Ogunkoya of Nigeria was second at 9.92.

Miscellany

The New York Liberty of the WNBA fired Coach Nancy Darsch. The team finished 18-12 this season. . . . Former heavyweight champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes have signed to fight Jan. 23 at the Astrodome. . . . Iran won the World Wrestling Championships despite Cuban Alexis Rodriguez’s upset of Iran’s Rasul Khadem in the 287-pound class at Tehran. . . . A drunken driving charge against Oksana Baiul was dismissed by a Connecticut judge who said the figure skater had met the terms of her probation and completed an alcohol education program. . . . Basketball prospect Melvin Whitaker will be released from prison Oct. 16, too late to play in the first semester for Mount St. Mary’s of Emmitsburg, Md. Whitaker is in the Southampton Correctional Center for slashing a Virginia football player with a box cutter.