Rockport Harbor Has a Blood Clot on His Neck

Rockport Harbor is being treated for a blood clot on his neck and might not run in the Arkansas Derby on April 16 -- scheduled as his final prep race before the Kentucky Derby on May 7 -- the colt’s trainer, John Servis, said Monday.

Another Servis colt, Smarty Jones, won last year’s Arkansas Derby and went on to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

At Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., where Rockport Harbor has been training, Servis said that if the horse doesn’t run in the Arkansas Derby, he might run in the Lexington Stakes on April 23 at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

“The horse is doing better, but time is not on our side,” Servis said.

Rockport Harbor did not work out Saturday because of his condition, and Servis said the horse wouldn’t be able to resume training until Wednesday. Rockport Harbor, who has run only once this year, has also been battling a lingering foot problem that resulted from his being stepped on by another horse en route to winning the Remsen Stakes last year.

Rockport Harbor was undefeated last year, winning all four starts. Running after a layoff of nearly four months, he finished a strong second to Greater Good in the Rebel at Oaklawn on March 19.

“The Kentucky Derby is still a realistic goal,” Rick Porter, the owner of Rockport Harbor, said on the horse’s website. “John and I will not sacrifice his career for the Derby.”

-- Bill Christine

Basketball

Former NBA player Shawn Kemp was arrested after a sheriff’s deputy smelled marijuana while talking to two men standing by a pickup in a parking lot at Shoreline, Wash.

After receiving permission from the vehicle’s owner to search the truck, the deputy found what appeared to be marijuana and cocaine, and a semiautomatic pistol, the King County sheriff’s office said.

Kemp was being held for investigation of drug possession and is due in court today, authorities said. Kemp, a five-time All-Star, ended his career in 2003.

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Rookie forward Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls is expected to have surgery and sit out the rest of the season after an MRI exam revealed a torn ligament in his right wrist.

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Forward Stromile Swift of the Memphis Grizzlies was cleared to return to practice after sitting out one game because of an irregular heartbeat, which the team said doctors were able to correct.

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Pittsburgh sophomore Chris Taft, a 6-foot-10 center, said he is making himself available for the NBA draft.

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Free-agent forward Svetlana Abrosimova re-signed with the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.

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Frank Burlison, a columnist for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writers Assn. Hall of Fame.

Burlison joined the late Mal Florence, who spent more than half a century in the sports department with The Times, as the hall’s only West Coast members.

The Times’ Robyn Norwood, the USBWA’s outgoing president, received the Ray Marquette Award for her service to the organization.

Swimming

Michael Phelps overtook U.S. record-holder Jason Lezak, who faded at the finish, and won the 100-meter freestyle in 49.0 seconds and later won the 200 individual medley in 1 minute 57.44 seconds for his fifth victory at Indianapolis in the U.S. trials for the world championships in July at Montreal.

USA Swimming, the sport’s governing body in the U.S., said before Monday’s events that second-place finishers also would be part of the American team.

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Auburn senior Kirsty Coventry has been selected the nation’s top collegiate female swimmer in balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools.

Coventry won the 200-yard backstroke and the 200 and 400 individual medleys at the NCAA women’s championships.

She represented her native Zimbabwe at the Athens Olympics and won a gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke, a silver in the 100 backstroke and a bronze in the 200 individual medley.

Miscellany

Steve Penny, senior vice president of USA Gymnastics, was promoted to president and chief executive of the sport’s national governing body. He replaces Bob Colarossi, who resigned in January.

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Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil returned to the ATP Tour after hip surgery and defeated fourth-seeded Olivier Rochus of Belgium, 6-2, 6-4, in the first round of the Valencia Open in Spain. ... Conchita Martinez and Mary Pierce swept first-round matches at Amelia Island, Fla.

Passings

Becky Zerlentes, 34, of Fort Collins, Colo., died Sunday from a head injury suffered in a Colorado Golden Gloves competition Saturday, the Denver County coroner’s office said.

Zerlentes was hit by a punch from Heather Schmitz and fell unconscious during the third round of a bout at Denver.

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Marius Russo, who played for four pennant-winning teams and two World Series champions, has died at Fort Myers, Fla. He was 90. A left-hander who pitched for the New York Yankees from 1939 to 1943 and in 1946 after he returned from military service, Russo died March 26 from heart failure after battling various illnesses, his wife, Stasia, said.