Game On Dude wins San Antonio Stakes

Game On Dude overpowered three rivals to successfully defend his title in the $200,000 San Antonio Stakes by 6 1/2 lengths at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Ridden by Hall of Fame member Mike Smith, Game On Dude ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.53 and paid $2.10 and $2.10 at 1-9 odds.

Trained by Hall of Fame member Bob Baffert, Game On Dude is co-owned by retired Dodgers manager Joe Torre, who was on hand.

Game On Dude broke sharply and was immediately engaged by 12-1 longshot Basmati.

“I got pressured, even more so than if it was a full field, believe it or not,” Smith said. “In these short fields, people make you do things because it’s more of a match race. He has a high, high cruising speed and you just let him get into his rhythm whether that’s up front or off the lead.

“I let him do his thing and he ran brilliant. He stood up over on the turn, took one breath and turned around like it was nothing. They were running quick, but that’s just him.”

Baffert said Game On Dude would be pointed to the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 2, which he won in 2011.

ETC.

Querrey leads U.S. in Davis Cup win

The United States was in trouble when Sam Querrey began his Davis Cup match against Thiago Alves at Jacksonville, Fla.

A few booming serves later, the Americans were headed for the quarterfinals.

Querrey beat Alves, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3), to give the U.S. a dramatic 3-2 victory over Brazil, stepping up after teammate John Isner lost to Thomaz Bellucci to send the countries to the deciding fifth match.

Also advancing Sunday to the quarterfinals were Canada (over Spain), Italy (over Croatia), Kazakhstan (over Austria) and the Czech Republic (over Switzerland). Clinching spots on Saturday were France (over Israel), Serbia (over Belgium) and Argentina (over Germany).

The U.S. will host Serbia in the next round in Boise, Idaho, from April 5-7.

Unseeded Mona Barthel of Germany won the second title of her career, upsetting top-seeded Sara Errani of Italy, 7-5, 7-6 (4), in the Open GDF Suez final at Paris.

The seventh-ranked Errani was a heavy favorite as she chased her seventh title and first this year, but the 45th-ranked Barthel stayed on a roll after beating fifth-seeded Roberta Vinci and No. 3-seeded Marion Bartoli on her way to the final.

Second-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia won the Pattaya Open in Thailand by coming from a set down to beat Sabine Lisicki.

Kirilenko dominated a third-set tiebreaker to defeat the fifth-seeded German, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (1).

It was the 15th-ranked Kirilenko’s sixth WTA title — and her first since 2008.

Stephen Gallacher made an eagle on the 16th hole to win the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates, overcoming early jitters to beat playing partner Richard Sterne by three shots.

Gallacher finished with a 22-under total of 266. Looking for his first European Tour win since 2004, Gallacher (71) had a nervous start. The 111th-ranked Scotsman had a three-shot lead over Sterne but bogeyed the first two holes.

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With attention on her personal life intensifying, Lindsey Vonn will be surrounded by bodyguards at the Alpine skiing world championships in Schladming, Austria.

An average of 30,000 fans per race are expected during the 13-day championships, which start Tuesday with the women’s super-G and end Feb. 17.

Vonn said Red Bull, her sponsor, has hired security “to make sure I can get in and out and not have any difficulty, but I don’t expect there to be any problems. But it’s better to be safe than sorry.”