IN BRIEF

HORSE RACING

Country Star rallies for win at Keeneland

Country Star surged past four horses down the stretch to win the Darley Alcibiades at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

With Rafael Bejarano aboard, the 2-year-old was running eighth in the field of 10 fillies at the three-quarter pole but took charge from there. Country Star paid $10.40, $4.60 and $3.80. A to the Croft placed at $6.20 and $4.20, a neck ahead of Grace Anatomy, who was $4.20 to show.

All three finishers in the $500,000 Grade I feature race on opening day of Keeneland's fall meet probably are headed to compete against other juvenile fillies this month in the Breeders' Cup.

Also: Diamond Stripes took the lead in midstretch, then survived a foul claim by runner-up Magna Graduate's jockey to win the $500,000 Meadowlands Cup by a half-length in East Rutherford, N.J.

The win in one of the last major preps for the Breeders' Cup may have earned Diamond Stripes a spot in either the Classic or the dirt mile. Diamond Stripes ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.1 and paid $4.20, $2.60 and $2.20.

Trainer Patrick Biancone was suspended for one year by Kentucky racing officials for violations of horse medication rules. He said he will appeal.

MISCELLANEOUS

Former Duke lacrosse players file lawsuit

Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape filed a sweeping federal lawsuit that could return the sensational case to a courtroom, suing disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city of Durham, N.C., and the police detectives who handled the investigation.

The lawsuit calls the criminal case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial and scientific misconduct in modern American history."

It seeks unspecified damages and numerous reforms to the way the Durham Police Department handles criminal investigations.

Also: Top-ranked Justine Henin struggled to beat Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4, and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Serena Williams 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the Porsche Grand Prix at Stuttgart, Germany.

Fifth-ranked Elena Gantcheva and Kristina Nedeltcheva of UNLV lost to No. 22 Melissa Mang and Tory Zawacki of Duke 8-2 in the consolation bracket of the Riviera/ITA Women's Tennis All-American Championships at Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Lamar Neagle scored in the 103rd minute to give the UNLV men's soccer team (5-3-2, 1-0) a 1-0 double-overtime victory over Air Force (2-6-1, 0-1) in a Mountain West Conference match at Peter Johann Memorial Field. The goal was Neagle's sixth of the season, and the victory was the Rebels' third straight.

The UNLV women's soccer team (4-3-4) and Portland State (4-6-1) played to a scoreless tie at Peter Johann Field. The Rebels outshot the Vikings 21-4.

Landon Donovan captured the Honda Award as U.S. soccer player of the year in a landslide vote, winning for an unprecedented fourth time.

Charlotte Bobcats forward Sean May will miss the NBA season after deciding to undergo microfracture surgery on his troublesome right knee. May, the 13th pick in the 2005 draft, has played in only 58 of 164 games in the past two seasons.

The Toronto Raptors exercised their third-year option on Andrea Bargnani, securing the Italian forward and the 2006 top overall pick in the NBA Draft through the 2009 season.

Olympic silver medalist Morgan Hamm had surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle, but the gymnast expects to be healthy for next summer's Beijing Olympics.