In Brief

HORSE RACING

Late surge gives Archarcharch upset win in Arkansas Derby

Long shot Archarcharch stormed home to win the $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday in Hot Springs, Ark.

The 25-1 colt trailed with a second group for much of the race before charging hard on the last portion of the 1 1/8-mile race. He overpowered Dance City and Sway Away on the home stretch and held off a late charge by Nehro for the win and a spot in the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

Ridden by Jon Court, Archarcharch paid $52.40, $16.80 and $8.20. Nehro paid $9 and $5.60 for second, and Dance City paid $14.20 for third.

Heavy favorite The Factor fell behind the early pace of J P's Gusto and Dance City and finished seventh. The Bob Baffert-trained colt won last month's Rebel Stakes by 6¼ lengths but had never run more than 1 1/16 miles and was unable to find the needed closing kick in the 1 1/8-mile race Saturday.

Also: Brilliant Speed punched his ticket for the Kentucky Derby with a thrilling stretch run to win the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. The 3-year-old colt lagged behind the rest of the 12-horse field until the turn, then exploded in the final quarter-mile to edge Twinspired by a nose.

The $450,000 winner's check gives Brilliant Speed more than enough graded-stakes earnings for a spot in the Run for the Roses. Ridden by Joel Rosario, Brilliant Speed covered the 1 1/8 miles on Keeneland's Polytrack in 1:50.92 and paid $40.20, $20.80 and $13.

Twinspired paid $21.20 and $11.80 for second, and King Congie paid $8.80 for third. Santiva went off as the solid 2-1 favorite but never threatened despite slow fractions on a cold, wet day.

Mighty B Valiant, the 1-2 quarter-horse favorite, overcame a sluggish start to win the $780,000 Remington Park Futurity in Oklahoma City by three-quarters of a length, covering the 330 yards in 16.739 seconds on a fast track. Mighty B Valiant paid $3, $2.60 and $2.40, Folly Del Ray paid $24.40 and $8.60 for second and Send Me a Candy Tree $3.60 for third.

MOTOR SPORTS

Kyle Busch survives wild finish for fourth Nationwide victory

Kyle Busch won under a yellow flag in a wild finish, taking the Nationwide race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala., when the last of 10 crashes sent Mike Wallace's car flipping upside down.

Busch claimed his fourth win in seven Nationwide races -- and the 47th of his career -- on a day when tandem racing produced a series-record 56 lead changes, 11 cautions and two red flags to clean up all the debris.

Even Busch got caught up in the mayhem. He spun out in the biggest crash of the day, a 21-car melee 28 laps from the scheduled finish of the Aaron's 312. Busch drove his battered Toyota onto pit road and figured he was done for the day. Instead, his crew patched up the damage, yanked off the pieces they couldn't fix and sent him back onto the track without losing a lap.

Busch teammate Joey Logano was second, Joe Nemechek third, Brad Keselowski fourth and Elliott Sadler fifth.

Also: John Force closed in on the one major NHRA record he doesn't hold, taking his 136th career No. 1 qualifier in the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. Force moved around teammate Robert Hight with a 4.056-second pass at 315.19 mph and now is two shy of Pro Stock star Warren Johnson's record of 138.

In Top Fuel, Del Worsham took the top spot with a track-record 3.780-second pass at 325.77 mph. In Pro Stock, Jason Line moved around teammate and overnight pole sitter Greg Anderson on the final pass of the final qualifying session with a 6.562-second run at 210.97 mph.

Will Power won the pole for the Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., his third straight to open the IndyCar season. Power made it around the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit through the streets of downtown in 1 minute, 9:06 seconds to finish just ahead of defending champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Sebastien Ogier of France won the Jordan Rally in Southern Shuneh, Jordan, by the narrowest margin in World Rally Championship history, finishing the two-day event 0.2 seconds ahead of second-place Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland.

GOLF

Tour rookie Steele closes with two birdies, one-stroke lead

PGA Tour rookie Brendan Steele birdied Nos. 17 and 18 for a third-round 4-under-par 68, grabbing sole possession of the Texas Open lead in San Antonio after beginning the day tied with six others for the top spot.

The 28-year-old Californian put his third shot within 15 feet on the par-5 18th, then sunk the putt for his sixth birdie -- offsetting two bogeys. That late surge was enough for a one-stroke lead over second-year PGA Tour pro Cameron Tringale.

Former UNLV golfer Charley Hoffman, one of the seven who shared the second-round lead, shot 72 and is four strokes off the pace. Another former Rebel, defending champion Adam Scott, shot 70 and trails by three.

Third-round winds were calmer than Friday's but still blew to nearly 30 mph. Strong winds are forecast again for today's final round.

Also: John Cook shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Champions Tour's Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Lutz, Fla. Cook sits at 11-under 131, with first-round leader Russ Cochran (68) second.

Cook used accuracy to climb the leaderboard, as he hit 13 of 14 fairways in regulation and birdied four of the back nine holes, including three straight from 12 to 14.

Alexander Noren and 17-year-old Matteo Manassero are tied for the third-round lead in the PGA's European Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They are at 12-under 204, one stroke ahead of Rory McIlroy.

BOXING

Ortiz takes WBC crown from Berto with unanimous decision

Victor Ortiz rode three knockdowns to an upset of previously unbeaten Andre Berto in a WBC welterweight title fight at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn.

Ortiz (29-2-2) won a unanimous decision despite having a point taken away for hitting behind the head. The judges scored the fight 114-112, 114-111 and 115-110.

Berto (27-1) had made five successful title defenses since he won the WBC welterweight crown in June 2008, when he knocked out Miguel Rodriguez in the seventh round. On Saturday, Berto was almost knocked out in the first round, getting floored twice. He was also knocked down in the sixth round.

Also: Amir Khan retained his WBA light welterweight title on points in Manchester, England, after Paul McCloskey wasn't allowed to continue in the sixth round because of a nasty cut over his left eye.

Referee Luiz Pabon said the cut came from an accidental clash of heads and summoned the ringside doctor, who determined McCloskey (22-1) couldn't continue. All three judges had Khan (25-1, 17 KOs) leading 60-54.

MISCELLANEOUS

Nadal beats Murray, gets shot at another Monte Carlo title

Six-time defending champion Rafael Nadal reached the Monte Carlo Masters final in Monaco with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Andy Murray, who needed a cortisone shot in his right arm before the match.

Nadal will play fourth-seeded David Ferrer in today's all-Spanish final. Ferrer defeated seventh-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-2 to advance to his second Masters title match. He lost his first in Rome to Nadal last year.

The top-ranked Nadal needed almost three hours to defeat Murray. He won for the 36th straight time at this clay-court event but dropped a set at the tournament for the first time since the 2009 final against Novak Djokovic.

Also: Turning to two teenagers with Serena and Venus Williams injured, the United States is on the verge of being knocked out of the World Group for the first time after losing both singles matches to Germany in a Fed Cup playoff in Stuttgart, Germany.

Andrea Petkovic defeated 18-year-old Christina McHale 6-3, 6-4 in the opening singles, and Julia Goerges beat 19-year-old Melanie Oudin, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Germany is within a point of winning the best-of-5 series on indoor clay, with reverse singles and doubles today.

Center Shaquille O'Neal will miss the Boston Celtics' home NBA playoff opener against the New York Knicks today because of a right calf injury. O'Neal received therapy before Saturday's practice, then ran briefly before stopping because of pain. General manager Danny Ainge said he didn't know when O'Neal, who played in only 37 games this season, would be ready to return.

North Carolina-bound James McAdoo had 26 points and 14 rebounds and hit the clinching free throws with 1.6 seconds left to lead the East squad to a 113-109 victory over the West in the Jordan Brand Classic in Charlotte, N.C. Duke product Austin Rivers added 16 points, six rebounds and four steals for the East, which held off a late West rally in the freewheeling high school All-Star game.

The NHL suspended Anaheim left winger Bobby Ryan for two games for stomping on Nashville Predators defenseman Jonathon Blum's foot in the Ducks' 5-3 home victory Friday.

The Alabama women's gymnastics team won its fifth NCAA championship but first since 2002, scoring 197.650 points to edge defending national champion UCLA (197.375) in Cleveland.