HORSE RACING
Kentucky racing officials have denied trainer Bob Baffert’s request to stay his suspension for a failed postrace drug test by Medina Spirit that led to his disqualification as Kentucky Derby winner.
Kentucky Horse Racing Commission board members on Friday voted 10-0 with three abstentions against the stay in a specially called meeting. KHRC stewards last week suspended the Hall of Fame trainer for 90 days with a $7,500 fine and disqualified the now-deceased colt for having the corticosteroid betamethasone in his system last May. Betamethasone is allowed in Kentucky but prohibited on race day.
Director Marc A. Guilfoil denied an initial request to stay the suspension, which was scheduled to start on March 8 but is delayed pending a March 17 hearing before Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate.
GOLF
PGA: Viktor Hovland had the lowest round of the day with a 6-under 66 and takes a two-shot lead into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Florida
Hovland made seven birdies and a few key pars saves late in the second round. He posted a 9-under 135.
Rory McIlroy missed a 4-foot par putt, putts from 8 feet on the next two holes for birdie and par, and finished off his 72 by missing a good birdie chance from 15 feet to sit two behind along with past Bay Hill winner Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Talor Gooch (68), who won his first PGA Tour title in the final official event last year.
PEURTO RICO OPEN: Ryan Brehm closed birdie-eagle for a 5-under 67 and the second-round lead Friday in the Puerto Rico Open.
Brehm is making his final start on a minor medical extension and needs to win or finish second alone to retain status. He is the only player in the field bogey-free through 36 holes. Brehm birdied the par-4 17th and made a 30-footer for eagle on the par-5 18th to get to 11-under 133 at Grand Reserve.
Max McGreevy (64), Satoshi Kodaira (66) and Michael Kim (69) were a stroke back. Callum Tarren (65) was 9 under.
LPGA: Top-ranked Jin Young Ko moved into a tie for the lead at the HSBC Women’s World Championship on Friday in Singapore in only her second round since returning from a three-month break from the LPGA Tour.
Ko shot a 5-under 67, including a birdie on the par-5 16th, and was even with Amy Yang (67). They had 8-under totals of 136 on the Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong course. Yang’s round included seven birdies.
Brooke Henderson, Meghan Kang and Atthaya Thitikul were tied for third after each shooting 68s, two strokes behind.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma birdied three of his last four holes to grab a one-shot lead halfway through the Kenya Open on Friday.
A birdie-birdie finish earned him a 4-under-par 67 and a 10-under total at altitude at Muthaiga Club.
Masahiro Kawamura of Japan scored a bogey-free 66 to be 9 under with Ewen Ferguson of Scotland, who made 67. Thriston Lawrence of South Africa was at 7 under.
BASEBALL
DOPING: Seattle’s Bernie Martinez was suspended for 80 games, and the Mariners’ Luis Baez and San Francisco’s Sonny Vargas were banned for 60 games each Friday following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances under the minor league drug program.
All three are pitchers.
Martinez, with High-A Everett, tested positive for LGD-4033, a selective androgen receptor modulator, the commissioner’s office said.
Baez and Vargas, both assigned to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League, tested positive for Stanozolol, synthetic steroid derived from testosterone.
Seventeen players have been suspended this year under the minor league drug program.
TENNIS
DOPING: Former Top 20 player Varvara Lepchenko was given a four-year doping suspension by the International Tennis Federation after she tested positive for a banned stimulant during a tournament last year.
Her lawyer, Howard Jacobs, wrote in an email to The Associated Press that Lepchenko intends to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 35-year-old Lepchenko, who has represented the United States in the Summer Olympics and at what is now known as the Billie Jean King Cup, took the doping test after a first-round loss at the Hungarian Grand Prix last July.
COACHING CHANGE FOR MURRAY: Andy Murray is bringing back Ivan Lendl as his coach, reuniting about 4 1/2 years after the pair split up for a second time.
Murray’s manager announced that the 34-year-old from Scotland and Lendl have agreed to return to working together over the next few months.
Their partnership produced three Grand Slam singles trophies and two consecutive Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016 for Murray, the only tennis player with more than one Summer Games singles title.
SKIING
MEN’S WORLD CUP: Canadian skier Cameron Alexander shared victory with Swiss rival Niels Hintermann in a downhill in Kvitfjell, Norway after the pair upset the top contenders for the season title.
Alexander, a late starter with bib No. 39, matched Hintermann’s time of 1 minute, 44.42 seconds. The sunny conditions on the Olympiabakken course allowed several lower-ranked skiers to post top-10 results.
Hintermann started 17th, after most pre-race favorites had done their runs, edging then-leader Matthias Mayer of Austria by 0.12 seconds for his second career victory.
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