Sports digest

January 7, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

Area

Tickets available

NILES — Tickets for the Jan. 19 LaBrae-Niles basketball game at the Chevrolet Centre are on sale at the Niles athletic office from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.

state

Blue Jackets moves

COLUMBUS — The Columbus Blue Jackets assigned forward Stefan Legein and forward Nikita Filatov to the club’s AHL affiliate in Syracuse on Tuesday.

Legein was Columbus’ second pick in the 2007 draft. After helping Canada win the 2008 World Juniors and having a productive season at Niagara of the Ontario Hockey League, he told the Blue Jackets last summer he was quitting hockey because he had lost the desire to play.

The 20-year-old Legein has since said he made a mistake and wants to prove himself to the Blue Jackets organization.

The 18-year-old Filatov was the sixth overall pick in last summer’s draft. He had eight goals and three assists in seven games as Russia’s captain at the 2009 World Juniors.

nation

Horse wagering

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Wagering on thoroughbred racing in the United States fell more than 7 percent in 2008 as the struggling economy and fewer racing dates led to a downturn at the betting window.

Equibase Company, which tracks the industry, reported Tuesday that $13.67 billion was wagered on races at U.S. tracks in 2008. That’s down from $14.72 billion bet in 2007.

The numbers were particularly harsh in December, when betting tumbled 20 percent against the same period in 2007.

Purse levels were relatively flat versus 2007. Tracks handed out $1.16 billion in purse money over 6,095 racing days in 2008. That’s compared with $1.17 billion over 6,168 racing dates in 2007.

Cold cancels races

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Subzero temperatures Tuesday canceled another day of competition at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships.

Organizers waited more than an hour past the scheduled noon start before calling off a pair of distance races. Skiers won’t compete unless temperatures are at least 4 degrees below zero.

Races finally began Monday after a series of cancellations over the weekend because of the frigid conditions. Organizers were not confident the temperature would remain warm enough Tuesday afternoon for the races to be complete.

Officials and coaches were planning to meet later Tuesday to discuss options for the remaining races.

Racing fatalities

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The chief veterinarian of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission says eight horses died of racing injuries during last month’s meet at Turfway Park. That figure is double the total from a year earlier.

Bryce Peckham disclosed the figures Monday during the commission’s first meeting of the year. Several members of the panel demanded answers on what caused the spike in fatalities. A call by The Associated Press to Turfway president Bob Elliston was not immediately returned.

Peckham says Turfway’s synthetic track has been reconfigured twice in the last two years.

world

Soccer update

LONDON — A year after his investment group bought English club Derby, American businessman Andy Appleby remains upbeat about the team’s finances and prospects.

Derby was relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season. It is now in 18th place in the 24-team League Championship and has little chance of a quick return to the top tier of English soccer.

“We’re not having the best of seasons and certainly aren’t where we thought we would be — we all know and understand that — but from a business perspective we have really found the perfect opportunity for us,” Appleby said during a conference call.

Derby will be in the spotlight Wednesday when it hosts European and English champion Manchester United in the first leg of the semifinals of the League Cup at Pride Park.

Dakar Rally

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Spaniard Carlos Sainz won the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday, holding off Nasser Al Attiyah of Qatar to maintain the overall lead.

Sainz, who also won the rally’s second stage, finished the 236-mile ride in 3 hours, 42 minutes, 57 seconds in his Volkswagen — six seconds ahead of Al Attiyah, who won the first and third stages through Argentina and Chile. Organizers shortened the leg from 285 miles for administrative reasons.

Luc Alphand of France was third in the stage across the Patagonian steppe from Ingeniero Jacobacci.

Mark Miller from the United States was fourth, 4:20 behind his Volkswagen teammate, Sainz.

Skipper freed

PARIS — French skipper Jean Le Cam has been rescued from his capsized yacht by a rival in the Vendee Globe around-the-world solo sailing contest.

Le Cam is reportedly healthy and aboard the PRB, the boat of skipper Vincent Riou.

Vindicator staff/wire reports