THE MEDIA

Women's sports pioneer Garber dies at 92 Mary Garber, among the nation's first female sports writers and the first woman to win the Red Smith Award, the Associated Press Sports Editors' highest honor, died Sunday in Winston-Salem, N.C. She was 92.

In 2006, the Association for Women in Sports Media named its annual Pioneer Award for Garber, and she is a member of the National Sportscasters and Sportwriters Hall of Fame.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported Sunday that a minister was making the rounds at the Brookridge Retirement Village where Garber was a resident, and he asked what she had in mind for a spiritual reward in heaven. "Football season," she said.

OLYMPICS

U.S. equestrian team disqualified for drugs The United States was disqualified Monday from its fourth-place finish in the Olympic team dressage event for a positive drug test.

The International Equestrian Federation said rider Courtney King's horse Mythilus tested positive for the banned substance felbinac. The medication is used as an anti-inflammatory pain reliever, not a doping product.

The FEI said the disqualification was automatic despite a plea from the U.S. Equestrian Federation on behalf of King's teammates Steffen Peters and Debbie McDonald.

King also lost her 13th place in the individual dressage class and received a one-month ban already served since she was suspended during the Beijing Games.

A hearing on the case was held Sept. 7 in Lausanne. King argued she gained no competitive advantage and had not mistreated her horse because of the nature and small amount of the substance found.

HORSE RACING

Curlin has final run before bid for record Curlin, the reigning Horse of the Year, put in his final workout before attempting to become the first American racehorse to break the $10 million mark in Saturday's $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park.

Curlin covered a half mile in an easy 51.85 seconds at Saratoga Race Course, a worked called "perfect" by Scott Blasi, the assistant to Curlin trainer Steve Asmussen.

The 4-year-old Curlin enters the 1¼-mile Gold Cup with earnings of $9,796,800. Two-time Horse of the Year Cigar has the record of $9,999,815, which has stood for 12 years. The winner's purse Saturday is $450,000.

AROUND THE HORN

Boxing: The rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, (37-0-1, 29 KOs), and St. Paul boxer Matt Vanda (38-7, 21 KOs) was set Monday for Nov. 1 in Last Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort. The first match in Hermosillo, Mexico, ended in a disputed decision for Chavez that led to fans tossing debris into the ring in protest

NBA: Sacramento forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim retired Monday because of a persistent right knee injury. He played 12 seasons for four teams and was the third overall pick by Vancouver in the 1996 draft. ... In Phoenix, the Suns signed Slovenian point guard Goran Dragic to a multi-year contract.

ASSOCIATED PRESS