Auto Racing
Keselowski wins at Texas; Hornish cuts Dillon’s lead
FORT WORTH, Texas – Brad Keselowski led 105 of 200 laps at Texas to win for the sixth time in his last eight Nationwide Series starts, while Austin Dillon’s points lead for the season title was cut by Sam Hornish Jr. from eight to six with two races to go.
With the win in the No. 22 Ford, Keselowski put Roger Penske back in the lead for owner points. Keselowski finished nearly a second ahead of Denny Hamlin.
Webber beats Vettel to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix pole
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Mark Webber managed to outshine his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, beating the four-time world champion’s time right at the end of qualifying Saturday to take pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The veteran Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win of 2013. He will look to end Vettel’s run of six consecutive race wins Sunday.
The 37-year-old Webber clocked 1 minute, 39.957 seconds. Vettel timed 1:40.075.
Horse Racing
Mucho Macho Man wins Breeders’ Cup Classic
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mucho Macho Man won the $5-million Classic by a nose a year after finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup race.
Ridden by Gary Stevens, Mucho Macho Man ran the 1-mile in 2:00.72 and paid $10, $4.60 and $3.60 on Saturday at Santa Anita.
Kathy Ritvo became the first female trainer to win North America’s richest race. The 50-year-old Stevens closed out his comeback year that began in January with a sweep of the two biggest races at the two-day world championships. He won the $2-million Distaff with Beholder on Friday.
Will Take Charge returned $7.20 and $4.80, while Declaration of War was another head back in third and paid $4.80 to show.
Game On Dude, the 8-5 favorite, finished ninth on his home track. Fort Larned failed to defend the title he won last year.
NHL
Columbus franchise finally gets its All-Star weekend
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The National Hockey League announced Columbus will host the 2015 All-Star Game and skills competitions.
The weekend of events is set for Jan. 24-25, 2015.
Columbus originally was awarded the 2013 All-Star weekend, but that was canceled because of the lockout. There is no All-Star game in 2014 because of the Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Tennis
Italy one win shy of its fourth Fed Cup championship
CAGLIARI, Italy – Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani prevailed in the opening singles for a 2-0 lead Saturday against an understrength Russia and put Italy on the brink of a fourth Fed Cup title.
Vinci beat Alexandra Panova 5-7, 7-5, 8-6 in 3 hours, 13 minutes, and Errani beat Irina Khromacheva 6-1, 6-4.
Italy needs one more victory Sunday to add to its Fed Cup titles in 2006, 2009 and 2010.
Djokovic and Federer linked in Paris and London
LONDON – Roger Federer has won one title over the last 14 months, at a low-key tournament this summer. The ATP Finals in London are his last chance to collect another title.
The 32-year-old Federer lost to Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in their first meeting this year in the Paris Masters semifinals Saturday. The pair was placed in the same group at the season-ending, eight-man finals, which will start Monday.
The draw Saturday placed top-ranked Rafael Nadal in Group A alongside fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Federer and Djokovic, who faced off for the 30th time in their careers Saturday, will be playing in a tough Group B that also includes Juan Martin del Potro and Richard Gasquet.
Associated Press
