IN BRIEF

HORSE RACING

NYRA gets extension in dealings with state

The New York Racing Association agreed Friday to an extension with the state to avoid any interruption of thoroughbred racing over the next few weeks.

NYRA’s agreement to operate Aqueduct, Saratoga and Belmont Park expires Monday. Horses currently are running at Aqueduct.

The governor’s office confirmed the temporary extension while negotiations on a new agreement continue. Any agreement would require approval by the state Legislature, which isn’t expected back in Albany until after the contract expires.

Also: Patrick Valenzuela, whose career has been marred by a history of substance abuse and suspensions, has been stripped of his conditional jockey license after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

A notice of the termination of Valenzuela’s license was issued by the California Horse Racing Board.

The 45-year-old jockey’s conditional license ran from Nov. 14 to Dec. 31, 2008.

Sgt. John Moore of the Upland, Calif., Police Department said Valenzuela was stopped by an officer in the early morning hours of Dec. 20 and taken to the police department, where he was booked and cited for driving under the influence. His blood-alcohol reading was over the legal limit of .08, Moore said.

MISCELLANEOUS

Sutton denied in bid to notch win No. 799

Eddie Sutton returned to coaching, but rather than recording basketball win No. 799, the 71-year-old settled for loss No. 316 in a 62-54 defeat to Weber State in Ogden, Utah.

Sutton, who retired from Oklahoma State following the 2005-06 season, returned to coaching, replacing Jessie Evans at San Francisco. Sutton, whose career record is 798-316, will lead the Dons (4-8) on an interim basis.

Also: The UNLV women’s basketball team committed 27 turnovers in an 84-63 loss to in-state rival UNR at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

Sequoia Holmes had 17 points and eight rebounds and Shamela Hampton added 17 points, but the Lady Rebels (4-8) snapped an eight-game winning streak against the Wolf Pack (8-3) that dated to the 1999 season.

UNLV fell behind 11-2 to start and never made a game of it, getting no closer than 17 points in the second half.

Jim Harrick said he will resign as coach of the Bakersfield (Calif.) Jam of the NBA Development League for personal reasons.

“It is with great sorrow that I relieve myself of coaching duties with the Bakersfield Jam,” the former UCLA coach said in a statement posted on the team’s Web site.

He did not elaborate on the reasons for his departure.

Tab Thacker, an NCAA championship wrestler who appeared in two “Police Academy” films, died after several years of declining health, according to North Carolina State. He was 45.

The 6-foot-4-inch Thacker, who once tipped the scale at almost 450 pounds, got his first movie role when Clint Eastwood saw his photograph in Time magazine and took note of Thacker’s enormous frame, which helped the three-time All-American finish his senior season 31-0 at N.C. State in 1984.

Thacker played an underdog football player who made the climactic ending play in 1986’s “Wildcats,” starring Goldie Hawn. He also was a cast member in two “Police Academy” films and later appeared in “Identity Crisis.”

Thacker won the NCAA heavyweight championship in 1984 and earned four Atlantic Coast Conference titles.