LONDON — Jockey Paul O’Neill apologized Tuesday for head-butting his horse at a race last weekend. The Horseracing Regulatory Authority is holding an inquiry after reviewing TV footage of the incident at the Stratford races Sunday. “I would just like to say to the public that I’m very sorry they had to see such a thing,” O’Neill said in a statement. “I’ve never done it before, and it will never happen again.” City Affair was being unruly in the parade ring, ultimately throwing O’Neill. The jockey got to his feet and grabbed the reins, pulling the horse to him, before lowering the butt of his helmet into it. “When I got to the start he headed straight for a car with me, stopped five feet from the car, whipped round and dropped me,” O’Neill said. “I landed on my feet, but a bit awkwardly for my knee, and I was a little bit angry then, but I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’m glad to say the horse is OK after it.” “Angry jockey does a ‘Zidane’ to his horse,” read the headline of London’s Evening Standard, referring to French soccer star Zinedine Zidane’s infamous head-butt in the World Cup final. City Affair went on to finish fourth in the two-mile event. O’Neill was given a caution by stewards for his use of the whip in the race. COLLEGE BASKETBALL &#149 Penn State graduate Travis Parker signed a professional basketball contract with Landstede of the Dutch Basketball League. He played in all 60 of the Nittany Lions’ games the past two seasons, and averaged 11.8 points and 5.5 rebounds over that time. He joins Tyler Smith and Greg Stevenson as Penn State graduates to sign with Landstede. COLLEGE FOOTBALL &#149 The West Virginia football team will open its season against state-rival Marshall at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 2 at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, W.Va. Times for 10 of the Mountaineers’ 12 regular-season games were announced yesterday. The date for the game between the state’s only Division I-A teams was tentatively set a year ago when the schools announced the resumption of their series following a nine-year hiatus. But the announcement over the starting time had been held up by discussions over TV rights to the game. So far, national networks have balked at televising the game, and it wasn’t immediately known whether it would be shown live in West Virginia. GOLF &#149 Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts will become title sponsor of the U.S. PGA Tour’s Colonial Tournament beginning next year, replacing Bank of America Corp. SOCCER &#149 Pittsburgh Riverhounds forward David Flavius was named the United Soccer League Second Division Player of the Week. Flavius had two goals and an assist in the Riverhounds’ 4-1 victory over the Long Island Rough Riders on Saturday. It is the second time he has been presented with the award this season. TENNIS Robin Vik beat defending champion Guillermo Coria in the first round yesterday and David Ferrer withdrew, completing the elimination of the top three seeds in the first two days of the Croatia Open. Top-ranked Ferrer pulled out citing exhaustion. &#149 Top-seeded Catalina Castano of Colombia defeated Hungary’s Kyra Nagy 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Budapest Grand Prix yesterday. &#149 Tommy Haas took another step toward regaining his early season form with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Wayne Arthurs in the the Countrywide Classic yesterday.

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---