AHMED SAAD "hopes to get a second chance" in the Australian Football League next year. St. Kilda said it is "open-minded" about giving him another chance after the AFL dismissed the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority's appeal against his 18-month suspension for taking a banned substance. Saad was told on Wednesday that the league "had thrown out the appeal made by ASADA, which was seeking a two-year penalty" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 5/28). ... Cricketer RICKY PONTING "has urged cricket authorities to quickly make an example of those known to have fixed matches, saying there is nothing worse for the game than the shadow hanging over it." Ponting: "But like a lot of other big issues in our games, whether it’s drugs or whatever, the sooner the governing bodies can get to the bottom of these issues and actually start making an example of some of the people they know are in the wrong and they know are guilty, the better off we’re all going to be" (THE AGE, 5/28). ... One of Australia’s "most revered jockeys," KEVIN MITCHELL, "has died at the age of 84." He teamed with BART CUMMINGS to win the 1979 Newmarket Handicap aboard BETTER BEYOND, steered PHAR ACE to an Adelaide Cup win in '74 and "claimed group 1 successes" with VITE CHEVAL. Mitchell "was well respected within the industry and was regarded as one of the best judges in racing" (THE AGE, 5/28).
