Etc. . . .

B.C. McKeever, a Louisiana-based owner whose Crowned King runs Sunday in the $75,000 Sugar Bowl Stakes at Fair Grounds, died Friday in a Shreveport hospital while awaiting pancreatic surgery. He was 72. . . . Star Smasher, a 3-year-old owned by a New Mexico group known as The Crew of Brew, turned the tables on 4-year-old rival Ciento, winning Thursday's $75,000-added City of Sunland Park Handicap at 1 1/16 miles by almost two lengths. In their first meeting, in the Johnie Jamison Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 8, Star Smasher weakened in midstretch and Ciento won impressively. . . . Philadelphia Park canceled live racing on Friday for the second consecutive day because rain, sleet, and snow on Tuesday and Wednesday left the main track surface unfit for racing.