A thoroughbred appraiser set Curlin's market value at $20 million yesterday and recommended shares of the richest North American racehorse in history be consolidated under primary owner Jess Jackson.

The complicated ownership dispute focuses on a 20 percent interest of the reigning Horse of the Year controlled by William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham Jr. The two disbarred lawyers have been ordered to sell their interest in Curlin to satisfy a $42 million civil judgment won against them by clients they were accused of bilking in a settlement over the diet drug fen-phen.

Circuit judge Roger Crittenden is trying to sort out whether their share of the horse should be sold back to Jackson, who owns the other 80 percent, and for how much. He could rule as early as Dec. 1, when the parties will next appear in court.

A company owned by Jackson has bid $4 million to buy out the remaining shares, and bloodstock appraiser Ric Waldman testified he believed that was fair market value and that the sale should go through.

But Andre Regard, a lawyer for Cunningham and Gallion, said the price was far too low for one of the most successful racehorses of the modern era. He said Jackson had been responsible for driving down the value by failing to clarify when the horse would be retired to stud.

Waldman said he put a $30 million value on Curlin over the summer but scaled back his numbers due to the economic downturn that has led to sagging thoroughbred prices.

Pete Newell, the Hall of Fame basketball coach who won an NCAA championship and Olympic gold medal and later tutored some of the game's greatest big men, died. He was 93.

• Penn State Greater Allegheny will hold a ceremony to honor former men's player Anthony Rivers before a game tomorrow. Rivers was killed by gunfire Aug. 5 in Garfield. He is the school's all-time leading scorer.

Juan Martin del Potro began practicing for the Davis Cup final with his Argentine teammates after returning from the Masters Cup. The 20-year-old Del Potro was eliminated from the season-ending tournament in China Thursday and missed the first few days of training for the Friday-Sunday final against Spain in Mar del Plata. Del Potro is ranked No. 9.

The International Olympic Committee can't put a Band-Aid on this financial cut: Johnson & Johnson won't be renewing its lucrative global sponsorship deal. The IOC confirmed that the health care conglomerate would not renew its top-level sponsorship worth up to $100 million, after the news was first reported by Sports Business Journal. Johnson & Johnson's deal for 2005-08 was worth between $60 million and $80 million, and Sports Business Journal said the IOC would have gotten $100 million in its renewal over four years. That would have helped the committee achieve its goal of $1 billion for The Olympic Partnership program, or TOP, running from 2009-12.

President Bush celebrated with American golfers who reclaimed the Ryder Cup for the United States. Bush held a private picture-taking session in the Oval Office with coach Paul Azinger and seven members of the 12-member 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team, which ended an era of frustration in September with a resounding victory against Europe. Bush posed with Azinger, longtime Ryder Cup participant and assistant captain Raymond Floyd, and 2008 team members Stewart Cink, Chad Campbell, Ben Curtis, Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk, J.B. Holmes and Boo Weekley.

Dara Torres just can't stay away from swimming. The 41-year-old, who won three silver medals at the Olympics in August, wouldn't commit to competing again when the Beijing Games ended. But Torres said yesterday that if she can stay healthy, she hopes to race at the world championships next summer.