NEWSWIRE

Tennis

Keri Phebus, a former Corona del Mar High and UCLA tennis standout, has decided to quit the women’s professional circuit after two years.

Phebus, 24, had been playing challenger tournaments on the Women’s World Tennis Assn. tour. She said she still loved tennis but hated the solitude of life on the road.

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Horse breeder Pete Valenti, who raised hundreds of thoroughbreds at his Mira Loma Farms ranch, died at age 65 of complications after heart bypass surgery at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange.

In 1991, Valenti’s 5-year-old gelding Valiant Pete beat the quarter horse Griswold in a four-furlong winner-take-all match race at Santa Anita. His time, 44 1/5 seconds, equaled the world record for the distance.