Pegasus

Ogygian, who did not quell all of the doubts about his abilities or fitness when he won Belmont Park's Jerome Handicap, drew the rail post position for the Meadowlands Racetrack's $300,000 Pegasus Handicap tomorrow night. A field of seven 3-year-olds is entered for the 1 1/8-mile, Grade II Pegasus, which will be simulcast to Garden State Park and Atlantic City Race Course. Ogygian, whose only career loss was to an older horse, also will be entered today for Belmont's $500,000, 1 1/4-mile Marlboro Cup on Saturday.

Shares of Pegasus Communications Corp. of Bala Cynwyd and other satellite-television companies surged higher yesterday, even as Pegasus posted a widening loss in quarterly earnings. Pegasus, which offers the DirecTV satellite service in 36 states, saw its stock jump $11.50 to $64 per share on news that the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to allow satellite systems to offer local television programming. The Senate still needs to vote on the measure. Pegasus posted a third-quarter loss of $56.4 million, or $2.86 per share on revenues of $90.9 million.

The Sixers have partied there. So have rap artists Jay-Z, Foxy Brown and DMX. But last night, the night after an altercation that started inside Pegasus nightclub, in West Philadelphia, turned tragic, the club was pretty quiet. Pegasus was formerly the Chestnut Cabaret, a sit-down nightclub featuring performances by smooth R&B acts like Will Downing or the challenging lyrics of poet-singer Gil Scott-Heron. Last night, record-label representatives from rapper-producer Pete Rock's label, milled outside, preparing for a record-release party for his new album "Soul Survivor.

Cryptoclearance, second to Java Gold in last month's Travers Stakes, drew the third starting gate for tomorrow evening's $300,000 Pegasus Handicap at the Meadowlands Racetrack. Jose Santos was named to ride the slightly built Florida Derby winner in the Pegasus, a Grade I, 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds. Conducting simulcast wagering on the Pegasus will be Garden State Park and Atlantic City Race Course. A solid performer on wet race tracks - on a weekend when rain is in the forecast - Cryptoclearance would share the Pegasus' 122-pound highweight with Lost Code, who drew the sixth starting gate.

Strong hitting led the Pegasus 18-and-under softball team to comeback win after comeback win and eventually to the Blue/Gray Tournament championship this past weekend in Bristol Township. Pegasus fell behind the New York Amateur Softball Association state champions, S.T.P.T.A. Ponies, 1-0, after one inning of the title game, but a five-run third inning helped lead to a 7-1 victory. The tournament was hosted by the Bristol Township Blazing Angels. "I've been with this organization for seven years, and I don't think we've ever hit the ball like we did this weekend," Pegasus coach Leif Malmberg said.

The biggest prize in softball is the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) national championship, and two local 18-and-under teams, Pegasus and Haze, head off Sunday to compete for that prize in Normal, Ill. More than 80 teams will compete in this season's tournament, to be held Aug. 8 to 13. "I think we are peaking at the right time," Pegasus coach Mike Cooperstein said. "And we are really, really excited to be going. " Pegasus raised money to go to a tournament in Colorado this year and had to scramble again to come up with the funds for the trip to Illinois.

Danzig Connection, going to the lead in the first strides last night, won the Meadowlands' $300,000 Pegasus Handicap by three-quarters of a length and blew a huge hole in the championship aspirations of Ogygian. Ogygian, the winner of Belmont Park's Jerome Handicap in his most recent start, never made the lead and finished a tired, distracted third in the field of five. He wound up 3 1/4 lengths behind second finisher Broad Brush. Ogygian appeared in danger of losing the show spot to Arlington Classic winner Sumptious, who is based at Philadelphia Park.

With online usage doubling every four months, the Internet could wind up becoming a victim of its own success, with network bottlenecks exacerbating the World Wide Wait. Researchers from area universities, Bell Atlantic Corp., and Lucent Technologies Inc. have received a $7.5 million contract from the federal government to make sure that doesn't happen. Drexel University, which will serve as lead institution in the regional consortium, is scheduled to announce the project today.

There is no athletic trophy case at The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. There never was a need for one. Until now. The school known as CAPA earned its first trophy in any sport yesterday with a 3-1 victory over Central in the Public League boys' volleyball championship match at Community College of Philadelphia. Game scores were 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22. "I don't know if we have anyplace big enough for this one," coach Rick Shields said, looking at the three-foot high trophy.

It wasn't about wins. It was about college exposure, competition and preparation for upcoming tournaments. That is why the combined 1-9 record that Pegasus and the Middletown Magic managed in last week's prestigious Colorado Fireworks Tournament really wasn't so bad. "The talent level here is incredible," Pegasus co-head coach Mike Cooperstein said after his club finished 1-4 in pool play. "The best teams, including nationals, come here. When we lose, 3-1, it's a victory. " Of the 130 teams that participated in the invitational softball tournament viewed by numerous college coaches and scouts in Aurora, Colo.

Jacob Pratt, 13, stood on a wooden mounting platform yesterday wearing a black riding helmet as Mouse, the brown thoroughbred he'd been riding for six weeks, waited patiently beside him. "I'm scared. I don't know what he's going to do," Jacob said. "Where's Ami?" "I'm right here," said Ami Ledesma, his instructor, as she hoisted Jacob onto Mouse, put the reins in his hand and sent him a few trots forward. Jacob is one of eight children from Overbrook School for the Blind who completed the six-week summer program at Pegasus Riding Academy.

Defending champion Central continued its decade-long domination of Public League softball yesterday, scoring a 10-5 win over CAPA at Temple University's Ambler campus for the overall league title and the top spot in District 12. It was the Lancers' ninth league title in the last 11 years and their fourth consecutive district crown since the league joined the PIAA four years ago. The win also marked the last Public League game for Central coach...

Pegasus Communications Corp., a Bala Cynwyd company trying to change its line of business after a stunning setback last year, said yesterday that it earned $406.9 million in the second quarter, all from the sale of its former satellite-TV business. Pegasus had an exclusive contract to sell the DirecTV satellite service to residents of rural areas in 41 states until that company, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., abruptly terminated the contract last year. Pegasus subsidiaries that sold the service declared bankruptcy, and the company sold other holdings, including several television stations, to compensate debtors.

Ending an increasingly bitter dispute over control of 1.1 million satellite-TV customers in rural America, DirecTV Group Inc. said yesterday that it reached an agreement to acquire the satellite assets of Pegasus Communications Corp., of Bala Cynwyd, for $938 million, including $875 million in cash. Pegasus has been the exclusive reseller of DirecTV's service in the rural areas of 41 states since the 1990s. But DirecTV and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, which helped launch DirecTV with $100 million in seed funding, had sought to end the distribution deal, contending that Pegasus has lost 350,000 customers in the last two years.

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones had "high-tech" X-rays taken of his bruised hoof at the Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center in Ringoes, N.J., yesterday, one day after being declared out of the $750,000 Pennsylvania Derby on Labor Day. Trainer John Servis said veterinarian Peter Bousum was to examine the left front hoof and perform "xero-radiographs" to better determine the extent of the injury. Smarty Jones left Philadelphia Park for the first time since returning from the June 5 Belmont Stakes when he was transported about 9 a.m. "We cut a bruise out of his foot before the [Kentucky]

A federal bankruptcy judge's decision yesterday cast fresh doubt on the prospects of Pegasus Communications Corp., of Bala Cynwyd, which resells DirecTV satellite service to about 1.1 million rural customers in 41 states. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge James B. Haines Jr. ruled that DirecTV Group Inc. may directly market its services to customers in rural areas that are served by Pegasus - a move Pegasus had tried to block by having several subsidiaries file for bankruptcy last week.

Several subsidiaries of Pegasus Communications Corp. have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in what the Bala Cynwyd company said was a countermove against estranged partner DirecTV Group Inc. The filings late Wednesday came after DirecTV said it was ending an exclusive marketing agreement with Pegasus by offering $675 for each of Pegasus' approximately 1.1 million rural subscribers. Pegasus resells DirecTV's satellite-TV service in 41 states. Pegasus said the bankruptcy filings by three of its subsidiaries and "certain of their subsidiaries," which essentially rebuffed DirecTV's offer as too low, would let it continue providing service to its subscribers while it dealt with DirecTV's action.

Shares of Pegasus Communications Corp., of Bala Cynwyd, have plunged 27 percent since Wednesday when a Los Angeles jury ruled that a Pegasus subsidiary must pay DirecTV Group Inc. nearly $52 million. The federal court jury found that Pegasus breached its contract with DirecTV in a complex marketing arrangement between the two companies. Other litigation between the firms is pending. Pegasus markets DirecTV's satellite-television service to subscribers in rural areas nationwide, with more than 1.1 million customers in 41 states.

It looks as if Pegasus Communications Corp., of Bala Cynwyd, will air its grievances with DirecTV in court, after the companies announced yesterday their failure to settle a four-year dispute concerning Pegasus' marketing of the DirecTV satellite service to rural customers. Pegasus stock plummeted 37 percent, falling $13.80 to end the day at $23.10 on the Nasdaq exchange, after DirecTV said it had reached a settlement of similar issues with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, a membership group representing companies that resell satellite-TV service in rural areas.

There is no athletic trophy case at The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. There never was a need for one. Until now. The school known as CAPA earned its first trophy in any sport yesterday with a 3-1 victory over Central in the Public League boys' volleyball championship match at Community College of Philadelphia. Game scores were 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 25-22. "I don't know if we have anyplace big enough for this one," coach Rick Shields said, looking at the three-foot high trophy.