People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is seeking the suspension of Eight Belles' jockey after the filly had to be euthanized following her second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Gabriel Saez was riding Eight Belles when she broke both front ankles while galloping out a quarter of a mile past the wire. She was euthanized on the track.

PETA faxed a letter yesterday to Kentucky's racing authority claiming the filly was "doubtlessly injured before the finish" and asked that Saez be suspended while Eight Belles' death is investigated.

"What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?" PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. "If he didn't then we can probably blame the fact that they're allowed to whip the horses mercilessly."

Eight Belles trainer Larry Jones said the filly was clearly happy when she crossed the finish line.

"I don't know how in the heck they can even come close to saying that," Jones told the Associated Press yesterday. "She has her ears up, clearly galloping out."

Guillermo said if Saez is found at fault, the group wants the second-place prize of $400,000 won by Eight Belles to be revoked.

Saez, a 20-year-old Panama native, was riding in his first Kentucky Derby. He frequently rides for Jones.

A call to the jockeys' room at Delaware Park, where Saez raced yesterday, went unanswered.

The letter to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority also sought a ban on whipping, limits on races and the age of racehorses, and a move to softer, artificial surfaces for all courses.

College Basketball

* Alan Seiden, a starting guard on St. John's 1959 NIT championship team who was selected as one of the school's greatest players, has died. He was 71. Seiden died Saturday in a New York hospital after a long illness, according to his family. Seiden led the Redmen in scoring with a 20.4 average as a junior when they lost in the NIT semifinals. As a senior under coach Joe Lapchick, he averaged 21.9 points. Seiden had 22 points in the NIT title game, a double-overtime victory against Bradley.

Tennis

* Rafael Nadal won his fourth straight Barcelona (Spain) Open title with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 victory over second-seeded David Ferrer. Nadal's 21st straight win at the tournament improved his record to 20-1 in clay-court finals.

* Fernando Gonzalez captured his 10th career title and second of the year at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany, by beating Simone Bolelli, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 6-3.

* Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva won her sixth career WTA title by beating third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, 7-6 (2), 6-2, in the Prague Open final. *