BRIEFLY : RICKS COMES IN LAST IN PROTEST.

Canadian racing officials say they found evidence that Ricks Natural Star, a New Mexico thoroughbred that ran last in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Turf race, did not receive proper care before and after the race. The owner denies the allegation.

Jean Major, chairman of the Ontario Racing Commission, reported the commission's findings in a letter last week to Dr. William Livingston, the Artesia, N.M., veterinarian who paid $40,000 to run his 7-year-old gelding against some of the best horses in the world.

Ricks Natural Star finished 30 seconds behind the winning horse in the Oct. 26, 1-1/2-mile race. Before leaving Canada, Livingston filed a complaint with the commission alleging his horse wasn't given a fair chance to win.

TENNIS

Identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan of Camarillo and Kevin Kim of Fullerton were selected to the U.S. team that will participate in the Sunshine Cup next week at Delray Beach, Fla., USTA director of coaching Nick Saviano announced.

The Bryan twins, 18, have established themselves as one of the greatest junior doubles teams in USTA history. This year, the duo became the first team in 50 years to repeat as doubles champions at the USTA national boys' 18 championships and the first team in 30 years to repeat in the boys' 18 clay courts.

MOTOR SPORTS

The Indy Racing League, comfortable with the apparently irreconcilable split in auto racing, will not change a qualifying rule that led to this year's boycott of the Indianapolis 500.

Tony George, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and founder of the IRL, announced several executive staff changes and said the 1996-97 racing season will be the ``true test'' of the success of his new series.

``People will have to look at the IRL and evaluate it once we've had a year to establish ourselves with our own technical specifications,'' George said. ``Both sides gave a good effort to try for unification. We weren't successful. But I'm very pleased to be going in the direction we are. There's plenty of racetracks and opportunities for growth.''

The search is on, but no replacement has been named for Larry McReynolds, the highly regarded crew chief who made a surprising job switch between top NASCAR Winston Cup Series teams last week. McReynolds is moving from the Robert Yates Racing operation that fields Fords for Ernie Irvan to Richard Childress Racing and Chevrolet star Dale Earnhardt.

ETC.

A Cuban fencing champion defected to the United States after taking part in an international tournament in Puerto Rico. Roberto Figueredo, 20, sought political asylum from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service after participating in the Panamerican Fencing Championships, held in November in San Juan. . . . A memorial service is set Thursday for Al Moss, who covered a variety of sports for the San Francisco Chronicle for more than 30 years. Moss, who was 61, died Sunday from complications of polymyositis, a degenerative muscle disease.