News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC) (212.371.5911..)

ECLIPSE AWARDS TO BE PRESENTED FRIDAY NIGHT
Thoroughbred racing will honor its stars of 1995 at the annual Eclipse Award dinner Friday, Feb. 9 at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, Calif. The Horse of the Year award, which is expected to go to Cigar, will be presented during the dinner, in addition to the awards for the previously announced divisional winners. ESPN will televise highlights from the awards dinner on Saturday, Feb. 10 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. (EST).

Winners in each of the divisional categories are as follows: Two- Year-Old Colt or Gelding - Maria's Mon; Two-Year-Old Filly - Golden Attraction; Three-Year-Old Colt or Gelding - Thunder Gulch; Three- Year-Old Filly - Serena's Song; Older Horse (Four Years Old or Older) - Cigar; Older Filly or Mare - Inside Information; Sprinter - Not Surprising; Male Turf Horse - Northern Spur (IRE); Female Turf Horse - Possibly Perfect; Steeplechase Horse - Lonesome Glory; Apprentice Jockey - Ramon B. Perez; Jockey - Jerry Bailey; Trainer - Bill Mott; Owner - Allen Paulson; and Breeder - Juddmonte Farms (Prince Khalid Abdullah).

Voting for the Eclipse Awards is done by three representative organizations: Thoroughbred Racing Associations, National Turf Writers Association and Daily Racing Form.

'SUNDAY MORNING' TO PROFILE MOTT FEB. 11
CBS News' 'Sunday Morning' show, hosted by Charles Osgood, will include a feature on trainer Bill Mott when it airs Sunday, Feb. 11 (check local listings). The segment, produced by Bud Lamoreaux, will feature footage, shot in December, of Mott at Payson Park in Indiantown, Fla., with Cigar and at Gulfstream Park with the rest of his stable. The piece will also include footage and interviews collected during a cold and snowy visit to Mott's hometown of Mobridge, S.D. (pop. 3,768).

BLUE GRASS STAKES GAINS TOYOTA AS A SPONSOR Officials of Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., and Toyota, jointly announced that the auto manufacturer would sponsor the track's premier race for three-year-olds, the Blue Grass Stakes, beginning this year. The race will be renamed the 'Toyota Blue Grass Stakes' and will carry an increased purse, $700,000. The Grade II, one-mile race will be run for the 72nd time on April 13. Particularly in recent years, it has become an important prep race for the Kentucky Derby, which is held annually on the first Saturday in May.

In announcing the sponsorship, Keeneland spokesman Jim Williams observed, 'Even before the first car rolled off the assembly line in May 1988 in Georgetown, Ky., Toyota has had a positive influence on the economy and quality of life throughout the region. The Georgetown plant employs 6,500 people who manufacture more than 350,000 automobiles per year.

The sponsorship program rests upon a partnership between Keeneland, Georgetown's Toyota Manufacturing, the Toyota Dealers Association of Lexington and Cincinnati, and Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes is scheduled to air on ESPN on April 13, from 4:00- 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

NEW YORKERS CAN LICENSE THEIR LOVE OF RACING
New York-area racing fans can drive home their love of Thoroughbred racing, thanks to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, which is now offering a custom license plate with a racing theme. The custom plate features a Thoroughbred racehorse with the word 'Racing' on the left side of the plate and the names of the three NYRA racetracks -- Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga -- across the bottom. For an initial fee of $39.50, which includes the first year's $25 annual fee, racing fans can choose standard-issue plates that bear three numbers followed by the word 'Win,' or the plates can be personalized with up to six letters at an initial cost of $68, which includes the first year's $50 annual fee.

The plates were first offered in late October of last year. So far 112 plates have been issued, according to a DMV spokesperson, who added that 24 of the plates were personalized.

Demand for the NYRA plates hasn't exactly caught up with requests for plates featuring other New York sports franchises. According to the DMV, the Knicks have the best-selling license plate with 7,097, followed by the Yankees (5,087), Giants (4,366) and Rangers (4,183).

Fans wishing to order the NYRA plate can contact the DMV at 1-800- 364-PLATES.

MEDIA CREDENTIALS FOR DUBAI WORLD CUP
Media credential applications for the March 27 Dubai World Cup are available from Alastair Donald of the International Racing Bureau's Newmarket office. Call (011) 44-1638-668-881. The credential package includes forms for airline and hotel reservations as well as a visa application. Hotel rates at the official media hotel, the Dubai Hilton, are $115 for a single room and $140 for a double. Airfare via Emirates Airlines (connecting from American or Continental) is $1,528 from New York and $1,717 from Los Angeles. A visa application is $75. The deadline for requesting credentials is Thursday, Feb. 29. Credentials and visas will not be mailed but will be held in Dubai.

RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern)
Feb. 9 'Racehorse Digest' 3:00-3:30 a.m., ESPN
Feb. 10 'Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
Feb. 10 Eclipse Awards Special 2:00-3:00 p.m., ESPN
Feb. 10 '2-Day at the Races' 6:30-7:00 p.m., ESPN2
Feb. 10 San Vicente Stakes, Santa Anita, 4:30-5:00 p.m., Prime
Feb. 11 La Canada Stakes, Santa Anita, 12:30-1:00 p.m., Prime Sports
Feb. 14 'Racehorse Digest' 3:30-4:00 p.m., ESPN
Feb. 16 'Racehorse Digest' 3:30-4:00 a.m., ESPN
Feb. 17 Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN

RACING TO HISTORY
Feb. 8, 1941: Whirlaway began his three-year-old season with a win in a six-furlong allowance race at Hialeah.

Feb. 9, 1940: After a year's absence from competition, seven-year- old Seabiscuit, champion handicap horse of 1937 and 1938, returned to racing at Santa Anita, where he finished third in a handicap race. Seabiscuit ran three more races in 1940, concluding his career with a win in the Santa Anita Handicap.

Feb. 9, 1974: Jockey Chris McCarron rode his first winner, a five- year-old gelding named Erezev, at Bowie Racecourse. By year's end, McCarron had established a then-record number of winners for a single season: 546. Fifteen years later, on Nov. 30, 1989, jockey Kent Desormeaux eclipsed that mark.

Feb. 9, 1991: The American Championship Racing Series, designed to showcase older horses, was inaugurated with the Donn Handicap, won by Jolie's Halo.

Feb. 12, 1981: Julie Krone rode her first career winner, a $3,500 claimer named Lord Farkle, which was owned and trained by Les St. Leon, in the sixth race at Tampa Bay Downs.

Feb. 14, 1966: Buckpasser suffered the only defeat of his three-year- old season when he finished second in a non-betting race, the Black Caesar Purse, at Hialeah. He went on to post 13 consecutive victories in 1966 (12 of them in stakes races), but was unable to compete in any of the Triple Crown races because of a hoof injury.

Feb. 14, 1990: Ladbroke at Golden Gate Fields inaugurated co-pooling of its wagers with those of a sister organization, Ladbroke Racing Wyoming. The co-pooling of wagers across state lines, made possible by California legislation that had gone into effect Jan. 1, was a first in U.S. racing.

Feb. 18, 1990: Jockey Kent Desormeaux had his first win in California aboard Light the World in the fourth race at Santa Anita.

SATURDAY
Donn Handicap, 3&up, $300,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade I, Gulfstream
Cigar makes his 1996 debut, trying for his 13th straight win. The winner of a record $4,819,800 in 1995 when he won all 10 of his starts, Cigar will carry 128 pounds, spotting 11 pounds to his nearest rival. Wekiva Springs won all four of his 1994 starts but an injury forced him to the sidelines. He was 2-for-7 last year and was second in the Grade III Broward Handicap at Gulfstream Jan. 13, beaten a nose. Flying Chevron was third in the Broward beaten 8 1-2 lengths. He beat Wekiva Springs last year in the Grade I NYRA Mile Handicap. Heavenly Prize is the only filly in the race and will be making her debut against males. She has never been worse than third in 17 career starts, winning nine, eight of them stakes, all Grade I. Primitive Hall won the 1 1-8-mile Iroquois Handicap at Philadelphia Park to finish off 1995 but has been off the board in two 1996 allowance races. Bound by Honor and Bay Street Star were first and second in the Dec. 30 Grade III Tropical Park Handicap at Calder. Star Standard faced Ci ar three times last year and finished second, third and fifth. His most recent race was an allowance win at Gulfstream, Jan. 26.

San Vicente Stakes, 3yo, $100,000, 7 Furlongs, Grade III, Santa Anita
The favorite will be D. Wayne Lukas's Honour and Glory, who opened up 1996 with a two-length score in the San Miguel Stakes. Afleetaffair has won three and been second twice in five career starts, and was second in the San Miguel to Honour and Glory. Slews Royal Son broke his maiden and then missed by a head in an allowance race only to be disqualified to sixth. Great Treasure was second to highly regarded Alyrob and then broke his maiden on his second try Jan. 6. Odin's Primo won twice easily last year but was beaten 15 1-2 lengths in the San Miguel. Ready to Order has made nine career starts with two wins, including his most recent start, the California Breeders' Champion Stakes Dec. 28.

Fair Grounds Budweiser Breeders' Cup, 3&up, $100,000, 1 1-8 Miles Turf, Fair Grounds

SUNDAY
La Canada Stakes, 4yo fillies, $200,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade II, Santa Anita
Jewel Princess, Sleep Easy and Urbane, the first three finishers in the Jan. 20 Grade II El Encino Stakes at Santa Anita, return for the La Canada. They will be joined by Dixie Pearl, winner of her last two in allowance company, Sharp Point (IRE), 0-for-2 in the U.S. since coming over from Ireland, and Privity, trying dirt for the first time in her career.

Davona Dale Stakes, 3yo fillies, $100,000, 1 Mile & 70 yards, Grade III, Gulfstream

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