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

CIGAR'S TRAINING ON HOLD BECAUSE OF BRUISE
A slight injury to the right fore hoof has put Cigar's training on hold for at least a few days, according to trainer Bill Mott. Cigar has a stone bruise, an impact injury to the sole of the hoof, which was discovered Tuesday. Cigar has not trained for the past two days and Mott is unsure when the 1995 Horse of the Year will resume training. The injury casts doubts on whether the champion will race in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 2.

'There are no immediate plans,' Mott said. 'You don't make plans when you have a problem. It could be two days, it could be two weeks, it could be two months. When he'll be over it, I don't know. Right now he's got a bruise on his right fore foot and we're soaking and poulticing him. We're hoping some sort of abcess -- we believe there's an abcess in there somewhere - will break loose and he'll have a quick recovery. (In order to run in the Santa Anita Handicap) He'd have to be much better by the weekend. I wouldn't bring him out there if he was less than 100 percent. If he's alright by tomorrow, we'd still come, but by the looks of it, he won't be.'

VISA SPONSORS THREE-YEAR-OLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
The Thoroughbred Racing Associations and Triple Crown Productions announced the creation of the Visa 3-Year-Old Championship Series. The series, sponsored by Visa U.S.A., will include 46 stakes races for three-year-olds between Jan. 1 and August 24, all with a minimum purse of $150,000. The series was created to bring greater identity and fan recognition to the numerous three-year-old stakes races and the horses competing in them.

Featured in the series will be the Visa Triple Crown Challenge races -- the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, as well as key Triple Crown prep races like the Santa Anita Derby, Florida Derby, Jim Beam Stakes, Wood Memorial, Arkansas Derby and the Blue Grass Stakes. The series will also include the Haskell Invitational and culminate with the Travers Stakes. In all there will be seven Grade I races, 16 Grade II races, 20 Grade III races and three ungraded stakes.

In each Visa 3-Year-Old Championship Series race, horses will receive points for finishing fist, second or third. The number of points earned will be awarded as follows: Triple Crown races will be scored 15-10-5; Grade I races 10-7-5; Grade II 7-5-3; Grade III and ungraded races 5-3-1. At the conclusion of the series, the horse with the greatest number of points will be crowned the inaugural Visa 3-Year-Old of the Year.

Five of the races in the series have already been run with five different winners; Seacliff, Cavonnier, Cobra King, Appealing Skier and Afleetaffair. Appealing Skier, winner of the Grade II Hutcheson Stakes, is the current series leader with seven points. The next race in the series is the $200,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes Saturday, Feb. 24 at Gulfstream Park.

BREEDERS' CUP OFFICIALS TO DECIDE ON 1997 SITE WEDNESDAY
The Board of Directors of Breeders' Cup Ltd. will meet Wednesday, Feb. 28 in Boca Raton, Fla., to decide which racetrack will host the 1997 event. Hollywood Park and Santa Anita Park, in Inglewood and Arcadia, Calif., respectively, are the only two tracks in contention to host the Breeders' Cup next year. Del Mar, which had expressed an interest in hosting the championship day, dropped out of the running in late November.

PRIME SPORTS TO TELEVISE SANTA ANITA HANDICAP
Prime Sports and their regional sports affiliates nationwide, will televise the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 2. The 1995 Horse of the Year Cigar is scheduled to run in the race. The Santa Anita Handicap will be broadcast live at 3:30 p.m. (PST) with post time at 3:47. It is expected that Prime Sports will make the 'Big Cap' available to nearly 40 million cable, DBS (Direct Broadcast Satellite) and broadcast homes domestically and more than 30 million international television viewers through an arrangement with Channel 4 in the United Kingdom.

PURSES AT TURF PARADISE HIT ALL-TIME HIGH
Turf Paradise will raise purses Saturday for the second time in three months, bringing the average daily purse to its highest level in the 40-year history of the Phoenix, Ariz., racetrack. The latest increase, scheduled to begin Feb. 24 and continuing through closing day on May 7, will push the daily purse to $53,000. The track will also increase the purses of four stakes races by $10,000 to $25,000 each. according to Lenny Powell, general manager of Turf Paradise, the increase is due to the success of the track's simulcasts out-of- state.

FUTURE OF AKSARBEN QUESTIONABLE
It looked like live racing at Nebraska's AKsarben Racetrack was a thing of the past when the Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted Jan. 20 to cancel the track's 63-day meet. Live racing at the Lincoln, Neb., racetrack for 1996 hinged on negotiations for a loan from Omaha businessmen Ted and Alan Baer, which fell through. Douglas Racing Corp., which oversees racing for the county, needed approximately $1.6 million to conduct a live meet this year. However, Kenny Rosen, interim chairman of RaceCo, which manages the track, said preliminary discussions are underway which could lead to a limited meet of 10-20 days, possibly in conjunction with Omaha's September Fest. Such a meet would most likely use dates not used by the state's other four tracks. If arrangements cannot be made to run a live meet, it will mark the first time AKsarben has been dark since 1944, during World War II. AKsarben's doors will remain open for simulcasting at least through Dec. 31 of this year.

RECORD PURSES AT HASTINGS PARK
A record $3 million in stakes purses will be awarded during the 1996 Hastings Park Thoroughbred meet, bringing the total purses at the Vancouver, BC, racetrack to more than $12 million. Nine stakes races will have purses of $100,000 or more during the track's 126-day meet, which opens April 10.

PARIMUTUEL RACING MAY COME TO HAWAII
A bill to legalize parimutuel wagering and allow off-track betting in Hawaii will be discussed in the Senate Ways and Means Committee in late February and early March. If passed, Hawaii would be able to simulcast races from California and the Far East. The bill has already passed out of the Senate Tourism Committee, where proponents cited increased tourism and job creation as possible benefits.

Racing was conducted on the island state at the Kailua racetrack on Oahu until 1952.

TOBA TO OFFER 12 NEW OWNER SEMINARS
The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) will offer several new owner educational seminars this year at racetracks across the country, commencing Feb. 24 at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale, Fla. The cost of the seminar is $95. Most of the seminars are one-day events, highlighting purchase options, selection of trainers and bloodstock agents, tax and legal considerations and the costs of Thoroughbred ownership. The seminars, co-sponsored by the Keeneland Association, will consist of nine one-day seminars, two weekend clinics and one three-day seminar.

Following the Gulfstream seminar Feb. 24 will be clinics March 16 at Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs, Ark., March 30 at Santa Anita, Arcadia, Calif., May 11 at Pimlico Racecourse, Baltimore, Md., June 29 at Arlington International, Arlington Heights, Ill., July 27 at Emerald Downs, , Seattle, Wash., Aug. 17 at Saratoga Racecourse, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Oct. 25 at Woodbine, Rexdale, Ontario, and Nov. 9 at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky. The weekend clinics are scheduled for Aug. 3-4 at Del Mar Racetrack, Del Mar, Calif., and Oct. 5-6 at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y. The annual three-day seminar will be held May 31-June 2 in Lexington, Ky.

(For additional information contact Ann Stilz at TOBA (606) 276-2291.)

JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION LICENSES FIRST FEMALE JOCKEYS
The Japan Racing Association, the governing body for racing in Japan, licensed three female jockeys, the first ever in the association's forty-year existence. The three women graduated from the JRA's Horse Racing School in Chiea on Feb. 12. Maki Tamura, 18, Junko Hoseo, 20 and Yukiko Makihara, 18, are licensed to compete at the JRA's 10 racetracks beginning March 2. The JRA's issuance of licenses for the three female jockeys is noteworthy, as the country currently has no licensed female trainers and only a handful of assistant trainers.

National Association of Racing (NAR), which operates regional racing in the country, has licensed female riders since 1968, and currently has 17 licensed female jockeys. However, these riders are prevented from competing at JRA racetracks and may compete only on the regional level.

RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern)
Feb. 23 'Racehorse Digest' 3:00-3:30 a.m., ESPN
Feb. 24 'Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
Feb. 24 Fountain of Youth, Gulfstream, 4:30-5:30 p.m., ESPN
Feb. 28 'Racehorse Digest' 4:00-4:30 p.m., ESPN
March 1 'Racehorse Digest' 1:30-2:00 a.m., ESPN
March 2 'Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
March 2 Santa Anita Handicap and San Rafael Stakes, Santa Anita 6:30-7:00 p.m., Prime Sports

RACING TO HISTORY
Feb. 22, 1969: Barbara Jo Rubin became the first woman jockey to win a parimutuel race in America when she rode Cohesion to victory at Charles Town.

Feb. 24, 1947: Acting upon an earlier recommendation by The Jockey Club stewards, the Thoroughbred Racing Associations unanimously approved lip tattoos as a method of identifying Thoroughbred racehorses.

Feb. 24, 1979: Trainer J.C. Williams saddled eight winners in 12 attempts at Waterford Park. Williams also owned seven of those eight winners.

Feb. 26, 1973: With Secretariat having been named Horse of the Year for 1972 and champion two-year-old, it was announced by Claiborne Farm that the colt had been syndicated for a then-record $6,080,000 -- equivalent to 32 shares at $190,000 each.

Feb. 27, 1970: Jockey Kent Desormeaux was born in Maurice, La.

Feb. 27, 1982: Florida apprentice Mary Russ became the first female jockey to win a Grade I stakes in North America when she captured the Widener Handicap aboard Lord Darnley at Hialeah.

Feb. 28, 1957: John Longden became the first jockey in history to reach 5,000 victories.

March 1, 1952: Swaps, Horse of the Year in 1956, was foaled at Ellsworth Farm in Ontario, Calif.

March 1, 1969: Tuesdee Testa, 27, became the first female jockey to win a race at a major American Thoroughbred track when she won the third race at Santa Anita Park aboard Buz On.

March 1, 1987: Jockey Don MacBeth died of cancer at the age of 37.

March 1, 1991: Pat Day, 37, became the sixth rider in history whose mounts earned $100 million when he rode Wild Sierra to a second-place finish in the first race at Oaklawn Park.

March 2, 1940: Beaten by a nose in both the 1937 and 1938 Santa Anita Handicaps, Seabiscuit finally won the Big 'Cap in his final race. He retired the then-leading money-winning horse in the world.

March 2, 1966: Kelso, Horse of the Year 1960-64, ran his last race, finishing fourth at Hialeah Park.

WEEKEND STAKES
SATURDAY
Fountain of Youth Stakes, 3yo, $200,000, 1 1-16 miles, Grade II, Gulfstream
Last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Unbridled's Song, attempting two turns for the first time, will be the favorite in Saturday's Fountain of Youth Stakes. Unbridled's Song will carry the top weight of 119 pounds, spotting two to seven pounds to his nine rivals. Unbridled's Song will face Appealing Skier, who beat Unbridled's Song in the Feb. 4 Hutcheson Stakes. Appealing Skier is the current leader in the newly-created Visa 3-Year-Old Championship Series.

The full field in post-position order (with jockeys) and weights are: Unbridled's Song (Smith) 119; Gator Dancer (Maple) 117; Louis Quatorze (Davis) 112; Gold Fever (Day) 114; Built for Pleasure (Boulanger) 112; Appealing Skier (Wilson) 117; Victory Speech (Stevens) 112; Editor's Note (Bailey) 117; Gomtuu (Guerra) 117; Frisco View (Sellers) 112.

OTHER STAKES THIS WEEKEND
SATURDAY
Rampart Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $200,000, 1 1-16 miles, Grade II, Gulfstream

Las Flores Handicap, 4&up (f&m), $125,000, 6 furlongs, Grade III, Santa Anita

Tanforan Handicap, 3&up, $100,000, 1 1-16 miles (Turf), Grade III, Bay Meadows

San Marino Handicap, 4&up, $75,000, 1 1-4 miles (Turf), Santa Anita

SUNDAY
Busher Stakes, 3yo fillies, $60,000, 1 1-16 miles, Grade III, Aqueduct

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