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

THOROUGHBRED RACING ORGANIZATION GETS NEW NAME

The alliance of Thoroughbred racing organizations received a new name at the annual Jockey Club Round Table Conference, Sunday, Aug. 10, at Saratoga Racecourse. The new organization will be known as the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA). Designed to promote, market and coordinate racing through a central office, the NTRA goals include increasing racing's presence on television, applying new interactive technologies to bring the sport into the home, and widen the fan base and attendance at live racing. The preliminary business plan projects a budget of $20 million for 1998, rising to $51 million by the 2001.

Start-up funding for the NTRA came from The Jockey Club, Breeders' Cup Ltd., the Keeneland Association and the Oak Tree Racing Association. Each guaranteed $1 million with a further $1 million guaranteed during the conference by the owners group, the National Thoroughbred Association.

THISTLEDOWN RIDERS TO VISIT HOSPITAL

Thistledown trainer Tim Girten and jockeys Scott Saito, Jane Magrell, Lewis Germany Jr., Robert McWhorter and Liz Sundberg will visit Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, Aug. 19 at 10:30 a.m. The group will be accompanied by a miniature horse and a pony. 'If you talk to all the riders who go out and participate, it's probably the highlight of the year,' said Saito, the event's organizer. 'We get to brighten up the day of kids who aren't so fortunate. It's hard not to walk away from there and feel six feet tall.'

Pony rides will be given in front of the hospital and the riders will go inside to visit with the patients who are unable to come out. 'This is absolutely one of the popular events that our children get to experience,' said hospital spokesperson Rose Ressler. 'Being up there on the horse, for many children the first time in their lives, is a great thrill and it is something that they can talk about and remember for a long time.'

TRF CHARITY DOG SHOW AT SARATOGA

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation will host its annual charity dog show Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 1:00 p.m., at Saratoga Racecourse, Saratoga, N.Y. This year's theme is 'Come Bark On The Ark,' and all canines should be dressed in costume representing a creature who sailed on Noah's Ark. Hosting the event will be SportsChannel's Harvey Pack and Don Weeks of WGY-AM in Schenectady. Presenting prizes for best costumes and canine talents will be Hall of Fame jockey-turned-trainer, Angel Cordero, Jr. and riders Julie Krone and Chris Antley.

There is a fee of $15 per dog and spectators are requested to make a donation to the Foundation, which cares for retired racehorses at its farm at Wallkill, New York and at the Charles Hickey, Jr. school for wayward youths in Maryland.

TIFFANY TROPHIES ON DISPLAY

Tiffany & Co. is displaying 'Tiffany Sports Trophies, Celebrations of Victory,' at its New York store through Sept. 6. Thoroughbred racing contributed six awards, the oldest being the one created for the 1874 Travers Stakes which was loaned by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Alongside racing's prizes are such jewels as the Vince Lombardi Trophy, given to the winner of the Super Bowl, World Series rings from the Toronto Blue Jays, and 11 sailing trophies, among the 48 on display.

FREDDIE HEAD RETIRES

Six-time French champion jockey Freddie Head has announced his retirement. The 50-year-old Head, who has ridden for his grandfather Willie, father Alec and sister Criquette, was the youngest jockey to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, scoring with Bon Mot in 1966 at age 19. He was aboard Miesque, who he said was the best horse he ever rode, in back-to-back wins in the Breeders' Cup Mile in 1987 and 1988. Head retires with 2,937 wins.

LEROY NEIMAN POSTER ON QVC

LeRoy Nieman's 1997 Kentucky Derby poster has been selected as one of 20 Kentucky products to be featured on the QVC Shopping Network's 'The '97 Quest for America's best - 50 in 50 Tour.' The poster will be shown during QVC's Kentucky stop at the Owensboro River Park Center, Aug. 20, from 4-7 p.m. (EDT).

August 16, 1930: Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox was beaten by 110-1 Jim Dandy in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

August 16, 1946 Rockingham Park began to film its races from the vantage of a helicopter, using the equipment as a 'mechanical patrol judge.'

August 16, 1954: Native Dancer concluded his career with a victory in the Oneonta Handicap, a non-betting exhibition race at Saratoga Racecourse that he won by nine lengths while carrying 137 pounds. Although he raced only three times in 1954, Native Dancer was subsequently voted Horse of the Year, partly because he had been denied that honor in the previous year, despite having won nine of 10 races, all of them stakes. Tom Fool, 1953 Horse of the Year, had a perfect 10-for-10 record.

August 16, 1965: John Longden rode his 6,000th winner when he was aboard Prince Scorpion to victory while at Exhibition Park.

August 16, 1972: Secretariat won his first stakes race, the Sanford Stakes, at Saratoga Racecourse. The time for the six-furlong race was 1:10, the fastest time of the Saratoga meet that year.

August 16, 1976: Trainer John Campo swept the top three spots in the Adirondack Stakes with Harvest Girl, Bonnie Empress and Drama Critic.

August 17, 1918: Samuel D. Riddle purchased Man o' War for $5,000 in a sale of August Belmont II's bloodstock at Saratoga.

August 17, 1977: Jockey Steve Cauthen rode Affirmed for the first time, winning the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse by 2 3-4 lengths.

August 18, 1961: Trainer Dale Baird saddled his first winner, New York, at Ellis Park.

August 19, 1978: In the conclusion of their 10-race rivalry, Alydar scored his third 'success' against Affirmed in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Racecourse, when his adversary was disqualified from first place.

August 19, 1990: Jockey Earlie Fires became the 11th rider in Thoroughbred racing history to ride 5,000 winners when he guided Tex's Zing to victory in the ninth race at Arlington International Racecourse.

August 20, 1966: Ogden Phipps's Buckpasser, ridden by Braulio Baeza, became racing's first three-year-old millionaire after he won the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Aug. 16, Racehorse Digest, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN
Aug. 20, Racehorse Digest, 3:30-4:00 p.m., ESPN
Aug. 21, Racehorse Digest, 3:00-3:30 a.m., ESPN

Alabama Stakes, 3yo fillies, $250,000, 1 1-4 Miles, Grade I, Saratoga
Ajina, who won the Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks and Grade I Mother Goose Stakes in her last two starts, heads the expected field. Tomisue's Delight, third in the Mother Goose and second in the Oaks, will try Ajina again while her stablemate Runup the Colors, winner of the Delaware Oaks, will also run. Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner Salt It is also expected.

Pat O'Brien Handicap, 3&up, $100,000, 7 Furlongs, Grade III, Del Mar
First Intent, Boundless Moment and High Stakes Player, first, second and third in the July 27 Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Stakes at Del Mar, meet again.

New Castle Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $125,000, 1 1-8 Miles Turf, Delaware

Sapling Stakes, 2yo, $200,000, 6 Furlongs, Grade III, Monmouth

Breeders' Stakes, 3yo, $250,000, 1 1-2 Miles Turf, Grade IC, Woodbine Young Turk, the lone turf stakes winner in the field, heads a group of 13 for the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

Ballerina Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $150,000, 7 Furlongs, Grade I, Saratoga

Del Mar Oaks, 3yo fillies, $250,000, 1 1-8 Miles Turf, Grade I, Del Mar

Longacres Mile, 3&up, $200,000, 1 Mile, Grade III, Emerald