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

ESPN & ESPN2 WILL FEATURE MORE DERBY COVERAGE, STARTING IN '96
Churchill Downs and ESPN, Inc., have signed a multi-year agreement that provides for expanded coverage of the Kentucky Derby, including live coverage of the post position draw, beginning in 1996. Next year, 15 hours of Derby- and Kentucky Oaks-related coverage will air on ESPN (five hours) and ESPN2 (10 hours), over the course of four days (May 1-4). The Derby is run Saturday, May 4; the Oaks, May 3. ABC Sports airs the Derby itself, while ESPN televises the Oaks. The complete schedule of events is as follows (ALL TIMES ARE EASTERN): Wednesday, May 1 Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw, 6:00-6:30 p.m., ESPN; Thursday, May 2 'Up Close with Chris Myers,' 6:00-6:30 p.m., ESPN; Friday, May 3 Breakfast at Churchill Downs, 7:00-9:00 a.m., ESPN2; Kentucky Oaks Special, 3:30-5:00 p.m., ESPN2; Kentucky Oaks, 5:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN; 'Up Close with Chris Myers,' 6:00-6:30 p.m., ESPN; Derby Night of the Stars, 9:00-10:30 p.m., ESPN2; Saturday, May 4 Breakfast at Churchill Downs, 7:00-9:00 a.m., ESPN2; Kentucky Derby Special2, Noon-2:00 p.m., ESPN2; Kentucky Derby Special, 2:00-4:30 p.m., ESPN; Kentucky Derby Wrap-Up, 6:00-7:00 p.m., ESPN.

MARYLAND MILLION HAS SPONSORS FOR ALL 11 RACES
For the first time, the 11 races which comprise the Oct. 14 Maryland Million Day will be sponsored. The races, which carry total purses of $1,025,000, will be held at Laurel Park, Laurel Md. Those who have signed on to sponsor the championship day of racing featuring horses sired by Maryland-based stallions are: First National Bank of Maryland, sponsors of the $200,000 Classic; USAir ($125,000 Maryland Ladies); Crown Central Petroleum ($100,000 Nursery); the Port of Baltimore ($100,000 Distaff); BWI Airport ($100,000 Sprint); First Maryland Bancorp ($25,000 Steeplechase); Bally's ($100,000 Turf and $25,000 Starter Handicap); Baltimore Magazine ($100,000 Oaks); the investment banking firm Alex Brown ($100,000 Lassie) and The Rouse Company ($50,000 Handicap).

MEADOWLANDS REDUCES PURSES
Purses at the current Meadowlands Thoroughbred race meet have been reduced by an average of 12 percent effective Friday, Sept. 29. According to Mike Dempsey, director of racing at the E. Rutherford, N.J. racetrack, 'We began the meet with daily purses set at an all-time Meadowlands high, but business has been slow as it has been around the rest of the country. We hope things pick up, but the purses are a reflection of handle and we have to take this action now.' Overnight purses, which had been raised seven times over the past two seasons, were at a record $184,000 daily when the track opened Sept. 4 for its fall season.

DUBAI CUP, WORLD'S RICHEST RACE, TO BE RUN LASIX-FREE
The March 27, 1996 Dubai Cup, billed as the world's richest race with a purse of $4 million, will be run under the rules of the Emirates Racing Association, which do not permit the use of Lasix or Bute. The rules of racing in the United Arab Emirates are similar to those in Europe, which prohibit the use of any race day medications. The first six finishers in the race will undergo normal postrace testing procedures. Pre-race testing may also be required.

The Dubai Cup, which will be run at Nas al Sheba racecourse in Dubai, will be open to 14 runners and several reserves selected by an international panel of handicappers. Four runners will represent the United Arab Emirates, three from the Americas, three from Europe, two from Oceania and two Asian horses.

U-K TO HOST WORKSHOP ON EQUINE WELFARE, REGULATORY ISSUES
A three-day course, 'The Commission Veterinarian-Equine Medical Director,' will be held Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at the University of Kentucky's Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington. The goal of the workshop is to educate equine regulatory veterinarians (and others) about programs and procedures relating to the health and welfare of racehorses, particularly the commission veterinarians' new responsibility for medication regulation. Commission veterinarians oversee all aspects of equine health and welfare at the racetrack and enforce all state and federal regulations.

The course was organized by Drs. Thomas Tobin, George Mundy, Scott Stanley and Richard Sams, and has been endorsed by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, the American Association of Equine Practitioners and the Quality Assurance Program of the Association of Racing Commissioners International. It is approved for 16.25 hours of continuing education credit by the American Veterinary Medical Association. In addition to lectures at the Gluck Center, there will be a field trip to The Ohio State University Analytical Toxicology Laboratory as well as to Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., for an overview of pre-race examinations and test barn procedures. For more information call (606) 257-3739 or - 4174; the fax number is (606) 257-5169.

NYRA PLANS A DAY FOR THE HORSES ON BREEDERS' CUP PREVIEW DAY
Breeders' Cup Preview Day, Saturday, Oct. 7, has been designated 'A Day for the Horses' by the New York Racing Association, which is hosting the event at Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y. A Day for the Horses is a fund-raiser for the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, which supports equine medical research. NYRA employees, backstretch personnel, trainers, horse owners and racing fans are being asked to donate to the foundation; contribution bins will be placed at various locations throughout the track.

Proceeds from A Day for the Horses will be earmarked to support research that focuses on preventing injuries to racehorses and treatment strategies to help horses that do sustain racing- or training-related injuries. On July 28, Canterbury Park participated in A Day for the Horses, contributing $1,200 to the foundation. Other tracks to have donated to the charity event include Calder Racecourse, Rockingham Park, Delaware Park, Prairie Meadows and Turf Paradise, which held the inaugural fund-raiser last year. For more information about A Day for the Horses, contact Nancy Kelly, director of development for the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, at (212) 371-6122.

CHURCHILL DOWNS TO HOLD BUGLER AUDITIONS
Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky., will hold auditions for the positions of head and assistant bugler on Friday, Oct. 6 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Auditions will take place in the track's Winner's Circle Pagoda. Applicants will perform before a panel of judges including Dr. Michael Tunnell, professor of the trumpet for the University of Louisville School of Music and Jerry Amond, a member of the Louisville Orchestra.

The bugler is responsible for performing the 'Call to the Post' before every race. The 34-note tune, historically known as 'First Call,' was derived from traditions of the United States Cavalry, which used it to alert grooms to bring horses from the holding area to the parade grounds for saddling. In Thoroughbred racing, the 'Call to the Post' is played when the horses step onto the racetrack after saddling. Churchill will debut its new bugler on Sunday, Oct. 29, opening day of the 1995 Fall Race Meet. For additional information, please call Churchill Downs at (502) 636-4400.

RACING ON THE AIR
Sept. 28 'Racehorse Digest' 2:30-3:00 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 30 'Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
Sept. 30 Super Derby XVI, Louisiana Downs 4:30-5:30 p.m., ESPN

Oct. 4 'Racehorse Digest' 3:30-4:00 p.m., ESPN
Oct. 5 'Racehorse Digest' 1:30-2:00 a.m., ESPN
Oct. 6 'Racehorse Digest' 1:00-1:30 p.m., ESPN
Oct. 7 Breeders' Cup Preview Day, Belmont 4:30-6:00 p.m., NBC

RACING TO HISTORY
Sept. 28, 1960: Forty years after Man o' War won the Lawrence Realization Stakes by 100 lengths in the record time of 2:40 4-5, Kelso equaled his standard in the same event.

Sept. 28, 1983: Atlantic City Racecourse and The Meadowlands became the first U.S. tracks to engage in simulcasting. The previous year, Woodbine and Fort Erie in Canada had been the first to experiment with simulcasting.

Sept. 29, 1973: With Meadow Stable's Riva Ridge scratched because of rainy weather, his stablemate Secretariat was left to compete in the 1 1-2-mile Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park. Prove Out, trained by Allen Jerkens, beat the 3-10 favorite Secretariat, who faded after 1 1-4 miles to finish second by 4 1-2 lengths. Another Jerkens trainee, Onion, had defeated Secretariat in the Whitney Stakes on Aug. 4 at Saratoga.

Sept. 30, 1898: Jockey Tod Sloan, whose life was the basis for 'Yankee Doodle Dandy,' rode five consecutive winners at England's Newmarket racecourse.

Sept. 30, 1969: Jockey Kathy Kusner won her first career race, at Pocono Downs. Kusner, a former rider with the U.S. Equestrian Team, had sued to obtain a jockey's license in Maryland in 1968. She won her case but was subsequently sidelined by a broken leg suffered in a training accident.

Sept. 30, 1981: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. won his 5,000th career race.

Sept. 30, 1990: Bill Shoemaker had his first graded stakes win as a trainer when Baldomero (IRE) won the Grade III Golden Harvest Handicap at Louisiana Downs.

Oct. 3, 1942: With a victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf, became the first Thoroughbred to amass more than $500,000 in lifetime earnings.

Oct. 4, 1762: Nineteen members of England's Jockey Club announced an agreement at Newmarket to register their racing colors for purposes of distinguishing runners among a field of horses. The Duke of Devonshire chose 'straw,' and the color, still registered for the family, is the oldest continuously-used color in racing.

Oct. 4, 1970: Nijinsky II's 11-race winning streak came to an end when he ran second to Sassafras in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Oct. 4, 1980: Less than an hour before post time, Spectacular Bid was scratched from the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the race that was to have been his last. Trainer Bud Delp claimed that 'Bid' had a slight leg injury, but refused to allow a veterinarian to examine the horse and insisted he be retired. Despite this ignoble end to his career, Spectacular Bid's 1980 racing season was perfect: he won each of his nine starts, all of them stakes, and was subsequently voted Horse of the Year.

Oct. 4, 1989: Secretariat, 1973 Triple Crown champion, was humanely destroyed at Claiborne Farm, Paris, Ky., after suffering a severe case of laminitis. He was 19.

Oct. 5, 1933: Jockey Gordon Richards concluded a 12-race winning streak that had begun on Oct. 3 when he won the last race at Nottingham, followed by a six-for-six day at Chepstow on Oct. 4 and five wins at Chepstow on Oct. 5.

Oct. 5, 1973: In his final workout for his first grass race, the Man o' War Stakes, Secretariat went five furlongs on the turf in :56 4-5 at Belmont Park.

Oct. 5, 1983: Jockey Jorge Velasquez won his 5,000th career race, riding Banquet Scene to victory in the fourth race at Belmont Park.

Oct. 6, 1949: Col. Matt J. Winn, generally credited with making the Kentucky Derby the greatest horse race in America, died at the age of 88. He witnessed all of the first 75 Derbies.

Oct. 6, 1979: In their only race together, champions Affirmed and Spectacular Bid met in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Odds-on favorite Affirmed, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr., won by 3-4 lengths and became the first horse ever to earn more than $1 million in a single racing season. Affirmed was later voted Horse of the Year off this convincing victory over Spectacular Bid, who was named champion 3-year-old.

Oct. 6, 1989: Parimutuel racing returned to Texas with a meet held at G. Rollie White Downs. Racing had been banned in the state since 1937.

Oct. 7, 1956: In his final start of his career, four-year-old Ribot won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for the second consecutive year and retired a perfect 16-for-16.

Oct. 8, 1973: Secretariat made his grass-racing debut in the Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park, winning the 1 1-2-mile race by five lengths in a time of 2:24 4-5. He overran the finish line by another furlong, running 1 5-8 miles in a world-record-equalling time of 2:37 4-5.

WEEKEND STAKES

SATURDAY
FESTIVAL OF THE SUN DAY AT CALDER
Miami Beach Sprint Handicap, 3&up, $100,000, 7 Furlongs
Miami Budweiser B.C. Handicap, 3&up, $150,000, 1 1-8 Miles Turf
Florida Stallion S., My Dear Girl Div., 2yo fillies, $400,000, 1 1-16M
Florida Stallion Stakes, In Reality Div., 2yo, $400,000, 1 1-16 Miles

B.C. Weekend Delight S., 3&up (f&m), $75,000, 6 Furlongs, Turfway
Canadian B.C.H., 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1 1-16M (T), G.IC, Woodbine
Bay Meadows H., 3&up, $200,000, 1 1-8M (T), Grade II, Bay Meadows
Johann Quatz (FR), runner-up in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile, returns to the races for the first time since falling in the Aug. 27 Arlington Million. A group winner in France, the six-year-old was uninjured in the spill after getting in tight quarters in a race where many of the runners had traffic problems. He was third in four graded stakes last year. The race favorite will probably be Slew of Damascus, a versatile performer on dirt or turf. Others expected are: Silver Wizard; Caesour;Caherdaniel; and Canaska Dancer.
Super Derby XVI, 3yo, $750,000, 1 1-4M, Grade I, Louisiana Downs
Composer won the Grade II Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga but was badly beaten in the Travers and Molson Export Million. Locals usually fare well, and the first three finishers from Louisiana Downs' Prelude Stakes, Sept. 4, are all back. Scott's Scoundrel, Toolighttoquit and Beavers Nose and Mystery Storm. Dazzling Falls, winner of the Arkansas, Alabama and Remington Park Derbies and purses of $698,000, has only run two bad races recently, losing both the Kentucky Derby and Swaps Stakes to Thunder Gulch. Gadzook won the Tampa Bay Derby in March, dropped three straight, and most recently won the Manila Stakes at Arlington. Mecke is back on dirt after two good turf performances. He was fifth in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Others entered are: Mystery Storm, hot at Oaklawn Park in March but has cooled off considerably since; Pineing Patty, consistent in allowance company, he won the Omaha Gold Cup and Grade II Pennsylvania Derby in his last two; Da Bull; Tenants Harbor; and allowance winner Turbulent Dancer.
Rare Perfume S., 3yo fillies, $100,000, 1 1-16M (T), G. II, Belmont
Sport of Kings Futurity, 2yo, $125,000, 6 1-2F, Louisiana Downs

SUNDAY
Ballerina, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Hastings
Mazarine S., 2yo fillies, $100,000, 1 1-16M, Grade IC, Woodbine
River Cities Bud. B.C., 3yo (f&m), $150,000, 1 1-16 Miles Turf, Grade III, Louisiana Downs

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