Concerto

Concerto has joined Captain Bodgit at Churchill Downs, providing Marylanders with two rooting interests in the Kentucky Derby on May 3.After a 12-hour van ride from John Tammaro III's barn at Laurel Park, Concerto arrived Monday in Louisville about 6: 30 p.m."He walked off the van playing," Tammaro said yesterday. "He's feeling real good."Concerto warmed up for the Derby with a victory Saturday in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico. Tammaro said that after the race he talked with George Steinbrenner, who owns Concerto, and Mike Boyd, who manages Steinbrenner's horse farm in Florida.

In his Symphony No. 3, Beethoven is full of fire and grand gestures, more than enough to justify the work's title, Eroica - "Heroic." In his Piano Concerto, John Corigliano generates plenty of fire and grand gestures, too, as if he were also going for something heroic in scope. Maybe it's significant that Beethoven was only 33 in 1803 when he wrote that symphony, Corigliano only 30 in 1968 when he wrote that concerto - that's a good time in a person's life for thinking big. If you go The BSO performs at 11 a.m. today at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. Tickets are $15-$57.

FLORENCE, Ky. -- Three days before baseball's Opening Day, George Steinbrenner will turn his attention to horse racing.His Concerto, trained by Marylander John J. Tammaro III, is the early favorite in tomorrow's $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes at Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, is scheduled to be in attendance when Concerto breaks from the No. 6 post in his sternest test. A winner of five races in eight starts, Concerto could punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby with a solid effort in the 1 1/8 -mile Jim Beam.

FLORENCE, Ky. -- On a gray afternoon of exhilaration for Maryland trainer John J. Tammaro III, tragedy struck at Turfway Park.As Concerto, the classy colt trained by Tammaro, stormed down the homestretch yesterday to win the Jim Beam Stakes, the horse next to him, the horse battling for the lead -- Inexcessivelygood -- shattered his right front ankle.With a sixteenth of a mile left, Inexcessivelygood collapsed. His Hall of Fame jockey, Chris McCarron, tumbled head over heels. The horse struggled onto his feet and tried to run, causing jockeys on the four horses behind him to pull up their mounts.

Sports fans who think Cal Ripken's rookie season is a precious memory should come see Concerto today at Pimlico.The 3-year-old chestnut colt is not a star yet. But if he runs as expected in the Federico Tesio Stakes, and then wins the Kentucky Derby in two weeks, those in attendance today will carry the glowing memory for years.And Concerto's chances in the Derby are good. He has won four straight stakes, including the Jim Beam at Turfway Park, and six of his past seven races. His only loss was by less than a length to Captain Bodgit, who is the Derby co-favorite with Pulpit.

Sometimes, in the middle of the night, Nina Youshkevitch awakens to find her muscles remembering an old ballet movement."It is a very interesting process. Your body remembers. Then your mind and your body come together, and you see the whole thing," she explains, her left arm rising and bending in a still-graceful sweep, cocking slender fingers over her head.Although she is sitting in a metal folding chair in a dance studio at Goucher College, you can almost "see" Ms. Youshkevitch as a prima ballerina in the late 1930s, performing the "Chopin Concerto" in the capitals of Europe.

After another finish out of the money, John Tammaro III adheres to his contention voiced weeks ago: Concerto is the best horse he has ever trained.And, if you must know, Tammaro is getting along just fine with George Steinbrenner, who owns Concerto as well as the New York Yankees.Tammaro, who grew up near Pimlico Race Course and now lives in Cooksville in Howard County, came in sixth with Concerto in the Preakness yesterday after a disappointing ninth in the Kentucky Derby."He's the best horse I've had, without a doubt," said Tammaro, 51, a fourth-generation horseman who has been a trainer since 1976.

Although the Kentucky Derby is still eight weeks away, the chances of Maryland horses getting there are improving by the week.Yesterday, Concerto romped by six lengths in the $100,000 1 1/16-mile John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky. In recent weeks, Smoke Glacken and Captain Bodgit turned in Derby-like efforts. And Traitor, the state's other major contender for the Triple Crown races, is nearing his 3-year-old debut in Florida.But yesterday was Concerto's time to make music.

FLORENCE, Ky. -- At opposite ends of Barn 27 at Turfway Park, opposing emotions prevailed.Standing yesterday outside Stall 51, John Tammaro III had fun with the Jim Beam Stakes winner, Concerto. Concerto stuck out his thick tongue, and Tammaro grabbed it and rubbed gently."You watch these kind of horses run all the time for other people," said Tammaro, who grew up in Baltimore and lives in Howard County. "You don't realize how great it is until you have one of your own."On Saturday, Concerto commanded center stage in the Triple Crown drama with a 2 1/2 -length victory in the $600,000 Jim Beam Stakes at this track in northern Kentucky.

George Steinbrenner's Concerto tuned up for the Kentucky Derby with a leisurely win yesterday at Pimlico. But the music swirled off track with rumors of an impending sale of the horse.Before and after Concerto's victory in the $155,500 Federico Tesio Stakes -- one of five stakes comprising the Maryland Spring Breeders' Challenge -- the colt's trainer, John Tammaro III, deflected questions about events behind-the-scenes.They created a mystery more compelling than a horse race.First, a veterinarian from Kentucky was flown yesterday by private jet to Maryland to examine Concerto for an unidentified prospective buyer.