Dash

It's been a long time between sips of sparkling water, but the drought between Grade I stakes in Maryland will end today at Laurel Park with the running of the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The six-furlong sprint with its $300,000 purse is only the second top-graded stakes this year in Maryland. The other, of course, is the Preakness. This will be the second year for the De Francis Dash in its new time slot after the Breeders' Cup. Last year, Lou Raffetto Jr., chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club, switched the race from summer to fall, creating the Fall Festival of Racing.

Kelly Kip, who shattered a track record in New York in his last race, heads a field of seven sprinters Saturday in the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.Conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens, Kelly Kip sizzled six furlongs in 1 minute, 8 1/5 seconds in winning the Grade III Finger Lakes Breeders' Cup on June 20 at Finger Lakes racetrack in upstate New York. He clipped three-fifths of a second off the track record.By comparison, the fastest six furlongs in eight runnings of the De Francis Dash is 1: 08 3/5 seconds (Housebuster in 1991 and Montbrook in 1993)

Bruce Headley has trained horses for 42 years. He has never run one in Maryland. That will change tomorrow when Headley, a 67-year-old horseman from California, saddles Kona Gold for the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park. Headley not only seldom races outside California, but he also never overtaxes Kona Gold, star of his stable and champion sprinter of 2000. So why has Headley done something so out of character and entered Kona Gold in the De Francis Dash? "He's feeling so good," Headley said of his 7-year-old sprinter.

The last thing a speed horse wants to see in a race is more speed horses. That's what favored Texas Glitter appeared to be facing in yesterday's Grade III, $100,000 Laurel Dash, a 6-furlong sprint on the turf. But the opposing speed proved no match for the visiting favorite from Todd Pletcher's powerful New York stable. There was no expected speed duel in the early going, no tiring of Texas Glitter and no upset. The son of Glitterman set the track record, finishing in 1 minute, 8 seconds, one-fifth of a second better than Wordly Possession's winning time from 1991.

Long-shot Icarian came motoring from far back yesterday, reaching the front in time to catch pacesetter Hades and win the seventh running of the $50,000-added Herat Stakes for 3-year-olds at Laurel Park by a neck. Icarian, a gelded son of Smarten who was bred by his owner, Bonsal White, completed the 1 1/16th-mile distance in 1: 45 1/5 over a fast main track. His surprise victory rewarded his backers with a $59.80 win mutuel. Hades held onto second and Country Signature was third. The 10-5 exacta returned $235.

TRENTON, N.J. -- Herb Brown's reactions said it all.The Baltimore BayRunners coach didn't even walk to midcourt for the customary end-of-the-game handshake with the Trenton coaching staff or players. He headed the opposite direction, straight toward the locker room.In disgust, Brown watched his BayRunners fall to the Shooting Stars, 109-87, in front of 2,072 at the Sovereign Bank Arena.The loss ended the team's two-game winning streak and kept the BayRunners (2-3) winless against Trenton (4-2)

Xtra Heat beat them once. If she's ever going to earn their respect, she's going to have to beat them again. She'll have her chance Saturday in the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park. Xtra Heat, the Maryland filly who finished second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint Oct. 27 at Belmont Park, will tangle again with three males who chased her in that race: Caller One, Delaware Township and Kona Gold. The post-position draw yesterday for the six-furlong De Francis Dash practically ensures a repeat strategy employed in the Sprint.

Faced with assembling a competitive field for its premier summer race, Laurel Park officials had to scramble for horses yesterday after only three were initially entered for the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. By late afternoon, however, recruiters in the racing office had enticed the trainers of four more horses to enter Saturday's $300,000, 6-furlong race. That boosted the field for one of the country's most prestigious sprints to seven, about average for the race. Since its inception in 1990, the De Francis Dash has averaged 7.8 horses.

HAGERSTOWN -- Long Reach's girls team earned 24 points by finishing 1-2-3 in the 55 dash and sprinted its way to a second straight 2A-3A West Regional indoor championship last night at Hagerstown Junior College.The Lightning scored in six events, and three girls -- juniors Teyarnte Carter and Cynthia Nicholls and sophomore Rolanda Howard -- were responsible for most of their 71 points.Thomas Johnson of Frederick County finished second in the girls with 57 points, and River Hill and Montgomery County's Walter Johnson tied for third with 44.Thomas Johnson earned the boys title with 78 points, 30 more than second-place River Hill.

INDIANAPOLIS - Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey ran the fastest 40-yard dash among wide receivers and running backs at the NFL scouting combine yesterday, perhaps securing a place in the first round of April's draft. The Silver Spring native turned in a 4.30-second 40 to highlight the second day of combine drills at Lucas Oil Stadium. According to NFL Network, it tied the second-fastest 40 of the decade. Heyward-Bey came into the combine with a second-round grade, but after a month at a training facility in Phoenix, he was more fluid and consistent in his route running and caught the ball well.