Disco

Disco Rico skipped through the sloppy track and was an easy winner in the $60,000 Endless Surprise Stakes yesterday at Laurel Park. Sent off as the 2-5 favorite over two rivals, Disco Rico paid $2.80 to win. In CC's Honor shot to the lead at the start, but was quickly collared by Disco Rico and had to battle the rest of the way with Dr. Max to earn the place by just a nose. Disco Rico covered the six furlongs in 1 minute, 9.67 seconds and won by 5 1/2 lengths. Jockey Harry Vega, who has won six stakes races at Laurel Park since the start of the year, piloted Disco Rico for trainer Valora Testerman.

In his first race outside New York, Peeping Tom won the $200,000 General George Handicap yesterday at Laurel Park so convincingly that he stamped himself as a horse of national significance. A 4-year-old gelding stabled at Belmont Park, Peeping Tom capitalized on a blistering early duel by two speedsters to charge from last place, through and around horses, for a 3 1/2 -length victory. His time of 1 minute, 22 seconds for the seven furlongs fell three-fifths of a second off the 12-year-old track record of Tappiano.

Disco Rico has used his afterburners for six furlongs. Today, he must make them last for an extra eighth of a mile. An explosive Maryland-bred son of Citidancer and Round It Off, Disco Rico is the top local hope in the General George Handicap at Laurel Park. A Grade II $200,000 stakes of seven furlongs, the General George is the male counterpart of the Barbara Fritchie Handicap, run Saturday at Laurel. Together, they make up Winter Sprintfest, one of Maryland's premier events for thoroughbreds.

IT'S ANOTHER example of life coming full circle. Beginning Monday, John "Kinderman" Taylor, who swears that "disco is not dead," will teach ballroom and disco dancing lessons at Slayton House. Taylor, 64, stars in the children's television program "It's Kindertime," which airs Saturday mornings on WMAR-TV (Channel 2). Next year, he hopes to gain national attention through syndication of his show. "I want to get to a point where people know me, and I can teach techniques for movement and music and relaxing and leaving love with the children," Taylor said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Lemon Drop Kid drew the No. 1 post position and was installed the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the prestigious Whitney Handicap tomorrow at Saratoga. Scotty Schulhofer, trainer of the 4-year-old colt, said he would have preferred an outside post in the six-horse field. He said his jockey Edgar Prado, the former Maryland riding star, would be charged with making sure Lemon Drop Kid does not become trapped along the rail. "That's up to Edgar," Schulhofer said. "He'll find his way out of there."

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Valora Testerman was a tall girl. At 11, she could sneak into Timonium and persuade people she was 15. She got a job walking horses. Thirty-two years later, Testerman, now a trainer of 20 horses at Pimlico, finds herself at the center of the nation's horse universe at Saratoga. Today, in the $100,000 Amsterdam Stakes, she will saddle Disco Rico, her first horse in 19 years of training capable of winning at the national level. Yesterday, relishing her first trip to Saratoga - as trainer or fan - Testerman beamed and said, "I'm overwhelmed by the horse enthusiasm.

A half-hour after Richter Scale broke the six-furlong track record yesterday at Laurel Park, a stunningly fast sprinter half Richter Scale's age matched the old record. Disco Rico won the $75,000 Montpelier Stakes for 3-year-olds, completing the six furlongs in 1 minute, 8.06 seconds. That tied Fighting Notion's record that Richter Scale had just beaten in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. The New York-based jockey Richard Migliore rode Richter Scale and Disco Rico. Migliore said he believes that Richter Scale, 6, is the best older sprinter in the country.

The disco revival that brought back bell-bottoms and 1970s dance tunes hasn't paid off for one-time singing star Herb Feemster the way he says it should. Feemster -- who as part of the disco duo Peaches & Herb had a number of hits in the '70s, including "Shake Your Groove Thing" and "Reunited" -- has sued Sony Music Corp., claiming that the giant music company is making money off his hits but isn't sharing the wealth. The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, charges that Sony has compiled three Peaches & Herb "best of" albums since 1996 but has not fully paid royalties on the sale of those records, violating the singer's 1967 contract.

It has been a dreadful network television season, and the malaise only deepens as we head into its final days, with the start of big-ticket May "sweeps" programming this weekend. Three very expensive productions from what were once known as the Big Three start tomorrow, and the toughest call for this critic is deciding which is worst: NBC's vapid miniseries "The '70s," CBS' weepy bio-pic on the life of John Denver, or another miniseries from the dreaded Robert Halmi Sr., who has gotten rich turning the Great Books into prime-time mush.

The Yak found this gem of an idea in "Reader's Digest Tricks & Treats: The Ultimate Halloween Book" by Deborah Harding. It looks like Cinderella's coach. It also reminds the Yak of a disco ball. Yeah, baby, it's a disco pumpkin!What you need:* A nicely rounded pumpkin* Gold and/or silver metallic floral spray paint (sold at craft stores)* 1 package of glitter* 1 package of fake jewels* Craft or school glueWhat to do:1. Wash your pumpkin and dry it carefully with a soft cloth or paper towel.