Furlongs

The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash today at Laurel Park is a racing rarity: a Grade I sprint. Even more than the Preakness and Pimlico Special, the state's other major thoroughbred races, the De Francis Dash carries great clout in determining winners of coveted Eclipse awards honoring the year's top horses. The winner of the Dash will shine brighter in racing's firmament at year's end than the winners of the Preakness for 3-year-olds or the Pimlico Special for older horses. They will compete for attention with winners of comparable or greater races within their division.

Am I Too, a 6-year-old, hard-knocking gelding, matched Laurel Park's seven-furlong record yesterday on a lightning-fast racing strip. Owned and trained by Joan A. Wilson, who is stabled at Laurel, Am I Too won the eighth race, completing the distance in 1 minute, 21 2/5 seconds. That tied Tappiano's mark set Feb. 12, 1989, in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap. Ridden by Mario Pino, Am I Too is a Maryland-bred son of Thirty Eight Paces and I Am Too. This was his sixth win in 21 races.

The $50,000 Basil Hall Stakes was intended to be Just Call Me Carl's first test on the turf track yesterday at Pimlico Race Course. Instead, it turned into his maiden effort in the mud, and the Strawberry Road horse passed the examination almost effortlessly. The horse who runs for charity was anything but charitable to three rivals, racing them into submission and proceeding to a 2 1/2 -length victory over Rudirudy on a track rated "good." Just Call Me Carl increased his lifetime earnings to $191,671 with his third stakes triumph.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Todd Pletcher learned more than horsemanship during his 6 1/2 years as assistant to Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Pletcher also learned math. In his first appearance on his own in the Kentucky Derby, Pletcher, 32, will train four of the expected 20 starters. That's one more than Lukas, who has started more horses in the Derby, 35, than any other trainer. Pletcher's four: More Than Ready, last year's 2-year-old sensation who tailed off in the fall after a long campaign.

Steven Newby's Just Call Me Carl battled Minister of Decorm down the length of the stretch before edging ahead to win the $50,000 Ben Cohen Stakes by a nose yesterday at Pimlico. The five-furlong stakes had originally been carded for the grass, but was switched to the main track because of rain earlier in the week. The race, contested over a fast surface, was won in 57 2/5. The winner paid $4.20. The 11-1 exacta returned $9.40 and the 11-1-10 trifecta paid $49.20. Devereux finished third.

Today With wet weather playing havoc on local turf racing, both of Pimlico's weekend features have a good chance of being switched to the main track. When 14 runners passed the entry box for the Ben Cohen Stakes, two runners wound up on the alternate list. The 16th running, scheduled for 5 furlongs on the grass, is worth $60,000. It is a wide-open affair in the betting. In the event the Cohen goes on turf, Buying Rain should get some play. The 7-year-old gelding turned in a solid effort at Laurel last November after being out of action for six months.

Patience defeated greed yesterday at Laurel Park. By opting not to run their successful sprinter Power By Far in the glitzier and richer General George Stakes last month, the connections for the talented 5-year-old put an extra three weeks between races and had a fresh horse yesterday. Turns out, they needed every bit of that freshness in a heated six-furlong contest. Carrying the high weight of 122 pounds, Power By Far prevailed by a head in the $75,000 Endless Surprise Stakes. He had to fight to get past pace-setter and third-place finisher Sweep Well, then gamely out-finished fast- closer Burger Day for the $45,000 first-place check.

Today Post Time 96 Stable's Never Wink is the lone stakes winner in a field of 10 entered for the seventh running of the Horatius Stakes. Never Wink, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Glitterman is the likely choice for the $50,000 event to be contested over 7 furlongs. Rick Wilson, who booted the colt to a two-length victory in the Ambernash Stakes, will be aboard again. Tomorrow The Toes Knows Stakes, a $50,000 dash that will be contested over 5 1/2 furlongs, has attracted 15 fillies and mares who have never won an added-money event.

Today: A half-dozen stakes winners, including last year's winner, are among 10 fillies and mares entered for the 11th running of the Stefanita Stakes. The seven-furlong event, for 3-year-olds and upward, carries a $75,000 purse. Halo's Security, which went on vacation after winning the Conniver Stakes last February, won last year's edition by leading every step of the way. Other stakes winners entered include The Unforgiven, Nothing Special, Passeggiata, Cottage Garden and Tookin Down.Tomorrow: Four 2-year-old fillies will line up against unbeaten Gin Talking in the 15th running of the Heavenly Cause Stakes.

Nimble is, his trainer says, a little crazy, an awesome animal, a monster. Take your pick.Yesterday, Nimble displayed his finest qualities and tied the Laurel Park seven-furlong record of 1 minute, 21 2/5 seconds set by Tappiano in 1989. Stabled at Philadelphia Park, Nimble devoured three foes in the $50,000 E. William Furey Memorial Stakes, a race honoring the late chairman of the Maryland Racing Commission.Nimble won his fifth race in a row for the trainer Scott A. Lake, who tried to talk his clients, the brothers Eric and Gregg Frahl, out of claiming the 7-year-old gelding for $32,000 in February.