Halo

If the last two weeks are a measure, the Orioles are proof that it is better to be lucky than good.Since Mike Mussina shut out the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 5, the Orioles have won just six of 16 games, going 2-4 during the first six games of their nine-game homestand. And they haven't won a series since Mussina's 4-0 victory clinched a sweep of the Tigers.In that span, the offense -- mustering a .221 average during the past 10 games -- has sputtered, scoring more than five runs in a game just twice, with one of those outbursts coming in a 10-8 loss to the Seattle Mariners last Wednesday.

LAUREL -- Favored Fortunate Lance responded to a reunion with jockey Edgar Prado by unleashing a gritty stretch run that wore down pacesetting Literal in the $20,000 allowance feature at Laurel Race Course yesterday.The margin in the 6 1/2 -furlong -- was a head for Fortunate Lance, whose previous victory was under similar conditions with Prado aboard Jan. 19 at Laurel.Literal, with Larry Reynolds up, had put away the early challenge TC of long shot Shell Master and took a 1 1/2 -length lead into the stretch duel, then gamely held on for the place.

Jolie's Halo edged closer to $1 million in earnings yesterday, winning the Fort McHenry Handicap at Laurel Race Course by 1 1/2 lengths over Favor Ben.The 5-year-old son of Halo returned to the races after six months on the shelf, rewarding his backers who made him the even money favorite in the seven-horse field with a $4 win payoff.However, he did not overly impress Laurel's leading jockey, Edgar Prado, who was riding him for the first time."I thought he'd win more easy," Prado said afterward.

Michael Jordan doesn't like himself anymore. Lord knows he tried, because the thing that makes you a multimillionaire pop icon deserves some affection, but, as he says, there comes a time when a man must shake himself free. It was all too sickly sweet: Jordan the All-American, Jordan the one true role model, Jordan descending from on high, dishing off sneakers like so many angel's wings, a chorus of innocents singing I want to be like Mike.Enough. When Jordan speaks now of his own creation, the image he thought he had to maintain, his eyes harden.

Sand Lady gave her rivals the needle when winning the $58,025 Queen Empress Stakes at Pimlico Race Course yesterday."She's like a sewing machine," said Mike Luzzi, who rode her. "She's little, but she moves her legs real fast. She runs hard."Sand Lady won the one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies with a sweeping stretch move. She laid off the early pace set by Pretty Nice, angled out for the stretch drive, then suddenly spurted to the front to win by nearly five lengths over Point Spread.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Festin launched a spectacular rally turning into the stretch to win the $500,000 Nassau County Handicap at Belmont Park yesterday.The Argentine-bred 5-year-old came from last place to win by seven lengths over 19-1 shot Gervazy, with favored Farma Way another two lengths behind in third."

Unbridled's clinker in Saturday's Pimlico Special was not without an explanation. Trainer Carl Nafzger revealed yesterday that the 1990 Eclipse Award winner bled badly during the race, evidently causing his lackluster performance and sixth-place finish.Unbridled runs on the anti-bleeding medication Lasix, but the drug did not fulfill its purpose."He bled pretty heavily," Nafzger said. "Blood was actually trickling out of his nose when we were scoping him. Why? I don't know. He hasn't bled since he was a 2-year-old.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas always has had a thing for records and the big time. Yesterday, his horse set a record when beating every big-timer in thoroughbred racing.Farma Way, owned by the Quarter B Farm of coffee-machine magnate George Bunn and ridden by Gary Stevens, led all the way to win the $750,000 Pimlico Special, a race billed as a battle of champions.His winning time of 1 minute, 52 2/5 seconds for 1 3/16 miles broke the stakes and Pimlico Race Course record, and it tied the American record set by Riva Ridge in 1973.

The last time a Preakness winner returned to run at Pimlico Race Course was in 1988, when 1987 Preakness winner Alysheba ran in the Pimlico Special.And now Summer Squall is here.But he has had just one sprint since a layoff, and trainer Neil Howard has found himself defending that strategy in the days leading up to today's Pimlico Special.When a horse has been away, conditioning always comes into question. Another factor to consider is the horse's tendency to show more early speed than might otherwise be expected.

It's a race within a race, the Preakness Redux, the rematch of Summer Squall vs. Unbridled.Tomorrow the two colts meet for the first time this year in what could be America's definitive horse race of 1991.That's how special this Preakness Special might be.There are great races yet to come this season, but Pimlico has brought it all together so early in the campaign.But for one last-minute scare yesterday, when there was a possibility that one of the horses might have to be scratched, all seven runners, including the two stars, are sound, fit and at the top of their game.