Race Track

Irving Tubby Schwartz, who ran a family garment-service business for many years and as a friend of political power-broker Irvin Kovens became a key witness in the federal prosecution of former Gov. Marvin Mandel, died Feb. 19 of a brain aneurysm at Northwest Hospital Center.Mr. Schwartz, 86, was born and raised in East Baltimore, where he got his nickname to avoid being mistaken for another person by the same name."It seems there was another Irving Schwartz in the neighborhood who had some trouble with the police," said his daughter, Eileen B. Shaivitz of Baltimore.

Maryland, and specifically the Baltimore region, has a long and storied history as a major player in horse racing. Thoroughbred owners, trainers and the horses live and work in our valleys, and every year the Preakness Stakes brings tens of thousands of people to Charm City. As told in the Jan. 27 article "Next steps for MD. racing," the profitability of the sport has been in major decline over the last several decades. If the horse-racing industry is to be saved, it must learn from other sports and venues in order to reinvent itself as a 21st century form of entertainment.

THERE'S nothing like a good feud to enliven the State House. This year's fracas pits Gov. Parris Glendening against race track owner Joseph De Francis.The quarrel isn't really over horse racing, which is in need of considerable state aid to survive amid the race tracks with slot-machine in nearby states. No, this dispute centers around politics and campaign contributions.The governor has told legislators he'd like to run Mr. De Francis out of business -- or at least run him out of Maryland.

New Hampshire International Speedway was the site of another racing death yesterday. This time, it was Winston Cup driver Kenny Irwin, 30, who was killed in a "horrendous" crash during practice for qualifying for tomorrow's New England 300 at the Loudon, N.H., race track. The accident occurred not more than a few yards from the spot where Busch Series driver Adam Petty, stock car racing's first fourth-generation driver, hit the wall May 12 and died shortly thereafter of head trauma. Yesterday's incident stunned the motor-racing community, which took several hours to compose itself before answering questions and issuing statements.

HIALEAH, Fla. -- A few minutes after 3 p.m., the world's largest procreating flock of pink flamingos took to the sky. Gliding majestically 200-strong above the lush wildlife sanctuary, the flamingos executed a loose figure-eight and touched down again at their lifelong habitat, a lagoon beside clusters of palm trees.One would expect to witness such a celebration of nature only in an endangered species shelter or an Audubon Society newsreel.But this was another Saturday at the horse races at Hialeah Park, the only race track in America where thoroughbreds are sometimes a distraction.

Many years ago, longtime NASCAR crew chief Harry Hyde said a stock car is "like an egg. You have to handle it gently or it will break. " Though at its heart it was true, it was a shocking statement. Who compares a stock car — a big, brute of a car — to such a thin-shelled egg? That philosophy may have found its match during a Grand Prix of Baltimore interview with Helio Castroneves when he compared driving an Indy car to dancing. "There are no secrets," Castroneves said, when asked how competitors on Dancing with the Stars are able to perform intricate moves so quickly.

Dyslexia slowed driver Justin Wilson in his pursuit of an education and his auto racing career, but it also was part of the reason he initially spent as much time as he could with the sport and it prepared him for his future. Auto racing provided Wilson a place where his athleticism and coordination took precedence over his ability to make out the meaning of words. "I found out at 13 I had dyslexia," Wilson said between practices for a recent race. "To that point I had struggled at school.

Graham Motion can't help but hear snippets of news coming from Elmont, N.Y., where I'll Have Another is preparing for a shot at the first Triple Crown in 34 years. "It's great for the sport," the Fair Hill-based trainer said. "But for us, it's tough, too. The length that he won by at Preakness, we lost by that much last year. " Motion can take some solace in knowing the colt that gave him such a gallant run, Animal Kingdom, is finally headed back toward the race track.

Florida case is better than tobacco dealIn ''Will Tobacco Lawyers Be Indicted?'' (Sun Journal, Sept. 11), Scott Shane highlights the tobacco industry's sudden tactical switch toward settling cases as opposed to continuing to try to fight them. This move to settle indicates that the tobacco industry is definitely on the run.In the settlement case that Shane mentions in Florida, the cigarette companies agreed to pay more than $11 billion. The tobacco industry also agreed to ban billboards, limit vending machines, and remove advertisements from sports arenas and public transit.

All day long, front-runners were winning races wire to wire at Laurel Park, so when the $50,000 Straight Deal Stakes arrived, it figured that bettors would heavily back the speed horses.There were plenty of swift options to select from with Calipha, Word O'Ransom and Philadelphia invader After The Glitter in the mix and a sloppy track making come-from-behind victories even more difficult.At 11-to-1 odds, Simoom was little more than an afterthought on the tote board.But both highly regarded pace-setters, Word O'Ransom and Calipha, faltered badly after four furlongs and Simoom swooped by under Edgar Prado for a 2 3/4 -length victory.