Racing Days

OCCASIONAL cloudbursts couldn't dampen the spirits of hundreds of people who gathered Sunday at Cedar Lane Park to celebrate Race Unity Day.When the clouds opened up, some performances were moved from the stage to the pavilion. The event was part of a nationwide celebration held each year on the second Sunday in June."The purpose of Race Unity Day is to bring people of different cultures together to appreciate their differences but also find some commonality," said David Weeks, youth volunteer coordinator for Howard County's Race Unity Day. "What better way to do that than through music and dance, and enriching us with workshops built around that theme?"

Maryland-based thoroughbred trainer Dale Mills has received a 45-day suspension from the New Jersey Racing Commission after Testafly tested positive for clenbuterol following a third-place finish to Skip Away in the Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park on Aug. 30.A spokesman for the commission yesterday confirmed the penalty, which would begin March 19, the opening of the New Jersey season, and Mills said the New Jersey stewards have informed him.Alan Foreman,...

Just as the fog and mist broke around Pimlico yesterday to produce a sunny day, the fog and mist that permeated ABC's coverage of the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago were swept away in an understated, but brilliant production of the Preakness.The network won as big as Preakness winner Louis Quatorze, who likewise bounced back from a subpar Derby, with exceptional pictures and brilliant words in a lean, but effective telecast.Producer Curt Gowdy Jr. bore the brunt of a critical beating for not only taking the network away before the Derby winner could be declared, but also for presenting a telecast allegedly unsatisfying for the serious horseplayer.

It's a little before 5 a.m., and sunrise is still about an hour away when groom Megan Bejshak opens the tack room door in Barn 8 on Pimlico's backstretch and shoves two handfuls of peppermint candies into her jeans pockets.As she heads around the corner and takes a look down the dimly lighted barn, she sees fillies Double Ring Affair and Asylmurtova -- two fillies otherwise known as Tindy and Ginger -- wide awake and looking for her.Most of the other horses in trainer John DiNatale's barn are sleeping.

On one of Maryland's premier racing days, the Maryland Spring Challenge, a Florida colt named Tour's Big Red roared down the stretch yesterday at Pimlico to capture the $163,000 Federico Tesio Stakes.The Grade III Tesio is the state's major Kentucky Derby prep. Although no Derby contenders competed in the 1 1/8 -mile race, Tour's Big Red may return to Pimlico May 18 for the Preakness and then race three weeks later in the Belmont Stakes."This horse can run all day," said Enrique Alonso, the trainer stabled at Calder Race Course in South Florida.

Laurel Park has announced a new schedule that will apply for the first three months of 1996.The live racing week will consist of Thursday through Monday, eliminating Tuesday as a live day and making it dark. Simulcast-only betting will continue Wednesdays.Laurel is attempting to glean maximum exposure from the rich meeting at Gulfstream Park, which runs Jan. 3 to March 16. Since Gulfstream is dark Tuesdays, Laurel's revised format allows simulcast betting in Maryland on all of that track's programs.

In an effort to beef up the Pimlico spring meeting, Maryland Jockey Club president Joe De Francis last night proposed a 1996 thorougbred-racing schedule that would suspend live racing in the state on 15 more dates.At a board meeting of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horseman's Association in Laurel, De Francis outlined a plan that would convert selected weekday racing dates to simulcast-only days, producing approximately $900,000 in revenue.The money would be used to re-institute the purse bonus for races during Pimlico's spring meet, which showcases the Preakness and Pimlico Special.

Two vastly different, but equally venerable, racing traditions are the highlights of today's sports television -- the 121-year-old Kentucky Derby and the 144-year-old America's Cup Series. At night, fathers and mothers are on display.* "Talkin' It Out With John Walsh" (11:30 a.m.-noon, WBFF, Channel 45) -- The host of "America's Most Wanted" presents a public service special for kids, exploring the Oklahoma City terrorist bombing from their point of view. The show includes an introduction by the cast of the hit "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."

RICHMOND, Va. -- Maryland thoroughbred horse racing will shut down during the summer starting in 1996, becoming part of an alliance with a new Virginia racetrack.Instead of competing with Maryland, the group chosen yesterday to operate Virginia's first pari-mutuel racetrack has a cooperative agreement with Joseph A. De Francis, operator of Maryland's Pimlico and Laurel tracks. Under the deal, hailed as a boost to Maryland's racing business by some, the Maryland and Virginia tracks won't run live races at the same time.

Maryland Jockey Club senior vice president John Mooney said yesterday that the recent problems encountered by racing fans at the Pimlico simulcast site should begin to ease.Pimlico patrons have complained about their inability to park near the track because the major parking lot adjacent to the clubhouse has been the site of the NAACP's 85th annual Freedom Festival for the past 10 days.The result has been a downturn in business at Pimlico since Laurel's summer meeting opened. The handle declined $400,000 the first eight racing days.