Racing Fans

DEL MAR, Calif. -- On a cool, cloudy day at the track by the sea, Cigar proved mortal and lost a horse race.His storybook quest to break the modern North American record for consecutive victories ended yesterday when 39-1 shot Dare and Go steamed past in the stretch and won the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar racetrack.Cigar lost for the first time in 17 races, that defeat coming when he finished third in a grass race at Belmont Park in New York on Oct. 7, 1994. Still, he will go down in history linked with the great Citation with 16 straight wins, the 20th-century record for North American-based horses.

Before Joe Fonte heads to the racetrack tomorrow, he'll see what they're saying about his horse in cyberspace.Fonte co-owns a horse, "Twice As Special," which will run at Pimlico Friday afternoon. He will arrive at the racetrack with encouraging words for his partners, having found the quickest, most up-to-date predictions about their horse on the World World Web."There are 300 to 400 sites I can probably link to," said Fonte, a 43-year-old computer specialist at Johns Hopkins University's applied physics laboratory.

California's three biggest tracks aren't out to steal the thunder from horse racing's time-honored Triple Crown. Still, by devising a neat little three-race series of their own, officials here are hoping they can create a little noise, and possibly divert some railbirds from their migratory path to Churchill Downs.The MGM Grand Classic Crown links million-dollar races at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar in a series one organizer called the "Triple Crown of California." While the newly minted Classic Crown clearly will be short on tradition, no one need question the money at stake.

Doris A. Stricklin, a homemaker and horse racing fan, died Sunday of a stroke at Dulaney-Towson Health Care Center. She was 80.She was born and grew up on her father's farm in Hampstead, where she developed a lifelong interest in horses."

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Racing fans can watch and wager on the 119th running of the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, when the Charles Town Races presents the race as part of a full-card simulcast-live racing tripleheader.Wagers on the Kentucky Derby will be commingled with those placed at Churchill Downs and numerous other simulcast outlets.Gates for Charles Town's Churchill Downs Derby Day simulcast open at 10:30 a.m., and the first 1,000 fans paying full regular admission will receive a souvenir Kentucky Derby glass.

History has not been kind to J. Edgar Hoover.Was he addicted to gambling and bet on fixed races arranged by the Mob?Was he so corrupt that his name will be expunged from FBI headquarters in Washington?If so, would Laurel-Pimlico track operator Joe De Francis scrap the stakes race annually run in his honor?The 21st running of the J. Edgar Hoover Handicap is scheduled for Laurel Race Course on March 21.Instead of honoring a legend, is the race now an embarrassment to the Maryland Jockey Club?

When the final All-Star Game voting is announced tonight, the closest competition could be between players in different leagues.Only a few starting positions were in doubt going into the final week of fan balloting, which concluded over the weekend. But Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken and Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg were in a tight race for highest vote total.The top vote-getters in each league will be recognized in ceremonies before the All-Star Game in San Diego on Tuesday. Ripken and Sandberg had comfortable leads in the American and National leagues, respectively, and were relatively close in overall totals.

WASHINGTON -- By the time Greg LeMond left the start house for the final leg of the Tour Du Pont, a crowd estimated near 100,000 had lined the streets.From the start at RFK Stadium to Capitol Hill to Rock Creek Park and back, people jockeyed for position. They yelled LeMond's name. They waved and clapped their encouragement as he strained to pedal his bike faster than anyone else along the rough, 14-mile course on his way to finish line.Everyone had come to see LeMond, this country's greatest cyclist.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Racing fans will have an opportunity to watch and wager on the entire seven-race, $10 million Breeders' Cup this afternoon as part of a 21-race doubleheader at Charles Town.Post time for the first Breeders' Cup race will be 12:15 p.m.Wagers on the national Pick-7 will be accepted until 12:10 p.m. this afternoon, so patrons are advised to make their wagers early. Admission gates will open at 10:30 a.m., and mutuel windows are scheduled to open at 11:15 a.m.Immediately following the Breeders' Cup races, Charles Town will present simulcasts of the Iroquois and Cardinal stakes, also from Churchill Downs, followed by a live 12-race card.

As Angel Cordero allegedly approached the 7,000-win milestone last week, there was a question of just how many winners the jockey had ridden.Thursday, Cordero supposedly became just the third rider to reach the milestone, following Bill Shoemaker and Laffit Pincay, but whether his 7,000th winner was really his 7,000th may never be known.His winners as a teen-ager in his native Puerto Rico were not tallied by Daily Racing Form, and the pin-point accuracy of the paper's statistics are also in question.