Taking Risks

At the beginning of the summer, it looked like another so-so year for Maryland-breds.Now, all of a sudden as summer is about to end, there's an explosion of serious horses on the national scene who have their roots in Maryland.If voting were conducted tomorrow, which of these three horses -- Corrazona, Concern or Taking Risks -- would be named Maryland's 1994 Horse of the Year?Corrazona, a 4-year-old filly who raced in France until this spring, broke the Grade I barrier for state-breds on July 3 when she defeated two champions, Hollywood Wildcat and Flawlessly, in the Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Maryland-bred champion Taking Risks returns to the races today and is just one of the mounts who figure to keep the 30 percent win streak alive for Pimlico's super-hot jockey, Mark Johnston.Since the meet began April 4, Johnston has won 16 races on 42 mounts and has nearly swept the stakes at Old Hilltop.Johnston scored with Tidal Surge in the opening-day Fire Plug Stakes, won the John B. Campbell Handicap last Saturday with Ameri Valay and kept the added-money streak alive yesterday with a four-length victory aboard Norstep in the Smart Halo Stakes.

The offspring of a Maryland stallion delivered a one-two-three punch yesterday in the inaugural Maryland Spring Breeders' Challenge.Multiple victories by the offspring of Two Punch, on the card that featured Maryland-bred horses at Pimlico Race Course, kept the sire in the national spotlight. Two Punch leads the country in the number of winners in 1994.A son and two daughters of the 11-year-old horse, who stands at the Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, won the first stakes races of their careers, sweeping three of four added-money events.

The form shows that Marry Me Do has taken kindly to grass courses after a sudden downturn on dirt, but according to trainer Eddie Gaudet, the change of surfaces may have little to do with the horse's recent success."

In last week's column we looked at master developer Jame W. Rouse and the importance of vision, values and persistence in effective leadership of non-profit organizations. However, those aren't the only characteristics of effective leaders.* Adaptability. Rapid change is the only predictable feature of the non-profit landscape. Leaders must be able to match the changing environment in which they operate with their organization's mission and vision. Three years ago, Rouse's Enterprise Foundation, which builds affordable housing, was faced with a rising number of requests for help from cities across the nation.

Actor David Adkins likes to climb mountains, but theater is a mountain he was once hesitant to scale.Although the former Marylander displayed a gift for acting as a student at McDonogh School, he says that, after he graduated, "I put theater behind me."Now, however, Adkins has been a full-time actor for a decade, and when Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" opens at Center Stage tonight, he will be making his first professional appearance in his home state.His character, Lord Goring, was the playwright's alter ego in this 1894 political comedy revolving around a politician with an immaculate reputation, Sir Robert Chiltern, whose marriage and career are suddenly threatened by a revelation from his past.

"At its worst," says Working Mother in its February issue, "gossip in the workplace can be devastating; it can cause irreparable damage, from hurt feelings to destroyed careers." But the story adds, "When handled wisely, this same informal network can enhance your reputation and increase your visibility as a highly regarded employee, leading to more pay and even a promotion."This excellent article suggests you take these steps: Be your own press agent ("get yourself talked about in a positive way")

At 5 feet 8 1/2 , Mark Johnston is the tallest rider in the Laurel jockeys' room.He's also the winningest.When final statistics are released for 1994, Johnston, 24, will have toppled Edgar Prado from his three-year perch as Maryland's leading jockey and completed what he describes as the finest season in his five-year riding career."

LOS ANGELES A LOT OF NETWORK television is often described as a product of smoke and mirrors, but these days the Fox network is NTC beginning to look like something held together with Scotch tape and a paste pot.This midseason Fox is trying to recover from its ambitious expansion in the fall. With 10 new shows on the air, Peter Chernin, the network's entertainment president, admitted that no backup programs were ready to rush into the weak spots."We put every single thing we could find on the air," Chernin said of the fall schedule.

Horse racing may be impressed with King T. Leatherbury's record, but the horses aren't. His 5,998 victories as a trainer haven't earned him the respect he deserves from his four-legged charges. "Horses aren't even that fond of King. They know they can bully him," said Linda Leatherbury, his wife. "If he's leading them around the shed row, the horses will start walking him into walls. They know they have the upper hand." But it's Leatherbury who has the magic touch. At 70, he is poised to pass a milepost at Laurel Park, which starts its summer meet today.