Tammaro

The top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby arrived in Maryland yesterday to begin preparations for the 122nd running of the Preakness Stakes on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course.Their arrival was a welcome reversal from last year, when in the Derby aftermath the winner, Grindstone, was retired and the beaten favorite, Unbridled's Song, withdrawn from the Preakness -- both because of injuries.Yesterday, the seven horses that flew into Baltimore-Washington International Airport signaled to Maryland sports fans the quality and diversity of racing they're about to witness during the next 10 days.

How good can Secret Prospect get?Pretty darned good, it appears.Conover Stable's dark brown filly added another jewel to her growing collection yesterday, winning as she pleased against four rivals in the $60,000 Jameela Stakes at Laurel Park.It was her fourth stakes victory in her last five starts, the exception being a defeat by a neck to Ontherightwicket in the Maryland Juvenile Fillies Championship Dec. 23.Jockey C. H. Marquez Jr. guided Secret Prospect to an unhurried lead and thoroughly controlled the six-furlong race, winning in 1 minute, 11 4/5 seconds.

Trainers from the eastern half of the country are shipping their sprinters to Laurel Park this weekend for one of the marquee events on the Maryland racing calendar: Winter SprintFest.The $250,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap on Saturday and the $250,000 General George Handicap on Monday rank among the richest races in Maryland -- and among the richest sprints in the nation.They are both seven-eighths of a mile. The Barbara Fritchie is for females, the General George for males. And both are Grade II, top-quality competitions.

For about five seconds yesterday in the $60,000 Heavenly Cause Stakes, it appeared that another filly might be able to upset Secret Prospect.The top-heavy favorite veered coming out of the gate, breaking eighth out of the No. 3 post while nearly every other entry got a head start.But once Secret Prospect found her stride, it was all over.After a quarter-mile, she was ahead by a length and the rest of the race became a question of who would finish second as Secret Prospect widened steadily to a 4 1/2 -length score over closer Ontherightwicket.

A 16-year-old West Friendship motorist and a passenger in her car were killed in a two-car accident at routes 32 and 144 Friday night, Howard County police said.The driver, Jenny E. Olson of the 3200 block of Rosemary Lane, and passenger Deann E. Perry, 16, of the 14000 block of Route 144, Cooksville, were pronounced dead at the scene of the 10:50 p.m. accident, police said.A passenger in Miss Olson's 1981 Mazda coupe, Joanna Tammaro, 16, of the 14400 block of Route 144, Cooksville, is listed in good condition at Maryland Shock Trauma Center, a hospital spokesman said.

Secret Prospect, heavily favored against six other Maryland-bred fillies and mares, won by three-quarters of a length from Hay Let's Dance at Laurel Park yesterday in the $60,000 Conniver Stakes.The seven-furlong trip of 1: 23 4/5 was the eighth stakes victory in less than a year at Laurel for the daughter of Allen's Prospect.With regular rider C.H. Marquez Jr. aboard, the filly from Conover Stable stayed second much of the way while Smartly set the pace. Then she surged to the lead in the stretch and outran Hay Let's Dance to the wire.

Silver Charm will break from post No. 7 and Captain Bodgit from post No. 9 when the one-two finishers in the Kentucky Derby renew their rivalry Saturday in the 122nd Preakness.Yesterday's post-position draw at Pimlico Race Course hurt none of the top contenders in the 10-horse field. But it provided a road map for how the race might be run.From the far outside, Cryp Too, the speedball from Suffolk Downs, will have to fire the jets to gain the lead his trainer Allen Borosh covets. Free House from post No. 4 and Concerto from post No. 6 should be in favorable position to settle behind him.After that, Silver Charm will probably lead the charge of the next wave.

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- The 10 horses in the $200,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes today at Gulfstream Park illustrate the problem. The field is so competitive that identifying the favorite might be as difficult as selecting the winner.And this is just one race in February. How can anybody be expected to pick the winner of the Kentucky Derby now -- 10 weeks before the race May 1 at Churchill Downs?The answer: Nobody can be expected to do it.That is presumably why one bettor Thursday at Lone Star Park in Texas put down $10,000 on "the field" in the inaugural Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

If it'd been a ballgame, it would have been rained out.The going was muddy. The chill sliced to the bone. Rain and wind had long since driven fans under cover.But when the horses splashed down Laurel Park's stretch yesterday in the Endless Surprise Stakes, the romping colt with the winning stride sported the colors described simply as "Oriole orange black collar, Oriole orange bars on black sleeves, Oriole orange cap."You expected to see Peter Angelos waving an orange towel from the owner's box. And you expected it all the more when you realized that Angelos, owner of the Orioles, also owned the triumphant horse carrying the jockey in the familiar orange and ,, black.

Trainer Dallas Keen plans to arrive at the Bowie Training Center late today or early tomorrow with three vans, a large trailer and 30 horses from Lone Star Park. He plans to stable in Maryland until the fall, when the Fair Grounds opens. Keen has raced his two best horses, Valhol and Allen's Oop, at Pimlico. Valhol finished ninth in the 1999 Preakness after attracting unfavorable publicity as the maiden who finished first in the Arkansas Derby under a jockey carrying an illegal electrical device for shocking horses.