Third Race

Nine races, including one for 2-year-old fillies, make up today's card at Pimlico. Tomorrow, in the third race, 12 amateur riders will experience some of the thrill and danger of being professional jockeys as the Amateur Riders Club of America Series comes to Baltimore. John Poe, who won last year's amateur race at Pimlico, will ride the favorite, Barrier Beach, a James Murphy-trained 4-year-old. Maryland-based trainer and two-time defending women's champion Leigh Offutt will ride Stormin' Lady (8-1)

Pimlico Race Course 97-1 shot wins third race in three-way photo finish Wesley Ho and Helvi didn't see the lead until the very last jump, but when the photo was made official, the Lori Testerman -trained runner had lit up the odds board in Pimlico Race Course 's third race on the Sunday card at odds of 97-1, winning a three-way blanket finish over Patrol Leader and Night Trooper. A field of 10 $5,000 claimers contested the six-furlong event. Helvi was listed at 30-1 on the program, with just two victories in 26starts, and started from the outside post.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- Jockey Richard Cornwell fractured two fingers and sustained an injury to his left elbow in a one-horse spill yesterday at the Charles Town Races.The mishap occurred in the third race when Cornwell's mount, Amy's Militaire, broke down rounding the far turn in the 4 1/2 -furlong race, throwing the rider to the track.

SAN FRANCISCO --Scott Speed is a skinny 23-year-old from Manteca, Calif., who, standing at the go-cart track above Sonoma County's Infineon Raceway, looked like a lot of other gearheads. His battered jeans made his worn-out baseball cap look positively pristine. Speed was generous in thanking the people who helped get him where he is. Where he is sitting these days is near enough to the top of the racing world that he can see it without binoculars. As the first American to race full time in Formula One since Michael Andretti in 1993, he can rub elbows with Michael Schumacher, the driver whose estimated annual income of $81 million puts him behind only Tiger Woods in the world of sports.

They weren't Sea Biscuit or War Admiral.But an impromptu match race between claimers Sleek N Graceful and Ebonizer developed at Pimlico Race Course yesterday in the third race when the original 11-horse field scratched down to just two runners.When a daylong downpour, rare this summer, soaked the course, management switched the three turf races, including the third race, to the main track, prompting the exodus of horseflesh.Neither Mike Luzzi, aboard Sleek N Graceful nor Mario Pino, on Ebonizer, had ridden in a match race.

CHARLES TOWN, W. Va. -- The Charles Town Races has canceled today's scheduled 10-race card because of hazardous track conditions.The cancellation comes on the heels of Monday's abbreviated program, which was halted after the third race after jockeys expressed concerns about uneven footing on portions of the three-quarter-mile racing strip.Officials, jockeys and horsemen walked the track yesterday morning and determined that the problems were too severe to correct in time for today's 1 o'clock card.

LAUREL -- Two retired brothers took the Double Triple pool of $232,238.10, involving the third and fifth races at Laurel Race Course yesterday.Stew Stinchcomb, 57, of Randallstown, and his brother, Roger, 63, of Owings Mills, selected the numbers by unexplained inspiration, and the payoffs came because they got lucky in both races.The brothers invested $24 at the Pimlico Race Course intertrack facility while the horses were running here. The betting pools at the two tracks are combined for payoff purposes.

Five winning tickets were purchased at Laurel Race Course yesterday in the largest Double Triple pool at a Maryland thoroughbred track in nearly two years.Three of the five tickets, each worth $40,093.50, had been cashed by the end of racing yesterday, said Liz Quill, director of pari-mutuels. The total pool amounted to $200,467.50. The last time a Double Triple pool exceeded that amount and was hit, according to track records, was May 22, 1992 at Pimlico Race Course, when the pool amounted to $282,189.

For the 15th consecutive day, the Double Triple at Pimlico Race Course went unsolved yesterday, moving the carry-over pool to $268,372.10 for tomorrow's races.The Double Triple challenges bettors to select the first three horses in the third and fifth races. After the third race yesterday, 319 tickets had correctly picked the first-half horses, but no one selected the 10-9-2 winning combination in the fifth race.The record carry-over pool at Pimlico was set April 4, when the payoff reached $414,243.

LAUREL -- Andrea Seefeldt, the leading woman jockey at Laurel Race Course, won her first Maryland stakes race this year when she guided Star Minister to a 2 1/4 -length victory yesterday over Singing Ring in the Pearl Necklace Stakes.Seefeldt, 29, has won three 1992 stakes at Philadelphia and Delaware parks, but none locally until yesterday. She missed riding for the first three months of the year when she was sidelined with a broken collarbone.Star Minister galloped faster than Singing Ring for the lead, then under a mere hand ride by Seefeldt won in the easiest possible way."

Nine races, including one for 2-year-old fillies, make up today's card at Pimlico. Tomorrow, in the third race, 12 amateur riders will experience some of the thrill and danger of being professional jockeys as the Amateur Riders Club of America Series comes to Baltimore. John Poe, who won last year's amateur race at Pimlico, will ride the favorite, Barrier Beach, a James Murphy-trained 4-year-old. Maryland-based trainer and two-time defending women's champion Leigh Offutt will ride Stormin' Lady (8-1)

Nearing the end of its annual 90-day session, the General Assembly gave final approval last night to $10 million in subsidies for the racing industry and a plan to allow a third thoroughbred racing track in Maryland.The House of Delegates also signed off on a 30 cents-a-pack cigarette tax increase, which will generate about $77 million a year in state revenue. It is the first major tax boost since the recession year of 1992, when the state increased taxes on tobacco, gasoline and income.Both measures go to Gov. Parris N. Glendening for his promised signature.

Sometimes, finishing second is better than getting to the wire first.That was the case yesterday in the $57,525 Japan Racing Association Stakes when a successful foul claim elevated La Reine's Terms to the winner's share at Laurel Park.Jockey Larry Reynolds lodged the objection after the apparent winning rider, Mario Verge -- aboard Adcat -- accidentally hit Reynolds' mount on the nose with his whip while passing during the stretch run. The judges studied the films for more than five minutes, then reversed the order of finish.

No one caught the speed horse yesterday.Ameri Valay started fast and finished strong yesterday to win the running of the $100,000 John B. Campbell Handicap by 4 3/4 lengths over Greatsilverfleet at Pimlico Race Course.Ameri Valay, ridden by Alberto Delgado, was part of a two-horse entry trained by King Leatherbury. The other half, Super Memory, finished third."My instructions from Mr. Leatherbury were to make the lead," said Delgado. "I knew that we were faster than the others and that we could get the lead."

CHARLES TOWN, W. Va. -- The Charles Town Races has canceled today's scheduled 10-race card because of hazardous track conditions.The cancellation comes on the heels of Monday's abbreviated program, which was halted after the third race after jockeys expressed concerns about uneven footing on portions of the three-quarter-mile racing strip.Officials, jockeys and horsemen walked the track yesterday morning and determined that the problems were too severe to correct in time for today's 1 o'clock card.

Five winning tickets were purchased at Laurel Race Course yesterday in the largest Double Triple pool at a Maryland thoroughbred track in nearly two years.Three of the five tickets, each worth $40,093.50, had been cashed by the end of racing yesterday, said Liz Quill, director of pari-mutuels. The total pool amounted to $200,467.50. The last time a Double Triple pool exceeded that amount and was hit, according to track records, was May 22, 1992 at Pimlico Race Course, when the pool amounted to $282,189.

Sometimes, finishing second is better than getting to the wire first.That was the case yesterday in the $57,525 Japan Racing Association Stakes when a successful foul claim elevated La Reine's Terms to the winner's share at Laurel Park.Jockey Larry Reynolds lodged the objection after the apparent winning rider, Mario Verge -- aboard Adcat -- accidentally hit Reynolds' mount on the nose with his whip while passing during the stretch run. The judges studied the films for more than five minutes, then reversed the order of finish.

No one caught the speed horse yesterday.Ameri Valay started fast and finished strong yesterday to win the running of the $100,000 John B. Campbell Handicap by 4 3/4 lengths over Greatsilverfleet at Pimlico Race Course.Ameri Valay, ridden by Alberto Delgado, was part of a two-horse entry trained by King Leatherbury. The other half, Super Memory, finished third."My instructions from Mr. Leatherbury were to make the lead," said Delgado. "I knew that we were faster than the others and that we could get the lead."

UPPER MARLBORO -- It may not be the Breeders' Cup, but to trainer John Robb, racing at Marlboro is a once-a-year occasion that makes him giddy.For the fourth time in as many tries, Robb trained the winning horse in the $40,000 Home Team Sports Marlboro Cup. He Is Risen rose to the occasion yesterday, winning the race for the second straight year.The 5-year-old son of Dixieland Band disposed of heavily favored Ibex and coasted to a seven-length victory for owner Arnold Heft. He Is Risen, with just one win in his last 11 starts, paid $6.20 as the second choice.

They weren't Sea Biscuit or War Admiral.But an impromptu match race between claimers Sleek N Graceful and Ebonizer developed at Pimlico Race Course yesterday in the third race when the original 11-horse field scratched down to just two runners.When a daylong downpour, rare this summer, soaked the course, management switched the three turf races, including the third race, to the main track, prompting the exodus of horseflesh.Neither Mike Luzzi, aboard Sleek N Graceful nor Mario Pino, on Ebonizer, had ridden in a match race.