Trainer

To co-workers, he's known as The Racing Guy. His neckties have little horses on them, and James Stierhoff has a different one for each day of the week. The walls of his office cubicle at the investment firm Brown Advisory are peppered with news clippings of recent Maryland Hunt Cup races. Stierhoff has won it twice. Saturday, on the lush, rolling hills in Glyndon, he'll try to win a third Hunt Cup aboard the same horse - a feat last achieved in 1967, and only seven times in the 116-year history of the brutal four-mile steeplechase race.

Horse racing Retired Hall of Fame trainer Kelly dead at 93 Hall of Fame trainer Thomas J. Kelly died Friday morning at St. Catherine's West Rehabilitation Hospital in Hialeah, Fla., after a brief illness, according to his son, Timothy D. Kelly . He was 93. Kelly, who was born in Pikesville, conditioned 65 stakes winners, including Plugged Nickle, 1980's champion sprinter who won that year's Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Racetrack,...

The runway at Martin State Airport fell away as the distant Baltimore skyline popped into view. A hint of turbulence jittered the pilot's seat during a banking maneuver that filled the cockpit windshield with the vast blueness of the Chesapeake Bay. After a quick series of adjustments and a moment of indecision came the satisfying thump of wheels touching down. It felt mighty good to be back on the ground. But then again, the student never left. At Middle River Aviation, instructors can teach the fundamentals of flight in an airplane or in a new full-motion simulator that pitches and rolls in every direction - even straight into a death spiral.

A former volunteer firefighter who worked with youths at the Lansdowne department pleaded guilty Monday to sexually abusing a teenage boy he mentored in a training program at the station. Anthony Maurice Cottle, 23, who appeared Monday in Baltimore County Circuit Court, also faces federal charges. Cottle, a resident of Owings Mills, was also a paid firefighter with the Baltimore County Fire Department. He has been suspended without pay from that department since being charged in October.

Bold Affair broke for the front and raced comfortably on the lead the remainder of the way in defense of her title in the $100,000 Conniver Stakes on Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park. Bold Affair carried Abel Castellano to a two-length victory, beating four other Maryland-bred fillies and mares. She completed the seven-furlong distance in 1minute, 25.14 seconds. It was the second stakes win in as many starts this year for the Howard Wolfendale trainee. Howard Wolfendale She opened her 5-year-old campaign with a victory in the What A Summer Stakes on Jan. 12. "I started to hustle her a little bit and she started going so I let her do her own thing," Castellano said.

Maryland basketball Jessie Hicks named one of 13 ACC Legends Former Maryland player Jessie Hicks has been selected as the Terps ' Atlantic Coast Conference Legend honoree. She will be recognized at the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C., March 7-10. Hicks ranks in the top 10 in scoring in Maryland history with 1,601 points, averaging 14.3 points per game. She still stands among the top five in blocks with 137 and is third all-time in field-goal percentage (.588).

Under confident handling, Marc Ferrell's Called to Serve waited behind the leaders, tipped to the outside and pounced, winning the $125,000 Broad Brush Stakes, the co-feature on New Year's Eve at Laurel Park. Joel Rosario was at the controls as the Nick Canani trainee covered the nine furlongs in 1 minute 50.75 seconds. Eighttofasttocatch, who has six stakes victories at Laurel Park, set the pace and was racing comfortably on the lead but could offer no resistance when Called to Serve ranged up to his outside.

Ray Lewis is still on the Ravens' injured reserve-designated to return list, but the 13-time Pro Bowl inside linebacker is eligible to return for Sunday's home contest against the Denver Broncos. While not revealing anything about Lewis' availability, defensive coordinator Dean Pees said the decision is out of his hands. “That's totally up to the trainers, [coach] John [Harbaugh] and the organization,” he said. “And I'm not really trying to avoid [the question]. It really is a matter of whoever is out there in practice is who we coach up. Whoever shows up on Sunday, that's who we're going to coach up. As coaches, we're almost out of the loop.

If the federal government's job application process seems impenetrable to you, take heart: There are people whose own jobs revolve around demystifying it. Sharon Dee McCrae, an employment specialist with the Susquehanna Workforce Network, a nonprofit that coordinates workforce development programs in Harford and Cecil counties, is one of those people. A certified federal job search trainer and career coach, McCrae runs workshops and works one-on-one with applicants. What are the big differences between applying for a federal job and applying for a private-sector one?

Maryland trainer Carlos Garcia said it takes a little patience to coax success from an inexpensive race horse. He might have added love and peppermints, too, because that is what the 62-year-old gives his Laurel Park-based horses, and it has paid off well. Saturday, Garcia will send Action Andy, the winner of the Jim McKay Maryland Million Sprint, to post in the 21st running of the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash. If Action Andy wins, it will be Garcia's 145th career stakes victory.