Winner S Circle

As left-hander Nick Hurtado of Corona Santiago stood on the mound Friday ready to make his first and last pitch of the 2010 baseball season, he was experiencing powerful emotions deep inside. Only weeks ago, he learned his baseball season would be over after a cancerous tumor was detected in his right knee. Then came word he'd have to undergo three months of chemotherapy, have surgery to remove part of his kneecap and insert a rod in his leg, followed by six more months of chemotherapy.

As left-hander Nick Hurtado of Corona Santiago stood on the mound Friday ready to make his first and last pitch of the 2010 baseball season, he was experiencing powerful emotions deep inside. Only weeks ago, he learned his baseball season would be over after a cancerous tumor was detected in his right knee. Then came word he'd have to undergo three months of chemotherapy, have surgery to remove part of his kneecap and insert a rod in his leg, followed by six more months of chemotherapy.

While the rest of us will be tending to drumsticks and stuffing this weekend, jockey Garrett Gomez will be going for gravy. It has been that kind of year for the 35-year-old from Duarte, who has gobbled up much of the spotlight among those who ride the most talented and expensive thoroughbreds. He leads the country's jockeys in winnings by a margin of about $3 million. He has won nearly $21 million in races on U.S. soil and $1 million more in international races.

It was a World War II veteran, a former quarter horse trainer and a teenager from Louisiana who combined their talents Saturday to end up in the winner's circle on Breeders' Cup day at Santa Anita. The freaky fast 5-year-old gelding California Flag took the lead soon after the start and was never challenged in winning the $1-million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint by 1 3/4 lengths over Gotta Have Her in 1:11.28 for 6 1/2 furlongs. How the connections came together is a story of three different worlds.

For the second time in about six months, Hollywood Park offered the Desert Stormer Handicap and the ending was a little familiar. Trainer Richard Mandella won it with Advancing Star last Nov. 8 when the race was the first event on Breeders' Cup Day and he was back in the winner's circle Saturday with Corona Lake.

As Wayne Lukas pointed out, Chris McCarron did a very fine job of relaxing Farma Way before putting him in gear at the quarter pole in the Hollywood Gold Cup. However, after seeing the way speed was holding in the other dirt races at Hollywood Park on Saturday, as well as the Gold Cup, one has to wonder if the more aggressive style of discharged jockey Gary Stevens would have put Farma Way in the winner's circle. DAVID BARNIER San Diego

I was one of the members of the Hersh party ushered from the winner's circle on March 5 after the Santa Anita Handicap. My parents, Phillip and Sophie Hersh, had just been told that our horse, The Wicked North, had been disqualified and were all shocked and very upset by the stewards' decision. My mother is 75 with a breathing disorder, and my father is also 75 with a heart condition. My husband and I were concerned about their well-being, and I was trying to gather our party and get them out of the winner's circle when a group of men loudly asked an attendant to "get those people out of here."

Alan Paulson is a very wealthy man and a true sportsman. His returns can never approach his vast investment in horse racing. His rewards are prestige and recognition as a major force in the sport he loves. However, his horse, Stuka, did not deserve to be given the winner's purse in the Santa Anita Handicap, since he finished second and was not involved in the incident that caused the disqualification of the winner. It would seem appropriate that Mr. Paulson donated the more than $300,000 difference between first and second money to a worthy charity, such as a home for indigent horse players, or research on the cause of, and cure for, brain damage in racing stewards.

I was appalled when I discovered that, of the 100 California Nobel laureates listed in your excellent Nobel issue, only one was a woman ("Winner's Circle," by Debra J. Hotaling, Dec. 2). If extended as an average, that would suggest that only 1% of laureates are female. I noticed that this point was addressed, at least in part, by Michael T. Jarvis ("The Ones Who Got Away," Dec. 2). Perhaps they should come up with a new prize, the Nobelle. Celia Pearce Venice Kudos on your issue devoted to the Nobel winners; it's always inspiring to see scientists and thinkers praised.

Some horses who know all about winning will be getting together in today's third at Hollywood Park. The six-furlong contest for $16,000 claimers attracted, among others, Lytle Creek, Fog City Willy, Waki American, Tiger Slew and Expressionist. Those veterans, who range in age from 5 (Tiger Slew) to 8 (Expressionist), have combined for 53 wins from 202 starts and have earned $1,472,191. Fog City Willy, a 7-year-old gelded son of Present Value, has made the most trips to the winner's circle.

Veteran performers dominated this year's Emmy Awards, a testament to the meaty roles being written for older actors in a medium whose audience is also graying. The winner in every acting category but one was more than 40 years old, including the two repeat drama winners: 62-year-old Glenn Close and 53-year-old Bryan Cranston. The exception was Toni Collette, who will be 37 on Nov. 1 and was the surprise winner for comedy actress for her performance in "United States of Tara." The prevalence of older actors was particularly noteworthy in the category for outstanding actress in a drama series.

While the rest of us will be tending to drumsticks and stuffing this weekend, jockey Garrett Gomez will be going for gravy. It has been that kind of year for the 35-year-old from Duarte, who has gobbled up much of the spotlight among those who ride the most talented and expensive thoroughbreds. He leads the country's jockeys in winnings by a margin of about $3 million. He has won nearly $21 million in races on U.S. soil and $1 million more in international races.

About 32,800 miles later, Lost In The Fog, the well-traveled colt from the San Francisco area, arrived at Barn 11 at Belmont Park, where he'll run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Saturday. Lost In The Fog ate up, as trainers like to say, rolled contentedly in his bedding, and then stuck his head out the stall door, just to make sure he wasn't missing anything. This was last Saturday. Just in from the West Coast, the horse was obviously feeling at home.

Some horses who know all about winning will be getting together in today's third at Hollywood Park. The six-furlong contest for $16,000 claimers attracted, among others, Lytle Creek, Fog City Willy, Waki American, Tiger Slew and Expressionist. Those veterans, who range in age from 5 (Tiger Slew) to 8 (Expressionist), have combined for 53 wins from 202 starts and have earned $1,472,191. Fog City Willy, a 7-year-old gelded son of Present Value, has made the most trips to the winner's circle.

It might have been Santa Anita: race fans on their feet, cheering thoroughbreds as they shattered turf on the way to the finish line. "Go! Go! Go!" the crowd yelled as jockeys Laffit Pincay Jr., Chris McCarron and Eddie Delahoussaye rode their way to the winner's circle. But this was no track. This was the Grand Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Given the past performances of the 13 original entrants in the $25,000 claimer for maidens in today's fifth race at Santa Anita, it does seem hard to imagine one of them actually heading to the winner's circle after the 1 1/16- mile race. The baker's dozen that was entered Friday is a combined 0 for 76, topped by Presenter, who has lost his first 16 starts. A 3-year-old Fruition gelding owned by Jose Marinay Jr.

Just how precarious is the line between the winner's circle and the slaughterhouse? Consider Charismatic. A great-grandson of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Charismatic was purchased for a relatively cheap $200,000. Last winter, he ran twice in $62,500 claiming races, meaning he could have been bought on the spot for that price. Owner Bob Lewis explained he had given up on Charismatic and wanted to recoup part of the original investment. "The horse was costing us money."

It might have been Santa Anita: race fans on their feet, cheering thoroughbreds as they shattered turf on the way to the finish line. "Go! Go! Go!" the crowd yelled as jockeys Laffit Pincay Jr., Chris McCarron and Eddie Delahoussaye rode their way to the winner's circle. But this was no track. This was the Grand Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

I was appalled when I discovered that, of the 100 California Nobel laureates listed in your excellent Nobel issue, only one was a woman ("Winner's Circle," by Debra J. Hotaling, Dec. 2). If extended as an average, that would suggest that only 1% of laureates are female. I noticed that this point was addressed, at least in part, by Michael T. Jarvis ("The Ones Who Got Away," Dec. 2). Perhaps they should come up with a new prize, the Nobelle. Celia Pearce Venice Kudos on your issue devoted to the Nobel winners; it's always inspiring to see scientists and thinkers praised.

Just how precarious is the line between the winner's circle and the slaughterhouse? Consider Charismatic. A great-grandson of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Charismatic was purchased for a relatively cheap $200,000. Last winter, he ran twice in $62,500 claiming races, meaning he could have been bought on the spot for that price. Owner Bob Lewis explained he had given up on Charismatic and wanted to recoup part of the original investment. "The horse was costing us money."