Etc. . . .

John C. Sperry, the 66-year-old president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and a Quarter Horse owner, was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis to the California Horse Racing Board on Wednesday. The appointment requires state Senate confirmation. . . . Gerald Leigh has been awarded the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association's Silver Rose Bowl as the leading breeder in Britain in 2001. Leigh, who bred and co-owned 1994 Breeders' Cup Mile winner, Barathea, is the breeder/owner of two of Europe's best juveniles this past year: Gossamer, who took the Group 1 Fillies Mile at Ascot, and Act One, winner of the Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud. . . . Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum's Gainsborough Stud Management was named leading British-based breeder by the TBA. Gainsborough produced three-time Group/Grade 1 winner Lailani and Group 2 winners No Excuse Needed and Storming Home. . . . The Thoroughbred adoption program ReRun has changed the date of its annual fund-raiser, the Mane Event, from Feb. 16 to March 30. The event will feature dinner, dancing, and live and silent auctions at the Embassy Suites in Lexington, Ky., and also will honor Dr. William Rood and Dr. Tom Riddle of Lexington's Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital. . . . Jim Gluckson, the former senior director of communications for SFX, has been hired as the director of event communications for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Gluckson will coordinate the communications work for host tracks of the Breeders' Cup. . . . D.G. Van Clief, Jr., president of Breeders' Cup Ltd., will be the keynote speaker during the Texas Thoroughbred Association's annual meeting in Austin on Jan. 19.