Etc. . . .

Jessica Cass, a 26-year-old Minnesota college student and daughter of longtime backstretch worker Gerald E. Taylor, has been awarded the 2002 college scholarship given by Team Valor, a Kentucky racing stable. The $25,000 award is earmarked for the children of current backstretch workers in the United States. . . . Tickets for a Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation raffle closing Aug. 12 for a Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort vacation package, and another closing Aug. 31 for a Storm Cat halter, are $10, and tickets for the Aug. 23 Midsummer Derby party in Midway, Ky., are $15. All are available through the TRF office at 859-846-9981 or 859-846-9969. . . . Kentucky-based bloodstock agent Tim McMurry has opened his own firm, Fleetwood Bloodstock, in Lexington. McMurry previously worked at Darby Dan Farm for nearly eight years. . . . Robert L. Bork, senior vice president and general manager of Sam Houston Race Park since 1995, has been named the track's president. Before joining Sam Houston, Bork held executive positions at Arlington, Philadelphia Park, and the now-defunct Garden State Park.