Etc. . . .

Laurel Park will not reschedule the $75,000 Northern Dancer Stakes, part of last Saturday's program that was canceled because of cold weather. Of the eight horses in the original field, three ran over the weekend and two others are entered Thursday at Laurel. . . . Richard Becker, longtime general manager of the now-shuttered Ak-Sar-Ben racetrack, died Jan. 7 at age 82. Becker is survived by his wife, Dorothy; a son, Kenneth; and two daughters, Patricia Rockwell and Christine Bodmer. . . . Tom Gilcoyne, the longtime historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., will retire at the end of January. He will be replaced by Allan Carter, who retired last year from the New York State Library after 30 years as the law librarian. . . . Australia's select Magic Millions yearling sale ended Sunday with record figures for gross and average price. The four select sessions sold 564 yearlings for $48,418,890 (U.S.), an increase of 24 percent from last year, for an average price of $85,849, up 20 percent from 2003.