Etc. . . .

A new six-figure race has been added to the Maryland Million Day card, scheduled for Oct. 9 at Laurel Park. The race, at 5 1/2 furlongs on grass for 3-year-olds and up, is the Maryland Million Turf Sprint, with a $100,000 purse. . . . Megan's Halo, owned and trained by John Assimakopolous, has been named the 2003 Horse of the Year for the region by the New England Turf Writers. Trainer Ron Dandy and jockey Joe Hampshire were named best in their categories, and Ellen O'Brien, who heads Canter-New England, a horse retirement organization, received the Lou Smith Award for service to racing in the past year. . . . Barry James, a racing official at various East Coast tracks since 1973, died Saturday in Harrisburg, Pa., at age 68. His most recent employer was Penn National Race Course. . . . Fred Selz, an owner for 40 years who had been battling kidney problems, died at a Little Rock, Ark., hospital on Monday at age 81. Selz raced stakes winners Sissy's Time, Burn Brightly, and Sportin' Okie.