Etc. . . .

Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form and Michele MacDonald of the Thoroughbred Times were presented with Joe Hirsch/Bill Leggett 2004 Breeders' Cup Writing Awards on Wednesday at the National Turf Writers Association's awards dinner in Dallas. Privman received the Joe Hirsch newspaper writing prize for his October 2003 column "Racing's a family affair for Dollases," and MacDonald received the Bill Leggett magazine award for her November 2003 story "Mandella masters a sense of horses." . . . Four invaders from England will clash with four locals in the Group 1 Criterium International, over one mile, at Saint-Cloud, Paris, on Sunday. Both Early March and Helios Quercus look good enough to keep the race at home, while Cupid's Glory looks the best of the raiders. . . . The Michigan Racing Commissioner's office has issued a 2005 schedule calling for 118 days of Thoroughbred racing, the same as in 2004, and 36 days, down one from 2004, of mixed-breed racing in the state. Great Lakes Downs will hold the 118 days of Thoroughbred racing from April 25 to Nov. 5, and Mount Pleasant Meadows will card mixed-breed racing from May 7 to Sept. 25. . . . Longtime horseman Joe Lamonte died Oct. 22 at age 73 in Elm Grove, La. Lamonte was a jockey for 30 years and had trained for the past 25 years. . . . Jockey John Woodley was awarded the White Horse Hero Award from the Racetrack Chaplaincy of America on Thursday at Lone Star Park for diving into a burning mobile home to save a child. Woodley is based at Fairmount Park. . . . An exhibit titled "Out in Front: Smarty Jones and Horse Racing in Pennsylvania" will open Nov. 16 at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. The exhibit, to run through April 3, 2005, will include assorted Smarty Jones memorabilia, including his Kentucky Derby and Preakness trophies.