One man with many friends

ELMONT, N.Y. - There will be more than 100,000 people at the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. It only seems as if they're all going through Michael Iavarone for tickets.

Iavarone, the co-president of the IEAH Stables partnership which co-owns Big Brown, said he has been hit up for more than 800 tickets.

"Five hundred in a tent, and 300 in the clubhouse, grandstand, and owner's box," he said.

In addition to Big Brown, IEAH will have horses in two other stakes Saturday. Benny the Bull is scheduled to run in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Handicap for sprinters, and Sharp Susan will be in the Grade 1, $400,000 Just a Game Stakes for female turf horses.

"I think we need to win all three to pay for the tickets," Iavarone said.

Only playing by the rules in place

Trainer Rick Dutrow has acknowledged repeatedly that Big Brown is treated with Winstrol, otherwise known as stanozolol, a steroid infamously used by Ben Johnson when he was disqualified from the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

In racing, however, Winstrol is legal in most jurisdictions, including Kentucky, Maryland, and New York, the three states that host the Triple Crown. So as far as Dutrow and co-owner Michael Iavarone are concerned, they are playing by the rules, and will adjust if the rules change.

"If they want to make those rules, we'll stand by them," Iavarone said Tuesday morning.

Tasteyville surprises his trainer

When Pat Kelly brought Tasteyville back to the races on Saturday, the last thing he was expecting was an overpowering victory. But that's what he got, as Tasteyville, in his first start in seven months, won a classified allowance by 2 3/4 lengths. He ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.18 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 110.

Tasteyville had not started since winning last year's Sport Page Handicap by 9 1/4 lengths, earning a Beyer of 112. He injured an ankle training up to the Cigar Mile last November.

Kelly said his original plan was to run in an allowance race at Aqueduct and then the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. But he couldn't get Tasteyville ready for those races. He had hoped to run Tasteyville in a shorter allowance race than the one on Saturday.

"I wasn't ready to run that far, but it worked out pretty good in the mud," Kelly said. "Coming off what had happened I was pretty concerned. I was expecting him to get tired, get a check, and go from there."

Kelly said Tasteyville did come out of the race "very tired" and that there are no plans for the horse's next start.

One of the horses Tasteyville beat in Saturday's race was Harlington, the Grade 2 stakes winner who finished third. Harlington was making his first start in a year. He was beaten 4 1/2 lengths, but the 102 Beyer he earned was a career best.

Tom Albertrani, the trainer of Harlington, said he may point the horse to the Grade 1 Suburban here on June 28.

"We'll see how he trains up to that race," Albertrani said. "Over the last couple of years, I don't think the [Suburban] has been the toughest spot to be in."

- additional reporting by David Grening