BENSALEM, Pa. - Smarty Jones, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, returned to the track for a routine jog on Sunday morning at Philadelphia Park, his first appearance on the track since his seven-furlong workout on Friday.

It is standard for Smarty Jones to get a day off following a workout, and then to merely jog his first day back on the track.

Smarty Jones came on the track at 5:40 a.m. with exercise rider Pete Van Trump. They were accompanied by trainer John Servis, who was aboard the stable pony, Butterscotch.

BENSALEM, Pa. - Tapit and The Cliff's Edge, who won major Kentucky Derby preps before failing in the Derby and then skipping the Preakness Stakes, will also miss the Belmont Stakes, their connections announced on Saturday.

Both 3-year-old colts had been in precarious positions, so their defections were not surprising. But they reduced the number of top contenders for Saturday's Belmont, in which Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones will attempt to become the 12th Triple Crown winner.

BENSALEM, Pa. - Stewart Elliott could just as easily be out of the game of Thoroughbred racing as he is at the center of it.

A battle with weight in the early 1990's left the jockey sidelined and thinking about changing professions. A battle with the bottle in the mid- to late 90's resulted in a health problem that forced him to lose the mount on his best horse. A physical battle with a friend, and another altercation with an ex-girlfriend, nearly landed him in jail.

BENSALEM, Pa. - Smarty Jones used his speed to roll over his opponents in his early races. As the distances of his races have increased, he has been taught to ration that speed. On Friday morning at Philadelphia Park, in his final workout for the June 5 Belmont Stakes, Smarty Jones doled out that speed judiciously, as trainer John Servis continues to hone Smarty Jones for the longest and most-watched race of his career.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A rich history permeates the tri-state area that surrounds the racetrack burg of Charles Town. Just a few miles north of here, John Brown and his abolitionist cohorts stormed the national armory in 1859 in Harpers Ferry in old Virginia, stoking the fires that led to the Civil War. A few years later and a few more miles north, Barbara Fritchie defied Stonewall Jackson and his Confederate soldiers in Frederick, Md., in one of the many turning points in that same war.

BENSALEM, Pa. - Smarty Jones, who will attempt to become the sport's 12th Triple Crown winner in the Belmont Stakes on June 5, completed his serious training for that race with a seven-furlong workout early Friday morning at Philadelphia Park.

Smarty Jones was given an official time of 1:29.20, but he appeared to go a bit faster. The fractions reported were 26.60 seconds, 39.20, 51.20, 1:03.20, and 1:16.20. Clockers reported him galloping out one mile in 1:44.40.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Unable to find any physical reason for Rock Hard Ten's erratic behavior in his workout here Tuesday morning, trainer Jason Orman on Thursday went about preparing his lightly raced colt for next Saturday's 136th Belmont Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. - At 3-10 odds in the 2000 Preakness, Fusaichi Pegasus was the strongest favorite in a Triple Crown race since dual-classic winner Spectacular Bid was the same price in the 1979 Belmont Stakes.

Fusaichi Pegasus, like Spectacular Bid, was beaten. Red Bullet, a chestnut son of Unbridled ridden by Jerry Bailey, rolled past Fusaichi Pegasus turning for home and went on to win the Preakness by 3 3/4 lengths.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The stubbornness that Rock Hard Ten showed when loading into the starting gate for the Preakness revealed itself in a different manner in his work at Belmont Park on Tuesday for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 5.

Rock Hard Ten, with jockey Patrick Valenzuela in the saddle, broke off from the lead pony for a six-furlong work. About a furlong into the breeze, Valenzuela sensed that Rock Hard Ten was reluctant to continue the work and slowed the horse to a jog. Rock Hard Ten rebroke for try number two at the three-eighths pole and worked past the wire.

BENSALEM, Pa. - As much as officials from the New York Racing Association want Smarty Jones to be an early arrival for the June 5 Belmont Stakes, perhaps they should be happy he will not be coming to town until after entries are drawn June 2.

For if the rival trainers got an up close and personal view of Smarty Jones in the morning, there may not be anybody willing to run against him in the $1 million Belmont. As it stands, there will likely be six or seven rivals trying to deny Smarty Jones his Triple Crown bid in the 1 1/2-mile "Test of the Champion."