Point Given's 12 1/4-length victory in Saturday's Belmont Stakes earned The Thoroughbred Corporation 3-year-old a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 114.
Point Given covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:26.56, matching the fourth-fastest time in the 133-year history of the Belmont.
Point Given's previous career-best Beyer was a 111, recorded in his 2 1/4-length victory in the Preakness.
NEW YORK - NBC again reversed the ratings slide in Thoroughbred racing's major televised events when the network's broadcast of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday earned a 4.9 overnight rating, a 44 percent increase over the overnight rating for the race last year.
The increase sustains the momentum NBC established with its broadcasts of the two previous Triple Crown races, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. The rating for the Kentucky Derby broadcast was up 40 percent compared with last year, and the rating for the Preakness was up 56 percent.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - Ready to Roll helped Monmouth Park's $75,000 Battlefield Stakes live up to its name Sunday when he narrowly grabbed a nose victory over Indy Vidual in a prep race for the Grade I United Nations Handicap.
The Irish-bred son of Priolo sat off the dueling El Mirasol and
Runspastum while moving up the rail. Ridden by jockey Roberto Alvarado, Ready to Roll darted through a hole near the hedge in the stretch then won the head-bob when Indy Vidual challenged late. They stopped the clock in 1:47 1/5 over a firm course and paid $65.20 to win.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - With races in Chicago and New York on his summer and fall schedule and a possible retirement at the end of the year, Bienamado might have made his final start in California in Sunday's $350,000 Charles Whittingham Handicap at Hollywood Park.
If so, he saved his best for last. Sent off as the 1-2 favorite and 124-pound highweight, Bienamado beat four other graded stakes winners convincingly for his third major stakes win of the year.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Last year, Skimming did not win a major stakes until Del Mar where he scored victories in the San Diego Handicap and Pacific Classic. This year, he is two months ahead of schedule.
On Sunday, Skimming won the $500,000 Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park, becoming the favorite for the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 1. "I think he's a better horse this year than last year," trainer Bobby Frankel said. "Last year, he would have gotten beat in this race. He's a stronger horse and this year he's sounder."
ELMONT, N.Y. - It was not a totally lost weekend for trainer Nick Zito.
Less than 24 hours after finishing second in the Belmont Stakes for the fifth time in nine tries, Zito earned his first Brooklyn Handicap trophy Sunday as Albert the Great cruised to an easy-as-he-pleased 3 1/4-length victory before 10,376 at Belmont Park.
Perfect Cat, winner of the Schaefer Handicap on Preakness Day, got up for second, three lengths ahead of Top Official. Gander, Country Be Gold, Justification and State Shinto completed the order of finish.
ELMONT N.Y. - The morning after Point Given's stunning 12 1/4-length Belmont Stakes victory which gave him two-thirds of the Triple Crown, trainer Bob Baffert looked back on his star 3-year-old's accomplishments, and looked ahead toward the remainder of the season. "This big dude has everything. He's big, he's bad, he's good," said Baffert Sunday morning. "We knew he was a great horse, and the Belmont showed what kind of horse he really is. I got excited when he turned for home, but for a while it looked like A P Valentine was going to make a race out of it.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Point Given, leaving no doubt about his superiority among this year's crop of 3-year-olds, roared to a 12 1/4-length victory in Saturday's 133rd Belmont Stakes. His impressive performance will cause many to wonder if he could have won this year's Triple Crown had he been ridden in the Kentucky Derby as he was in the Preakness Stakes and Belmont.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Nick Zito remains the bridesmaid of the Belmont Stakes.
For the fifth time since 1990, a Zito-trained horse finished second in the Belmont. This time it was A P Valentine, who finished 12 1/4 lengths behind Point Given in Saturday's 133rd renewal at Belmont Park.
A P Valentine joins Thirty Six Red (1990), Strike the Gold (1991), Go for Gin (1994), and Star Standard (1995) as Zito trainees who finished second in the third leg of the Triple Crown. Zito has started 11 horses in the Belmont.
FORT ERIE, Ont. - The $60,000 added Adena Springs Matchmaker Stakes on Tuesday starts Fort Erie's 2001 17-race stakes schedule. It's the second running of the event, which is sponsored by Frank Stronach's Adena Springs Farm.
A five-furlong race on the turf, it has drawn a full field of fillies and mares. Besides the purse money, the top three finishers will receive a free stud service from one of three Adena Springs stallions - Alphabet Soup (1996 Breeders' Cup Classic winner), Gold Case, or Foxtrail.
