NEW YORK - Monarchos let NBC down when he failed to duplicate his winning Kentucky Derby run in the Preakness Stakes. Or maybe it was Point Given, the Preakness winner, who let NBC down in the Kentucky Derby when he did not run to what some people consider his true potential.
Either way, NBC is going into its broadcast of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday facing the biggest challenge of its short Triple Crown history - how to sustain television ratings growth without a Triple Crown on the line.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The $400,000 Manhattan, featuring the country's top turf mare Perfect Sting in her quest to conquer males, leads a strong cast of supporting races on the Belmont Stakes program Saturday.
Entries and post positions were drawn Wednesday for Saturday's 12-race card, which is highlighted by the $1 million Belmont Stakes, one of five graded races on the program.
The $150,000 True North Handicap, the first graded race and the sixth on the card, launches a $1 million guaranteed pick six wager.
ELMONT, N.Y. - After passing the first two legs of the Triple Crown for the first time in more than two decades, trainer D. Wayne Lukas arrived at Belmont Park Wednesday with his Belmont Stakes longshot Buckle Down Ben. Lukas is looking to pull an upset that might surpass the one he registered last year when 18-1 shot Commendable gave Lukas his fourth Belmont winner.
Buckle Down Ben, who won the Grade 3 Laurel Futurity last year when he was trained by Steve Klesaris, is coming off a second-level allowance win on May 27 at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Apprentice Kris Prather, riding for the first time in nearly three months, said she feels "great, fit, and good to go" after finishing fifth aboard Frills and Thrills in the first race Wednesday at Churchill Downs.
The mount was the first for Prather, 22, since she injured both knees in a March 17 starting-gate accident at Turfway Park. Prather attracted considerable news media coverage earlier this year when leading all North American jockeys in wins. She won 110 races and held the top spot for several weeks even after being sidelined.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - John Dolan disagrees with the contention that Miss Grimsby prefers one turn. Though she has not attempted a two-turn race in more than a year, and has not won a route in nearly two years, Miss Grimsby enters Friday's $75,000 Convenience Stakes at Hollywood Park as a legitimate contender. Dolan is confident she can stay 1 1/16 miles.
"I think that's probably her best distance, stretching out," Dolan said. "But she's always been so fragile I could never get her going good enough."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Randy Bradshaw, a former public trainer who has assisted D. Wayne Lukas in Southern California since March 1999, said on Wednesday that he intends to open a public stable in the Midwest in coming months.
Bradshaw said he officially left the Lukas organization on May 31, but has agreed to work for him at Santa Anita until Lukas returns from New York next week.
Bradshaw said he was technically a contract employee with Padua Stable, which is owned by Florida businessman Satish Sanan. Bradshaw said he reached a contract settlement with Padua on May 31.
San Mateo, Calif. - Candi's Princess, who is taking a big drop in class, is the one to beat in the $32,000 allowance/optional claiming feature at Bay Meadows Friday night.
The combination of the current California horse shortage, a heavy racing schedule, and Friday night racing has severely affected the eight-race card, as there are only 48 horses entered, an average of six per race. Four of the races have only five betting interests.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Cole Norman, who figures he has claimed about 130 horses in the past five years, considers Unrullah Bull, an allowance winner last Sunday at Lone Star Park, one of his top four claims ever, along with King and Hart, Code Six, and Stirling Bridge.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - If H.M.S. Jackson wins Friday's eighth race for New Jersey-breds, expect a large crowd in the winner's circle.
H.M.S. Jackson, a 4-year-old colt, is owned by the Headless Horsemen Racing Stable, an ownership group that allows racing fans to enjoy the thrill of owning Thoroughbreds without paying huge sums.