By NOEL MICHAELS
ELMONT, N.Y. - On the Monday before the 133rd running of the Belmont Stakes, the biggest news of the day wasn't at Belmont Park, but rather at Churchill Downs, where Preakness winner Point Given turned in his final pre-Belmont workout.
The Churchill Downs clockers caught Point Given's five-furlong breeze in :59.60 over a sloppy racetrack. The bullet time was the best of 13 horses on the worktab at the distance. The splits were :24.60 and :47.80 for the quarter and the half. Trainer Bob Baffert had his colt galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.60.
"He worked good and he's ready to go," said Baffert. "I wish there was a Triple Crown on the line this year, but I just want to go up there and have a good time and try to win the Belmont."
Point Given is scheduled to fly to Belmont Park from Kentucky on Wednesday, and will be arrive at the track with fellow Belmont starters Dollar Bill and Buckle Down Ben.
Buckle Down Ben, who is coming off a mile allowance win at Churchill Downs on May 27 for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, also worked out this morning at Churchill. Buckle Down Ben went four furlongs in :50 before the rains came on a track labeled fast.
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There were no surprises Wednesday when nine 3-year-olds were entered for Saturday's $1-million Belmont Stakes, third leg of Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown. As he did in the previous two legs of the series--the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness--Point Given will start from the outside post position.
THE BELMONT STAKES
Saturday, June 9, 1 1/2 miles, 1-million
Televised live on NBC, 5:00-6:30 p.m. (EDT)
The Belmont Stakes Field, in post position order:
(Post position, horse, trainer, jockey, morning-line odds)
1--Invisible Ink, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, 8-1
2--Balto Star, Todd Pletcher, Chris McCarron, 15-1
3--Dollar Bill, Dallas Stewart, Pat Day, 6-1
4--Thunder Blitz, Joe Orseno, Jerry Bailey, 10-1
5--Monarchos, John T. Ward Jr., Jorge Chavez, 5-2
6--Buckle Down Ben, D. Wayne Lukas, Corey Nakatani, 30-1
7--Dr Greenfield, Gerald A. Butler, Edgar Prado, 30-1
8--A P Valentine, Nick Zito, Victor Espinoza, 5-1
9--Point Given, Bob Baffert, Gary Stevens, 8-5
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by Steve Haskin
The post position draw is in, Point Given is in, Dollar Bill is in. Not much more to do now but wait. With the arrival of Team Valor's English import Dr Greenfield at approximately 6 p.m. this evening, the cast of nine for the 133rd Belmont Stakes will be in place. Everyone is in agreement that this year's Belmont looks to be one of the most contentious runnings in a long while.
Point Given arrived at JFK International Airport on a fully booked Tex Sutton cargo flight just after 9:30 a.m., along with Belmont starters Dollar Bill and Buckle Down Ben. Exercise rider Pepe Aragon, who stood by the ramp awaiting the big chestnut, said the trip went smoothly, and that Point Given was very relaxed throughout the flight, occasionally nibbling on hay. Also on the flight was the Bob Baffert-trained Flame Thrower, who will run in Saturday's seven-furlong Riva Ridge Stakes.
Walking to the barn following the short van ride from the airport, Point Given sported a long gash on his right side. When asked how he got it, Baffert just shrugged his shoulders. "He looks like a New Jersey Devils hockey player," he said.
Point Given still appears to be carrying his flesh very well, and it will be interesting to see how he adapts to his new environment when he goes out for his first feel of the Belmont surface tomorrow morning.
About an hour after arriving, Point Given drew post 9 in the Belmont, giving him the outside post in all three Triple Crown races. Baffert, who said he'll leave strategy up to jockey Gary Stevens, was asked if coming in right before the race will put him at a disadvantage. "That's my out if he gets beat," Baffert replied. "But we've had a lot of luck shipping in here from California right before a race. If they're good, they'll run well anywhere."
Shortly after Point Given arrived, the van carrying Buckle Down Ben pulled up outside D. Wayne Lukas' barn. The son of Devil His Due is not your typical Lukas horse, being more the thin, rangy type. Although he doesn't carry much weight, his dark bay coat looked excellent, and he was dappled out beautifully.
Although Lukas realizes this is a much tougher spot than last year's Belmont, in which he scored an upset with Commendable, he still feels Buckle Down Ben will surprise a lot of people.
"This is a totally different horse now," Lukas said. "You can throw out his past performances, except for his last race. They have no relationship to this horse; he's changed that much."
In other news, Invisible Ink was out for a gallop at about 6 o'clock and was very aggressive, tossing his head up and pulling hard on the reins. The son of Thunder Gulch has also been aggressive in his stall. His eye is bright, his coat looks super, and he appears to be sitting on another big race. Stablemate Balto Star went out at 5:30 and turned in a solid gallop. After the gelding drew post 2, trainer Todd Pletcher said he wasn't expecting the son of Glitterman to set a slow pace. "That's not what we're looking for," he said. "He has to spread the field out. There's no way a horse like him is going to go out there and slow the pace down to :50."
It was obvious watching Monarchos this morning why trainer John Ward and assistant Yvonne Azeff have decided to just gallop him the wrong way until the race. Even going the opposite way he still was very aggressive, fighting the bit and wanting to do a lot more. The Derby winner seems to like Belmont, and spends a good deal of time stopping and looking around before exercise rider Bryan Beccia can get him to the track. Monarchos will break from post 5 on Saturday.
Nick Zito said A P Valentine, who drew post 8, came out of yesterday's five-furlong work in :59 1/5 in good shape. As Zito washed the son of A.P. Indy down following a morning of walking the shed, he still couldn't help saying once again how much talent and desire the colt has, and how much it would mean to win his first Belmont stakes with this horse in particular.
Tomorrow, we will have several analyses of the Belmont using different angles, including a detailed analysis why one horse in particular could dominate the race.
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Talk about the luck of the draw.
When Point Given drew the No. 9 post for Saturday's $1 million Belmont Stakes, it gave the colt a Triple Crown sweep of outside post positions.
He left the gate at the Kentucky Derby from the outside No. 17 hole, and finished fifth, more than 11 lengths behind the winner Monarchs.
Two weeks later, Point Given won the Preakness by 2 1/4 lengths leaving from the outside No. 11 post.
Baffert claimed the title of Mr. Outside after Wednesday's Belmont draw.
With no horse to Point Given's right to worry about when the gates spring open, Baffert took a positive approach: "At least you can only get hit on one side."
Point Given, with Gary Stevens aboard, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite. The colts was also favored in the Derby and Preakness.
The field, from the rail out, is: Invisible Ink (John Velazquez, 8-1); Balto Star (Chris McCarron, 15-1); Dollar Bill (Pat Day, 6-1); Thunder Blitz (Jerry Bailey, 10-1); Monarchos (Jorge Chavez, 5-2); Buckle Down Ben (Corey Nakatani, 30-1); Dr Greenfield (Edgar Prado, 30-1); A P Valentine (Victor Espinoza, 5-1); and Point Given (Stevens, 8-5).
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By NOEL MICHAELS
ELMONT, N.Y. - Point Given swept the Triple Crown of post draws Wednesday, drawing the far outside post for the third time in three Triple Crown events this year. Post positions are not generally considered of much importance in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes, but Point Given's draw of post nine in the nine-horse field was enough to make trainer Bob Baffert chime in with a comment.
"There's a fix in," joked Baffert of Point Given's penchant for outside posts in random post draws. However, he reiterated that the post position should have no bearing on his colt's chances. "We'll just let him break and settle in. If he shows up that day, distance, pace, post, nothing is going to matter."
Preakness winner Point Given's lone lackluster effort of the year came in his fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, a race Baffert has already has put behind him.
"The most difficult race of the three is the Derby. There's a huge field and you need a lot of luck. He was pushed along in the Derby to keep up, and he really doesn't want to be ridden that way."
Point Given, along with the rest of the Belmont field, will be trying the 1 1/2-mile distance for the first, and perhaps the only time in their careers. However, Baffert is not worrying about the distance, or his horse's lack of training over the huge Belmont oval.
"Distance is not going to be a problem as long as you ride him patiently," said Baffert. "And I've had luck running right off the plane here. If your horse is running well, he'll run well anywhere."
Point Given raced at Belmont Park last fall when he finished second to A P Valentine in the Champagne Stakes. He'll get back out over the track to gallop up to the race starting tomorrow morning.
Baffert plans a trip to Broadway to help pass the time until race day. He plans to see Mel Brooks's smash hit, "The Producers" on Wednesday night. The comedy won 12 Tony Awards at Monday's ceremony and is currently the toughest ticket in town.
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By BOB EHALT
ELMONT, N.Y. - The morning after Bob Baffert saw the biggest hit on Broadway, the three-time Eclipse Award winning-trainer was treated to a different kind of show.
Once again Baffert's Preakness winner, Point Given, injected a dose of theatrics into a routine gallop as he reared up and tossed exercise rider Pepe Aragon while walking under the shedrow Thursday at Belmont Park.
Compared to the acrobatic displays Point Given put on before the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, his performance two days before Saturday's $1 million Belmont Stakes was relatively tame. While walking around the barn in anticipation of his trip to the racetrack, Point Given reared up on his back legs and Aragon quickly pushed the ejection button. Point Given was quickly placed under control by his handlers and Aragon jumped back on board.
Crisis averted.
"This was nothing," said Aragon, who has been Point Given's exercise rider since last year. "I knew what was happening and jumped off. I've been around him enough that I can tell when he's going to do it. His body starts getting big and I know what's coming."
Baffert, too, is learning to take Point Given's feisty habits in stride - well, sort of.
"[Point Given] is just feeling good," said Baffert, who spent the previous night watching the Broadway smash "The Producers." "Pepe got off before the fireworks began. Once [Point Given] does something like that he tips us off that he's feeling good. He's fine . . . anyone can train this horse, unless they have a heart condition."
If Baffert's nerves were rattled, they were soothed by the graceful manner in which Point Given cruised around the track in his first effort as a 3-year-old at a track where he finished second to fellow Belmont starter A P Valentine in last year's Champagne Stakes.
"He went around the track in great shape," Aragon said. "It was a great trip."
Aragon, who was also aboard Point Given during his wilder and more frightening incidents at the Derby and Preakness, believes The Thoroughbred Corporation colt is coming up to the final leg of the Triple Crown in superb condition.
"[In the Belmont] he's finally going to show how good he is," Aragon said.
Nor has Baffert seen anything to indicate that the 7-5 favorite to win the Belmont will turn in a repeat of his baffling, fifth-place finish as the betting favorite in the Kentucky Derby.
"[Point Given] is the toughest one I've brought to the Belmont," said Baffert, who saw the Triple Crown hopes of Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998) evaporate with second-place finishes in the 1 1/2-mile final and longest leg of the Triple Crown. "After the Preakness, he looked like he had just worked five-eighths. He's looking as good as Real Quiet did before the Belmont and I thought I had that one in the bag."
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by Steve Haskin
We're going to venture out on that precarious and proverbial limb, even at the risk of leaving certain trainers dumbfounded over our out-of-the-norm audacity.
First off, you can speculate all you want why Point Given lost the Kentucky Derby. Yes, he was close to a torrid pace; yes the track was lightning fast, and may have been too hard for his liking. Whether or not they contributed to his defeat we can only guess. What we do know for sure is that the horse came into the Derby off only two starts in 2001, both cakewalks against relatively soft fields. Crafty C.T. is a top sprinter/miler, but no match for a horse like Point Given going nine furlongs.
Point Given also worked before the Derby in :58 1/5, blazing his final quarter in :22 flat, which had to put him on edge for the race. Let's just assume, whether it's correct or not, that Point Given simply had not yet reached his peak on the first Saturday in May, and had the misfortune of running smack into the second-fastest time in Derby history and a seasoned horse sitting on a monster performance. Basically, Point Given ran like a horse who needed one more race under him, preferably a tough one. Would he have won anyway had Gary Stevens managed to take him back over a track he obviously didn't care for? Well, he would have had to run a 1:59 3/5 mile and a quarter to do so.
Stevens did all he could from the 17-post. In addition, he knew Congaree was the horse to beat, and he wasn't about to let the son of Arazi get the upper hand the way he did against Monarchos in the Wood. Plus, it's not easy wrapping up on a horse and taking him 15 lengths back when he's fresh, coming off only two starts and a four-week layoff, and also coming off a :58 1/5 work – one in which he was being asked to put away his stablemate.
Point Given's work before the Preakness was a totally different story, as he did everything on his own, with the rider never moving her hands. When he stepped off the van in Baltimore, we were amazed how good his coat looked, and how little the Derby took out of him. Unlike the Derby, he was now ready for his top effort.
With all that said, after watching the Preakness numerous times and breaking down the chart, we have come to one conclusion. You can take all the talk of pasterns and cracked heels and whatever ailments he's supposed to have, and trash them. If he shows up for the Belmont, we're going to assume he's sound and close to 100 percent. We're not going to be brazen enough to state emphatically that the son of Thunder Gulch is the biggest lock in the Belmont Stakes since Secretariat. But if we were going to base any conclusions from watching the replays of the Preakness, dissecting the fractions of the race, and taking into account the colt's versatility and running style, it would be that Point Given should not only win, but dominate his opponents in the Belmont.
This is not meant to downplay the talents of Monarchos and A P Valentine, or Invisible Ink, Dollar Bill, Thunder Blitz, and the other top-class horses pointing for the race. If Point Given is not at his best, any one of them can win and it wouldn't be a surprise. Surely, Monarchos' Derby victory has earned its rightful place in the history books. But the Belmont is a totally different ballgame. Versatility and the ability to cruise at high speeds often plays a big part in winning the race.
The fact is, Point Given, after running his opening quarter of the Preakness in :25 4/5, blazed his next half-mile in an amazing :46 flat (a pair of :23 quarters), while racing wide the entire way. And he seemed to be doing it effortlessly. Then, despite running a portion of his next quarter weaving, ducking, and gawking, not to mention racing on his wrong lead, he still managed to go in :24 3/5. In the final three-sixteenths, his mind obviously was elsewhere, as Stevens tried every trick in the book to straighten him out and get him to change leads. It wasn't until inside the sixteenth pole that he finally succeeded, but Point Given still came home in a solid :19 flat, throwing his ears up right before the wire, as if he were doing it all for fun. Any horse who can run a :46 half within the body of a classic race with the ease in which Point Given did and still win decisively, despite goofing off the length of the stretch, is a very special talent.
In short, Point Given's performance was much more dominant than the 2 1/4-length margin indicated. With his humongous, loping strides, and his ability to sweep by horses at any point in the race while seemingly on cruise control, Point Given looks to be the perfect Belmont Stakes horse. It is the one race that would afford him the opportunity to outdistance his opponents, much like other powerful, long-striding horses such as Secretariat, Easy Goer, and Risen Star. That's why he's the one horse capable of turning the Belmont into a rout. The feeling here is that with such a vast expanse, Point Given will have less to look at and run a more professional race.
It may seem as if we are underestimating Monarchos, who simply couldn't handle the Pimlico surface. That's not the case at all. As we said, it's strictly a matter of style. The son of Maria's Mon does not do things as effortlessly as Point Given, and the far turn at Belmont Park is a lot less forgiving than the turns at Gulfstream and Churchill Downs. We call it the turn of no return. A horse must be able to cruise around there, much like Forego used to do, if he's to have any chance of circling the field and still have enough left in the final quarter mile. We've seen too many horses ridden hard around that big, sweeping turn, blowing by horses as if they were standing still, only to flatten out after turning for home.
Unlike Point Given, who has the ability to pick off horses at cruising speed, Monarchos has always been pushed along by Jorge Chavez a long way out. That he's been able to sustain that kind of move and draw off from his opponents is testimony to his extraordinary talent. The question is, can he rebound off the Preakness and not expend too much energy around Belmont's demanding far turn?
A P Valentine finally ran the kind of race we've been waiting for all year, and again he didn't have the smoothest of trips. But now many people will be looking to hop on the bandwagon. The son of A.P. Indy has already shown he likes Belmont, and apparently is at his best finding holes to run through. He is one-for-one against Point Given over "Big Sandy;" he's finally primed to run the race of his life; and his pedigree is the strongest in the field going a mile and a half. We know he has the talent to beat anyone on his best day, and we're looking for another huge race from him, especially if he can get clear sailing this time. If any one factor can bring down Point Given, other than Point Given himself, it is A P Valentine's stamina, combined with the excellent pattern he's now on.
If you want to see Belmont Park bust open at the seams and rock like it hasn't in years, then root for A P Valentine and Zito to win the Belmont Stakes. It will be quite a memorable New York scene afterward.
We believe Point Given is going to be a huge favorite, perhaps close to even-money, so A P Valentine still would be the value play on a straight win bet. No way we're going to go off him now that he's finally gotten his act together. Sometimes you have to go with your heart. Plus, his form finally looks darn good.
But with Point Given apparently having bounced out of the Preakness in super shape, all signs point to one conclusion: If he runs close to his best race in the Belmont, and he gets a good trip, we just don't see how Point Given can be beaten.
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By JAY PRIVMAN
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.
Point Given was ridden aggressively away from the gate in the Derby, but he faltered at the end of the race and finished fifth. In the Preakness, he was allowed to coast along under his own power early, and produced a strong closing kick to win by 2 1/4 lengths.
In the Belmont, at 1 1/2 miles the longest of the Triple Crown races, jockey Gary Stevens again allowed Point Given to go along at his own pace in the first part of the race. Point Given was closer to the pace than in the Preakness, but the early fractions were sane, and Point Given was pulling the reins, instead of having Stevens shake them.
By the time Stevens allowed Point Given to roll, the colt was eager to do more. He quickly disposed of his rivals on the final turn, except for A P Valentine, who tried valiantly to stay within striking distance. But once Point Given turned into the stretch, he drew away with long, powerful strides.
"It'll always be bittersweet with these victories in the Triple Crown without the Derby," Stevens said. "I feel like he's a champion. He should have a Triple Crown next to his name."
Trainer Bob Baffert, who got his first victory in the Belmont Stakes, said, "It wasn't his day at the Derby. But we're not going to look back. We enjoyed the Preakness. We enjoyed the Belmont. He showed what he could do. If he stays together, we're going to have a lot of fun."
A P Valentine held on to finish second, three-quarters of a length in front of Monarchos, the Kentucky Derby winner. For New York native Nick Zito, the trainer of A P Valentine, it was the fifth time he finished second in the race. Zito was awed by Point Given.
"Who knows why he didn't win the Triple Crown," Zito said. "He's a tremendous horse. He's frightening."
Dollar Bill was fourth and was followed, in order, by Invisible Ink, Thunder Blitz, Buckle Down Ben, Balto Star, and Dr Greenfield, the European invader who delayed the start for several minutes while balking repeatedly when attempts were made to load him in the gate.
Point Given covered 1 1/2 miles on a fast main track in 2:26.56, equaling the fourth-fastest time in Belmont history. He went off as the 6-5 favorite, and paid $4.70 to win. The Belmont was the fifth leg of a pick six that had a guaranteed pool of $1 million. The pick six paid $11,154.
Bob Baffert had missed winning the Belmont four times previously, most notably with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998. Both those colts had won the Derby and Preakness and were shooting for the Triple Crown.
The Thoroughbred Corporation, which is headed by Saudi Arabian Prince Ahmed Salman, bred and owns Point Given. He is a 3-year-old colt by Thunder Gulch and is out of the Turkoman mare Turko's Turn. Thunder Gulch won the Derby and Belmont in 1995. Point Given has now won seven times in 11 starts, and has finished second three times. The only time he has finished worse than second was in the biggest race of his career, the Derby.
The Belmont, run on a warm, pleasant afternoon, was seen by a crowd of 73,857 that included New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Senator Clinton made the trophy presentation following the Belmont.
The Belmont offered a showdown between a Derby winner and a Preakness winner for the first time since 1994. But Point Given proved vastly superior to Monarchos.
"He ran all right. He ran like a tired horse," John T. Ward Jr., the trainer of Monarchos, said of his colt. "He tried to make a rally and it didn't happen. When he gets to Saratoga, he'll be a fresher horse."
Balto Star, as expected, went for the early lead. He set moderate fractions of 23.95 seconds, 48.00, and 1:11.78 for the first six furlongs. Buckle Down Ben was closest early, with Point Given stalking from third, only two lengths behind while racing three paths off the rail.
As the field advanced toward the far turn, Point Given began to put pressure on both Balto Star and Buckle Down Ben. A P Valentine also made his move, rallying four paths wide, just outside of Point Given.
Point Given poked his head in front after a mile in 1:35.56. By the time the field reached the top of the stretch, Point Given was two lengths in front, having covered 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.76. The only question at that point was the margin of victory.
As Point Given crossed under the wire, Stevens raised an index finger skyward. He later said it was in tribute to his friend, the late jockey Chris Antley, who was found dead last December.
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By Ed Schuyler Jr.
Preakness winner Point Given, sometimes called a clown by trainer Bob Baffert because of his antics in the morning, won the Belmont Stakes in no-nonsense fashion Saturday, leaving eight rivals struggling in his wake.
Kentucky Derby-winner Monarchos finished third, behind A P Valentine.
Point Given, a strapping chestnut colt, moved into the lead early on the final turn and then turned the 1 1/2 -mile Belmont into a one-horse show in the stretch.
His time of 2 minutes, 26 2-5 seconds tied him with Risen Star and Affirmed for the fourth fastest time in Belmont history.
Only Secretariat, Easy Goer and A P Indy ran faster.
A P Valentine's second-place finish gave trainer Nick Zito his fifth runnerup finish in 11 Belmonts, with no victories. A P Valentine also was second in the Preakness.
``I'll always wonder what could have been,'' said winning jockey Gary Stevens. ``This horse should have 'Triple Crown Winner' next to his name.''
Point Given, however, finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby as the favorite.
He rebounded from that race to win the Preakness and then dominated the Belmont, winning by 12 1/4 lengths, the seventh biggest margin in 133 Belmonts.
``We knew this horse was this kind of horse,'' Baffert said. ``It just wasn't his day Derby Day.''
Saturday's victory was a bittersweet one for Baffert. The white-haired trainer won his first Belmont in his fifth try, but two of those defeats were tough to take -- Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998 finished second in their bids to become the 12th Triple Crown champion and first since Affirmed in 1978.
Point Given, favored in all three Triple Crown races, returned $4.70, $3.70 and $3. A P Valentine played $5 and $3.90, while Monarchos was $4.20 to show.
Completing the order of finish after Monarchos was Dollar Bill, Invisible Ink, Thunder Blitz, Buckle Down Ben, Balto Star and Dr Greenfield
Dr Greenfield delayed the start for a couple of minutes when he refused to enter the gate. Edgar Prado dismounted and the Irish-bred, English-based colt, making his U.S. debut, was backed into the gate.
Point Given, a son of 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner Thunder Gulch, was a little wet in the paddock and docile in the post parade. He turned tiger on the final turn in the race.
Thunder Gulch became the 12th Belmont winner to sire at least one Belmont winner.
Point Given sometimes rears up in the morning, unseating his exercise rider and occasionally getting loose. He reared up in his barn Thursday morning before getting his first look at the Belmont Park track.
``This horse has aged me 10 years,'' Baffert has said. ``He's a fun-loving horse, a big kid. When he's getting ready to run, that's when he does those things.''
Point Given was certainly ready to run on this sunny Saturday before a huge turnout that included New York Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton and her husband Bill, the former president.
In becoming the first horse to lose the Derby and win the Preakness and Belmont since Tabasco Cat in 1994, Point Given earned $600,000 for the Thoroughbred Corp. of Prince Ahmed Salman of Saudi Arabia and boosted his career bankroll to $2,468,500 on a record of seven wins and three seconds in 11 starts.
The impressive victory gave Point Given a solid grasp on the leadership of the 3-year-old division and has to have his owner-trainer-jockey thinking about Horse of the Year.
A relieved Baffert said: ``Prince Ahmed could have easily fired me after that first race. Today, Point Given showed what he's really made of.''
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By Francis LaBelle Jr.
Bob Baffert, the one-time quarter-horse trainer, made it look oh-so-easy when he became a Thoroughbred trainer. Kentucky Derby? No problem. In fact, he came within a whisker of winning that race three times in a row. Preakness? Been there, done that.
But the Belmont Stakes. That was the one that always humbled him. Three times he tried the 1½-mile "Test of the Champion." His Cavonnier got hurt in 1996. In 1997, Silver Charm never saw Touch Gold and lost his bid to become racing 12th Triple Crown winner, not to mention earning a $5 million bonus. The same scene was repeated in 1998, when Victory Gallop nosed Real Quiet at the wire. Good-bye Triple Crown. Good-bye $5 million.
But Saturday, at about 6:06 p.m. Eastern, the Thoroughbred Corporation''s big-striding Point Given came up with his biggest effort for Baffert to win the biggest race at the biggest track in North America.
It was a VERY BIG deal.
Before a crowd of 73,857, the fourth largest in track history and largest without a Triple Crown at stake, Point Given took undisputed control of the three-year-old division and took aim at Horse of the Year by winning the 133rd running of racing''s final leg of the Triple Crown by 12 ¼ lengths in 2:26 2/5. The nearest to him was A. P. Valentine, trainer Nick Zito''s 11th Belmont starter and fifth second-place finisher. Monarchos, the Kentucky Derby winner, was third.
"We knew he was a great horse and today was his day to really put on a show for everybody," Baffert said. "Gary (Stevens) just rode him beautifully, rode him with so much patience and confidence that down the backside, you could tell. I told Gary before that down the backside, you''ll either be cussing me or praising me. So I figured he was praising me down the backside for having him ready."
Point Given was more than ready. He was merciless. As if to prove that his fifth-place Kentucky Derby finish was a fluke, Point Given won the Preakness. Still, many beleived that the playful son of 1995 Belmont winner Thunder Gulch might have left his best racing in the shedrow. After all, he came here sporting a scar on his side and stitches in his forehead for all of his, well, horsing around. This time, he meant business. Into the thick of it from the start, Point Given sat a length off Balto Star through a quarter of :23 4/5 and the half of :48. Then, under Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, he took the lead and kept on going.
"Today, he was a superstar and the fastest horse," Stevens said of his third Belmont winner. "I can''t help but think what might have been if he had won the Kentucky Derby. He could have had a Triple Crown next to his name. But it''s a great day for the both of us." It was the first time that Baffert and Stevens reunited in the Belmont Stakes since Silver Charm lost his Triple Crown bid here four years ago. And, while they might have thoughts about what might have been then and now, they can now look to the future with confidence. The future, in fact, figures to be right back here at Belmont Park, which will host the Breeders'' Cup Championship on October 27th.
"Hopefully, if he stays sound, he should get better with age," Baffert said. "He''s just learning how to run and he''s just a big, powerful; horse, I was quite impressed with myself watching him come down the lane."
For Zito, another failed Belmont did little to dampen his spirits.
"I thought A P Valentine would explode in the stretch," Zito said. "We''ll be back. He never quit or threw in the towel. I hope by the Travers, we can beat Point Given. Now, I can prepare the right way. We''ll keep trying to beat that horse. I don''t know why the Belmont is so hard to win. I have horses to run in these races every year, so I should get on my hands and knees. We ran into a monster."
John Ward Jr., trainer of Monarchos, also lauded Point Given. "The winner ran an over-the-top race, and I congratulate him," Ward said. "Our horse ran his race, and I think we''ll see the other guy down the road."
Dollar Bill, the usually troubled horse, had a clean trip and checked in fourth. "He had a great trip," said trainer Dallas Stewart. "Pat (Day) said he wasn''t getting into it early. He was steadily picking up horses down the lane. He ran well. We would have liked to have seen him up in the race a little earlier, but Pat said he wasn''t getting hold of the track. It took him a little while to get hold of it; once he did he kicked on. We would have liked to have won the race, but I thought he ran well, I just wish he would have been a little closer. That way, he could have finished up a little stronger."
Invisible Ink, Thunder Blitz, Buckle Down Ben, Balto Star and Dr Greenfield trailed. "Both horses have no excuses, trip-wise," said trainer Todd Pletcher of Invisible Ink and Balto Star.
"Balto Star just wasn''t himself today. He might not handle hot weather real well. We''ll have to check things over and maybe re-think things a little bit. Invisible Ink had a perfect trip and stayed steady. When the race quickened at the half-mile pole, he couldn''t deliver much kick. He was just staying even, as opposed to coming on. He never threw in the towel."
Of all the horses entered, the biggest disappointment might have been Dr Greenfield. He took a few minutes to load into the gate, then ran a bit before he was eased by jockey Edgar Prado.
"We are very disappointed," said Gerard Butler, who flew the colt in from England for the Belmont. "That was not the true Dr Greenfield on the track today. I don''t know why he acted up at the starting gate like that; I never saw that in him before. From there, he just lost interest in the race." Point Given, however, raised the interest of everybody else.
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by Steve Haskin
It was a day of princes, presidents, and Pegasus.
With Belmont Park rocking from the surge of electricity generated by the presence of former President Bill Clinton and his wife, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Point Given finally sprouted the wings his owner, Prince Ahmed Salman, trainer Bob Baffert, and jockey Gary Stevens had envisioned all along.
It was supposed to have happened in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), carrying the towering chestnut to the first Triple Crown sweep since Affirmed in 1978. But Point Given was grounded the first Saturday in May by a variety of reasons. He's tried his best to get everyone to forget that day, but he's gone about it the wrong way.
By winning the Preakness (gr. I) with relative ease and coming back to annihilate his opponents by 12 1/4 lengths in the 133rd Belmont Stakes (gr. I) on June 9, the colt has only called more attention to that dark day in May for Salman's The Thoroughbred Corp. The more he dominates his opponents, the larger the Derby defeat will loom in the history books and in the minds of the prince, Baffert, and Stevens, who are still trying to come to terms with it.
Even following Point Given's spectacular performance in the Belmont, they continued to ponder what went wrong in Kentucky. And it seems apparent that the more the colt accomplishes, the more they are doomed to the lifelong curse of what might have been, just as the connections of Native Dancer were nearly a half century ago. They now know they were right in their lofty expectations, and as a result, each subsequent Herculean effort by Point Given has brought a bittersweet aftermath.
"The Derby defeat is going to be disappointing forever, knowing that racing probably was deprived of a Triple Crown winner," Stevens said.
And that comment was made more than a week before the Belmont. As darkness fell on Belmont Day, an emotional Stevens left the track, still carrying that faded image of the Triple Crown in his mind. "It's not for myself; it's for the prince," said Stevens, whom Salman called his "close friend," and who holds a "very soft spot" in the prince's heart. "You have to understand," Stevens added, "the Kentucky Derby is the ultimate for the prince, and I really wanted it for him."
But Triple Crown or no Triple Crown, it was a day to remember, as 73,857 fans poured through the gates, a new attendance record for a non-Triple Crown Belmont Stakes. And when it was over, the talk was not of opportunities lost, but of a magnificent Thoroughbred who left Belmont Park awash with a flood of memories that brought back visions of Secretariat and Forego, and other superstars who have jolted the great track.
Abraham Lincoln once told the nation in regard to the Civil War, "I am not concerned that you have fallen. I am concerned that you arise." Point Given arose from the depths of the Derby like the aforementioned winged Pegasus and stamped his name in the history books with one of the most dominating performances in years.
The son of Thunder Gulch, known around the barn as the Big Red Train and T-Rex, not only is trying to obliterate the Kentucky Derby debacle from everyone's mind with his extraordinary speed, power, and grace, he's also attempting diversionary tactics with his mischievous behavior. He rears straight up without warning, and manages to inflict more wounds on his massive body than an 8-year-old boy crawling through a briar patch.
A little over a week before the Belmont, the colt, whom Baffert said has aged him 10 years, suffered a cut over his eye after "trying to kill himself" in his stall at Churchill Downs. After being stitched up, he was tranquilized, and soon after, began acting colicky. Baffert had Point Given's stomach lubricated and walked him for an hour. Afraid that eating hay might create gas, Baffert removed his hay rack for the night and left some alfalfa in the corner of his stall. At 12:30 a.m., the grooms heard a horse "screaming around the barn area." It seemed Point Given had gotten so hungry, he was trying to reach a few pieces of hay on the floor outside his stall. He managed to get his knee and head under the webbing, and when he came up, he broke the snaps on the wall, bending one of the screw eyes. As he was getting to his feet with the webbing now gone, he rubbed against the screw eye, causing a long gash on the right side of his body. After a few seconds of freedom, he was caught by the grooms.
At Santa Anita in April, the colt threw his exercise rider on the track and ran through the stable area without a bridle, charging right past The Thoroughbred Corp.'s racing manager, Richard Mulhall, who was standing by the rail drinking coffee. Such is life with Point Given. "He never gives you a chance to take a breath and relax," Baffert said. "He's like a big playful kid and you have to watch him."
Although there was no Triple Crown at stake this year, the Belmont still was creating interest as the rubber match between Point Given and Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, and also featured Derby and Preakness runners-up Invisible Ink and A P Valentine, respectively.
While Monarchos was sent to Belmont Park the day after the Preakness, Point Given didn't ship until the Wednesday before the race. After arriving at JFK International Airport at 9:30 a.m., the big chestnut stepped onto the ramp leading down to the van and let out a loud whinny, as if he were announcing his arrival. Exercise rider Pepe Aragon, standing alongside the ramp, said, "If he gets a good trip, they'll never beat him."
Stevens and Baffert also were confident the 1 1/2-mile Belmont would be the stage for Point Given's greatest performance. "Bob and I are really expecting him to put on a show," Stevens said a week before the race.
Awaiting Point Given was trainer John Terranova, in whose barn he would stay, as he had done the previous fall for the Champagne Stakes (gr. I). "I'm padding the walls," Terranova joked the previous morning. On his first day to the track, as Point Given prepared to go out, Terranova might have wished he weren't kidding after the colt reared up in the barn, causing Aragon to dismount. For the two mornings Point Given went to the track, photographers and cameramen lined up in preparation for any possible antics. The atmosphere can best be described as a NASCAR crowd waiting for the crash. But it never happened. Equipped with a lip cord for better control, Point Given was a perfect gentleman going to and from the track.
The key to Point Given is not allowing him time to think about doing something wild. As he walked back to the barn that first morning, Baffert yelled to Aragon and assistant Jim Barnes on the pony, "Keep him going, keep him going." As he came off the track, photographers began to gather at the gap, and Baffert, watching from the trainer's stand, said to no one in particular, but directing his comment to Aragon and Barnes, "Pretend you're a New York City taxi driver. Just run 'em down." Finally, as Point Given walked calmly into the barn, Baffert let out a sigh of relief. "OK, we got him back in the corral," he said.
In addition to the first two finishers of the Derby and Preakness, the Belmont field also included the Derby and Preakness fourth-place finishers, Thunder Blitz and Dollar Bill, respectively, in addition to Balto Star, Buckle Down Ben, and the English import Dr Greenfield, whose Team Valor syndicate members all wore stethoscopes around their necks on the day of the race.
Belmont morning arrived with blue, sunny skies and a slight chill in the air. The majority of the nine Belmont starters all spent a quiet morning in the shed. One of the exceptions was A P Valentine, who went out for a light jog the wrong way. John Ward, trainer of Monarchos, was feeling better about the race after being given a sign that morning from his gray colt. The day before, Ward had been looking at a photo of Monarchos hanging on his wall, taken after his victory in the Florida Derby (gr. I). Ward liked this photo because of the "keen look" in Monarchos' eye.
"I couldn't figure out this week what it was I didn't like about the horse," he said. "Then I realized it was that I haven't seen that shiny look. He had more of a stress look across his face. Late yesterday morning, he yawned and just laid there. And then this morning, he had that same confident look in his eye he had in the photo, which made me feel a lot better."
Another confident trainer was Dallas Stewart, who was just hoping the hard-luck Dollar Bill finally would get a clean trip. While walking the shed, Dollar Bill stopped and looked right at Stewart. The trainer reached into his pocket, took out a handful of change, and shook it. "Hey, I don't want no more change," he said to the horse. "I want the whole dollar today."
Some of the others had their game face on. Dr Greenfield took a bite out of trainer Gerard Butler's arm, and Thunder Blitz kicked the wall of the barn while walking the shed. "I was holding my breath watching him walk back to his stall," trainer Joe Orseno said.
At D. Wayne Lukas' barn, the Hall of Fame trainer was hoping Buckle Down Ben would give him his second straight longshot victory in the Belmont. "If we pull this off today, it'll get pretty quiet up in that press box," he said. "I heard that last year you could hear a pin drop."
If there was an omen of things to come, it occurred the day before the race when a cast member of the Broadway show Les Miserables performed on the track apron, singing the show's hit song, "On My Own." The next day, Point Given would give new meaning to those words.
Sent off the 6-5 favorite, Point Given broke from the outside post, as he had done in the Derby and Preakness. Monarchos and A P Valentine were 5-1. The start was delayed when Dr Greenfield went into a frenzy behind the gate. After a clean break, Stevens put Point Given right up near the pace in third, about two lengths behind pacesetting Balto Star and the tracking Buckle Down Ben. Victor Espinoza was clocking Point Given while aboard A P Valentine, with Monarchos in seventh, but only seven lengths off the pace. After a half in :48, Point Given went his next two quarters in under :24 to reach the mile marker in a brisk 1:35.56. It was obvious at this point the big chestnut was in complete control. "He was pretty much galloping all the way to the quarter pole," Stevens said.
Point Given disposed of the two leaders under no encouragement at all from Stevens, who gave a peek back over his right shoulder. A P Valentine, who had to be pushed hard to keep up, moved up to challenge around the five-sixteenths pole, but it was all Point Given, who drew off with every stride. Despite the domination, Stevens still hit him a dozen times with the whip in the stretch. "He actually was idling with me a little and I thought somebody had to be coming," he said. "I didn't know how far in front I was at the eighth pole and I didn't care. I knew he was going to get a rest afterward, and it was important for everybody to see how good he is."
Point Given kept pouring it on, completing the mile and a half in 2:26.56 (2:26 2/5), which equaled the fourth-fastest Belmont ever. A P Valentine dug in gamely and held off Monarchos for second by three-quarters of a length, with Dollar Bill another length back in fourth.
After suffering two heartbreaking defeats in the Belmont with Silver Charm and Real Quiet, and having Cavonnier bow a tendon and Silverbulletday run poorly, Baffert finally landed the big one in New York, where he admits he's not exactly the Big Apple's most popular visitor. "Well, I got that gorilla off my back," Baffert said immediately after the race. Earlier, he had told his son Canyon to be prepared to hear "a lot of bad things" from the fans about his father, which he did. "They didn't say anything bad about me after the race, did they?" he asked his son. "We shut 'em up."
Accompanying the joy of victory, however, came the maybes and second-guessing. "Maybe I didn't do enough after the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I)," Baffert said. "Maybe I should have worked him three-quarters. Maybe I should have run him in the Wood Memorial (gr. II) over a deeper track against Monarchos."
The one thing that is etched in stone, with no maybes attached, is the magnificence of Point Given's performance. New Yorkers may have had mixed reactions regarding the human celebrities in attendance, but they couldn't help but admire this remarkable athlete.
During the post-race press conference, Baffert received a call from Barnes. After hanging up, he told Salman and Stevens, "Jimmy called. The horse is already cooled out. He's a beast."
When Point Given walked back to the test barn, A P Valentine's trainer Nick Zito was walking just ahead of him. "My horse ran his heart out again," Zito said, "but that other horse is in another zone."
Another Zito quote proved interesting. "That horse just will not go away," he said. "He keeps coming at you. He's unbelievable. No matter how many times you think you have him beat, he just keeps coming and coming."
No, he wasn't talking about Point Given. Those actually were Zito's words following the 1995 Belmont Stakes, describing Point Given's sire, Thunder Gulch, to whom Zito had run second three times -- with Suave Prospect in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) and Florida Derby, and Star Standard in the Belmont. So, Zito now has finished second in four grade I stakes, including three classics, to "The Big Red Train" and his sire, "The Little Engine That Could."
As for Point Given, his future is unlimited. He has done things his way, and despite some tough setbacks and scary moments, has emerged as one of the most imposing, brilliant, and colorful horses seen in many years.
What makes this horse so special? "He's like poetry in motion," Stevens said. "Despite his size and strength, he's like a feather that's just floating. I mean you don't even feel him hit the ground. It's like he's on a carpet of air. He's something very, very special, and I just feel graced to even be able to ride a horse like this."
John Terranova put it best when he said the morning of the Belmont, "He's an original." He might have added, just like any work of art.
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By JENNIE REES, The Courier-Journal
ELMONT, N.Y. -- It will go down in racing annals as a Point of contention.
After Preakness winner Point Given powered to a 12 1/4-length victory over A P Valentine in yesterday's 133rd Belmont Stakes, the question being asked was: Should this have been a coronation of the sport's 12th Triple Crown winner instead of a celebration of the 11th horse to win the Preakness and Belmont after losing the Derby?
"I'm very excited about his performance today," said jockey Gary Stevens. "It's bittersweet. I feel this horse, when all is said and done and he's retired, he should have a Triple Crown in his belt next to his name. It's not going to be there, but we've got a long year left, some classics left. When it is all said and done, people are going to know what a great horse he is."
Point Given -- the big red son of the 1995 Derby and Belmont winner Thunder Gulch -- left no doubts about being the dominant 3-year-old of 2001, seizing control with a half-mile to go and barreling through the lane to the seventh-largest winning margin in Belmont history. Only three horses ran the stakes' 1 1/2 miles faster than his 2:26.56.
The masterful performance before a crowd of 73,857 on a picture-perfect day came three weeks after Point Given won the Preakness by 21/4 lengths. That made amends for his fifth-place showing as the heavy Derby favorite when Monarchos came flying by to take the roses. Monarchos, after being sixth in the Preakness, finished third yesterday, three-quarters of a length behind A P Valentine.
"I had mixed emotions about it, still thinking about the Kentucky Derby," said winning trainer Bob Baffert, who has attributed various theories for Point Given's poor Louisville showing, including track surface and race strategy. "It's one of those things we'll never know. . . . If you look back, you're going to drive yourself crazy."
It was the first Belmont victory for Baffert, who saw Triple Crown bids end here with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in '98.
But neither of those horses will be as second-guessed as horses who should have pulled off racing's revered sweep as much as Point Given.
"No question he's the real horse," said Nick Zito, who finished second in the Belmont for the fifth time. ". . . He's frightening. When you look at him, he's so big and so fluid. He's the real deal."
The game plan was to let Point Given get into his stride, placing himself wherever he felt comfortable. The feeling was that in the Derby Stevens rushed Point Given to get position and was too close to a torrid pace. In the Preakness, Point Given was well back early on, then came bursting to victory.
The only anxious moment for Point Given in the $1 million Belmont was at the start. After English import Dr Greenfield held up matters more than a minute by refusing to load, Point Given, who can be rambunctious at times himself, also balked a bit. But once he went in from his far outside post in the field of nine, it was smooth sailing.
The pace in the Belmont was comfortable, with Balto Star going the first half-mile in 48 seconds and six furlongs in 1:11.78. But Point Given had running on his mind and was never farther back than fourth or more than a couple of lengths off the lead. He was five wide around the first turn, but it didn't matter.
"Down the backside I was pretty well-convinced the horse showed up," Baffert said. "It was a matter if anybody else was going to show up like he is."
With three-quarters of a mile to go, Point Given went to tackle the leaders, with A P Valentine trying desperately to stay close under hard riding from Victor Espinoza.
"I tried to follow him as much as I can," Espinoza said. "I thought it was my best chance to beat that horse. But after a sixteenth of a mile, he was too far in front of me. I thought, 'At least I have to ride as hard as I can to run second.' This horse I rode almost every step of the way."
Monarchos, who made a huge sweeping move to win the Kentucky Derby, did kick in on the second turn. But by then Point Given, who took the lead with a half-mile to go from the fading Balto Star, had picked up more steam.
"Point Given was just too good today," said Jorge Chavez, Monarchos' rider. "He's a great horse, there's nothing else I can say. (Monarchos) ran hard and kept trying. When I started moving at the five-eighths pole, I thought I might be able to catch him. But he just kept going and going."
Said John Ward of Lexington, Monarchos' trainer: "The winner ran an over-the-top race, and I congratulate him. Our horse ran his race, and I think we'll see the other guy down the road."
Dollar Bill, ridden by Pat Day, finally got a clean trip. But the result was the same as the Preakness: closing to a fourth-place finish, this time one length behind Monarchos.
Point Given paid $4.70 as the 6-5 favorite.
After going the first 1 1/4 miles in a fine 2:00.76, Point Given drew off in the final quarter-mile, which he covered in 25.8 seconds.
"I didn't know how far in front I was at the eighth pole, and I didn't care," said Stevens, who won his third Belmont. "I knew he was going to get a little bit of a rest after this. It was important for everybody to see how good he is.
"He actually was idling with me a little bit the last eighth of a mile; that's why I kept after him. I thought somebody had to be coming. He's something very, very special, and I just feel graced to even be able to ride a horse like this."
Point Given in the Preakness already made Prince Ahmed bin Salman the first Arab to win an American Triple Crown event. Salman, who was in his native Saudi Arabia for the Preakness, said watching the Belmont was "just like winning the world.
"It was extremely disappointing in the Kentucky Derby," he said. "Nobody's fault. I guess that horse would not run. The Preakness, I was again disappointed, because I wasn't there. Today is something special, something you cannot say in words. It's especially a victory for the people of Saudi Arabia."
Salman's The Thoroughbred Corporation also bred Point Given, who is out of the Turkoman mare Turko's Turn. Point Given now is 7-3-0 in 11 starts and has earned $2,468,500 after a $600,000 payday.
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By Tom Keyser
ELMONT, N.Y. - Point Given, the strapping chestnut with a bent for mischief, became one of the best horses never to win the Triple Crown yesterday after a 12 1/4 -length romp in the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.
For the human connections of Point Given, the afterglow of winning the $1 million Belmont was dimmed by the disappointment of losing the Kentucky Derby. If not for that lackluster performance five weeks ago at Churchill Downs, Point Given might already be hailed as one of the great American thoroughbreds.
"I'm always going to be bittersweet about two victories in the Triple Crown without the Derby," said Gary Stevens, Point Given's jockey. "I feel this horse should have a Triple Crown next to his name."
After finishing fifth as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, Point Given redeemed himself with a smashing, 2 1/4 -length victory in the Preakness two weeks ago at Pimlico. But in the Belmont, he elevated his talent and status to a new level with a stunning victory over a strong field of top-notch 3-year-olds.
Although history measures horses over their entire career, Stevens, a Hall of Fame jockey, has already made up his mind about Point Given. The muscular colt is a son of Thunder Gulch, winner of the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont.
"He just stamped himself as one of the best horses of all time," Stevens said of Point Given. "I've never ridden a horse like him. If my riding career ends tomorrow, I'll know I've finally ridden the best horse I'll ever ride."
Point Given's winning margin was the seventh greatest in the 133 runnings of the Belmont - and greatest since Risen Star's 14-length victory in 1988. His time of 2 minutes, 26 2/5 seconds for the 1 1/2 miles tied him with Risen Star for the fourth-fastest Belmont. Only Secretariat, Easy Goer and A.P. Indy have run the race faster.
Point Given earned his place in Triple Crown lore with a jaunt around Belmont Park's massive oval that looked almost leisurely.
Breaking from the No. 9 post - the far outside just as he had in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness - Point Given glided wide around the first turn, but settled comfortably into third down the backstretch. Balto Star and Buckle Down Ben led the parade along the tree-lined straightaway. Right behind the loping Point Given, A P Valentine and Invisible Ink lurked.
Entering the far turn, Point Given dragged Stevens forward. The two front-runners lamely surrendered. Point Given stuck his head in front as soon as they leaned into the long, sweeping bend.
A P Valentine tried to keep up, but his jockey, Victor Espinoza, had already been urging his hard-working mount. No one challenged Point Given as he and Stevens, whipping steadily, drew away down the stretch in the fading New York sunlight.
A P Valentine held on gamely for second. Monarchos, the Kentucky Derby winner, rallied from seventh for third. Following the top three under the wire were Dollar Bill, Invisible Ink, Thunder Blitz, Buckle Down Ben, Balto Star and Dr Greenfield.
As the 6-5 favorite, Point Given paid $4.70 to win. The exacta returned $20.60, the trifecta $76 and the superfecta $183.50.
Bob Baffert, trainer of Point Given, relished his first Belmont victory after failed Triple Crown tries with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998. Those horses narrowly lost the Belmont after winning the Derby and Preakness.
"This is the first time I've ever sat in here as a winner," Baffert said in the post-race interview room. "I have mixed emotions about it. I'm still thinking about the Kentucky Derby."
Baffert attributed Point Given's setback in the Derby to two factors: the colt didn't care for the hard, lightning-fast track, and Stevens too aggressively chased a sizzling, suicidal pace.
"The thing about Point Given, we knew he was a great horse," Baffert said. "Today was his day to really put on a show for everybody."
Baffert had said in the days before the Belmont that Point Given was driving him "crazy ... crazier." The large colt's antics while walking to and from the track have been well-documented. On some days he rears repeatedly, forcing his exercise rider to wrap both arms around the horse's thick neck or plummet to the ground.
Before flying to Belmont Park last week, Baffert said, Point Given broke through the webbing of his stall at Churchill Downs, suffered a deep scratch on his right side and roamed free in the shedrow for a few tense moments. He also somehow banged his head in his stall, opening a cut above his left eye.
"He's just a big kid," Baffert said.
Baffert was noncommittal about Point Given's short-term plans. But he said the Breeders' Cup Classic in late October here at Belmont and the Dubai World Cup next March in the Middle East are on the agenda.
"The main thing is to enjoy this horse," Baffert said. "They don't come around like him very often."
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By John Scheinman
ELMONT, N.Y., June 9 -- Point Given went into the Kentucky Derby as a strong prospect to win thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown and inexplicably failed. Today, he continued the reclamation begun in the Preakness, devastating a strong field and running the fourth-fastest Belmont Stakes in its 133-year history.
Any presumption that Derby winner Monarchos might be the better colt was wiped out on the far turn of the Belmont as Point Given separated from the field with thunderous power and barreled to a 12 1/4-length victory over runner-up A P Valentine. Monarchos, who struggled along in sixth most of the race, moved up late to finish third.
Point Given's time of 2 minutes 26.56 seconds for the 1 1/2 miles ranks only behind the runs of Secretariat, Easy Goer and A.P. Indy at Belmont Park.
Trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Gary Stevens described victory in the Belmont as bittersweet in light of the loss in the Kentucky Derby. Point Given dominated the Belmont so thoroughly, neither could get thoughts of "what-if" out of their heads.
"I'll always wonder what could have been," Stevens said. "He should have been going for the Triple Crown today. When it's all said and done, he should have the Triple Crown next to his name. But it's not going to be."
Baffert serenely observed the race from the owner's box of Prince Ahmed Salman, a member of the Saudi Arabia royal family, pumping his fist during the stretch run but otherwise exuding confidence.
"Down the backside, I was pretty well convinced the horse showed up," Baffert said. "It was just a question whether anybody else showed up with him. It's one of those things you'll never know. If you look back [at the Derby], you'll drive yourself crazy."
For a moment before the Belmont, Point Given looked as if he was going to display some of the antics he often shows before morning workouts, rearing up and nearly dumping Stevens. Long shot British import Dr Greenfield grew nervous before loading into the gate and tossed jockey Edgar Prado.
It took two minutes before he was brought under control and moments afterward, Point Given began to balk.
Finally loaded, Point Given broke sharply but was caught five-wide on the first turn as speedster Balto Star took the lead, followed by Buckle Down Ben.
On the backstretch, Stevens put Point Given into stalking position on the outside of the leaders as Balto Star ran a moderate half-mile in 48 seconds.
As the lone confirmed front-runner in the race, Balto Star was attempting to steal the race under jockey Chris McCarron, controlling the pace the same way he had in victories in the Spiral Stakes and Arkansas Derby. But this time, the stalkers were breathing down his neck and, after a mile, Balto Star was finished.
As the pace quickened near the far turn, jockey Victor Espinoza shook up A P Valentine just outside of Point Given and the two horses quickly left the field behind.
Yet while Espinoza furiously worked on A P Valentine, Point Given was effortlessly drawing away as the crowd of 73,857 rose to greet him. Monarchos, a lifeless sixth in the Preakness after his sensational Derby victory, again failed to display his powerful, prolonged drive, although he managed to close within three-quarters of a length of A P Valentine.
"He ran hard today, but he didn't run the race that he ran in the Derby," said Monarchos's jockey, Jorge Chavez. "In the first turn, I got a little bump, but I don't think that did any damage. My horse tried hard and kept trying. At the five-eighths pole, I thought I might be able to catch the leader, but he just kept going and going."
The other potential threats in the race, hard-luck runner Dollar Bill and Kentucky Derby runner-up Invisible Ink, never threatened.
After the race, Baffert sat down for the news conference with a look of relief and elation on his face. Clearly, Point Given had confirmed he is the best 3-year-old in the country, with or without a Triple Crown on his head.
"I had mixed emotions about it -- still thinking about the Kentucky Derby," Baffert said, removing his sunglasses to display dark rings under his eyes. "But he really put on a show for everybody. This horse is just getting it together. There's a lot of places we want to go -- the Breeders' Cup, the Dubai World Cup next year. We want to just enjoy this horse, because they don't come around like this very often."
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By JOHN DELLAPINA
The performance was overpowering. The stuff of memories and legends and, usually, Triple Crowns.
What Point Given accomplished yesterday at Belmont Park was something just short of that, overwhelming as it was.
Obliterating a field of eight that included at least four legitimate rivals, Point Given powered to a 12 1/4-length victory in the 133rd Belmont Stakes.
The winning margin, over runnerup A P Valentine, was the seventh-largest in Belmont history. The winning time of 2:26.2 tied for the fourth-fastest. Derby winner Monarchos was third.
Still there was an unsettled feeling among Point Given's connections that something was missing on what was otherwise a triumphant day.
"I'm like Bob (Baffert)," jockey Gary Stevens said, referring to Point Given's colorful trainer. "I'm very excited, obviously, about his performance today. But it's bittersweet.
"I feel that this horse, when it's all said and done with and he's retired, he should have a Triple Crown belt next to his name. It's not going to be there."
It won't be there because, for whatever reason — errant tactics in the race, a mistaken choice of prep events or that it just wasn't his day — Point Given did not run well enough to win the Kentucky Derby as a ballyhooed favorite five weeks ago.
He redeemed himself and both Baffert and Stevens in capturing the Preakness. And then came yesterday and a run that will go down as one of the most overwhelming in Belmont history.
Stevens wanted it to be overwhelming. The 38-year-old Hall of Famer who returned from an eight-month retirement last fall, knew he had something special this time. So, despite pulling away from AP Valentine to pretty much settle matters by the head of the stretch, Stevens kept urging Point Given until just before the wire.
"He put on a show today — an unbelievable show," Stevens said after his third Belmont win in six tries returned $4.70.
"I didn't know how far in front I was at the eighth pole and I didn't care. I know he's going to get a little rest after this and it was important for everybody to see how good he is."
What nobody other than Baffert, his assistants and a couple of grooms could see was how much the strapping colt acted up in the time between his arrival at Belmont Wednesday and post time yesterday.
Between developing blisters from a mud polstice, cutting his head while frolicking in his stall, coming down with stomach problems that altered his eating pattern and then gashing his side while seeking out food when his appetite returned, Point Given put Baffert through several days of torture.
But it probably will pale in comparison with the ordeal of Baffert's having for the third time fallen one victory short of a Triple Crown. He won the Derby and the Preakness with Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998) only to come up empty in those Belmonts.
"You know what? When I lost those races, once it's over, all you can do is go back and think, 'What can I do to make it better?'" Baffert said, striking a philosophical tone. "It's one of those things that I really think, if it's meant to happen, it's meant to happen.
"John and Debbie Oxley (Monarchos' owners) were meant to win the Derby and they were very deserving. (Trainer) John Ward has been around forever and they win the Derby and that's the way it is. There was a Belmont with my name on it and unfortunately, we left another $5 million (Triple Crown bonus) out there. It's $15 million now."
Baffert, Stevens and owner Prince Ahmed Salman of Saudi Arabia will get an opportunity to make plenty more cash with Point Given. They indicated the colt will compete in the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Dubai World Cup later this year.
"We've got a long year left and some classics left," Stevens said. "And I think, when it's all said and done, people are going to know what a great horse he is."
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By BILL CHRISTINE
ELMONT, N.Y.--Point Given did not win the Triple Crown--five weeks ago there was a Kentucky Derby that assured that--but the strapping colt will be remembered as one of the best horses to campaign in the rigorous series after a by-the-numbers victory Saturday in the Belmont Stakes.
Before a crowd of 73,857--including former President Clinton and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton--Point Given hung up these numbers in the 133rd running of the Belmont:
* A winning margin of 12 1/4 lengths, which was the seventh largest and the best since Risen Star's 14 3/4-length romp in 1988.
* A winning time of 2:26 2/5 for the 1 1/2 miles, which tied for the fourth-fastest clocking and has been surpassed only by Secretariat's world-record 2:24 (1973), Easy Goer's 2:26 (1989) and A.P. Indy's 2:26 (1992).
Unofficially, Point Given may have set a record for fewest deep breaths after winning a Belmont. In the winner's circle, while the Clintons--waiting to present the trophy--stiff-upper-lipped a cascade of boos, trainer Bob Baffert's colt looked as if he could have gone out and completed the course again.
"I pretty much galloped him to the quarter pole," said Gary Stevens, who rode Point Given for his third Belmont and eighth Triple Crown win. "The race was basically over very early on. I've never ridden a horse like him. He put on an unbelievable show today."
Baffert, who has won the Kentucky Derby twice and the Preakness three times, finally has his Belmont. Twice, in 1997 and 1998, Baffert missed out on a Triple Crown sweep and two $5-million bonuses when Silver Charm and Real Quiet suffered narrow defeats in the Belmont. This time the $5 million got away because Point Given ran a distant fifth in the Derby before winning the Preakness and the Belmont.
"Fifteen million," Baffert said, thinking about all that lucre and rolling his eyes. "We've gone back and forth about what happened in the Derby, and we'll probably never know why. You drive yourself crazy wondering. We talked about the hard surface at Churchill Downs. It just wasn't his day and [winning] didn't happen."
Second in the Preakness, A P Valentine was the runner-up again Saturday, finishing three-quarters of a length ahead of Monarchos, the Kentucky Derby winner that ran sixth in the Preakness. In 78-degree weather, and all them running 1 1/2 miles for the first time, there was a collective stagger after that, with the rest of the order of finish belonging to Dollar Bill, Invisible Ink, Thunder Blitz, Buckle Down Ben, Balto Star and Dr Greenfield.
Favored in all three Triple Crown races, Point Given paid $4.70 for $2. He collared $600,000 of the $1-million purse, lifting his earnings to $2.4 million. His sire, Thunder Gulch, who was also ridden by Stevens, won the 1995 Belmont and became the 12th winner of the race to turn out at least one subsequent Belmont winner. The only other jockey to ride both a son of a Belmont winner and the sire is Bill Shoemaker, who was along for Sword Dancer's win in 1959 and Damascus' victory eight years later.
"Point Given has taken me to a different level," said Stevens, when asked to compare Saturday's hero with Thunder Gulch. "This colt is stronger and more athletic. He's got everything that Thunder Gulch had, but double."
Thunder Gulch won the Derby that eluded Point Given, but was third in the Preakness. Of the horses that ran in all three Triple Crown races, Point Given is the 10th horse to pull off the Preakness-Belmont double.
Point Given was bred, via a mating of Thunder Gulch with Turko's Turn, a Turkoman mare, by Ahmed Salman, and he also races for the 42-year-old Saudi Arabian prince's Thoroughbred Corp.
"I was extremely disappointed after the Derby," Salman said. "I was extremely disappointed after the Preakness, because I wasn't there [due to the press of business]. Now I'm tickled to death."
Point Given, breaking from the outside post in the nine-horse field, had a good start and by the first turn, Stevens had angled him over to third place, behind Balto Star and Buckle Down Ben, who were setting modest fractions. Point Given kept that position until midway on the far turn, when he passed both of the leaders. He was two lengths ahead at the quarter pole, seven lengths to the good with an eighth of a mile left and kept widening the lead.
A P Valentine and Monarchos didn't really rally, they just survived.
"This is bittersweet, because this horse should have the Triple Crown belt," Stevens said. "But they all get beat. Unfortunately, we got beat on the wrong day."
For Nick Zito, the hometown trainer, there were no winner's white carnations again. Zito, who trains A P Valentine, is 0 for 11 in his backyard race, with five seconds.
"I tried to follow Point Given," said Victor Espinoza, who rode A P Valentine, "but with a half-mile to go I knew I couldn't beat [him]. With a sixteenth of a mile to go, the other horse was too far in front of me."
John Ward, the trainer of Monarchos, commended Point Given.
"The winner ran an over-the-top race, and I congratulate him," Ward said.
Monarchos' jockey, Jorge Chavez, found his mount in seventh place, more than five lengths from the lead, after the opening half-mile.
"He ran hard today, but he didn't run the race he ran in the Derby," Chavez said. "At the five-eighths pole, I thought I might be able to catch the leader, but he just kept going and going."
The Bob Baffert-trained Flame Thrower, second to Put It Back in Saturday's $150,000 Riva Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park, was vanned off the track after the race. Flame Thrower, last year's Del Mar Futurity and Norfolk winner, broke his left foreleg and will undergo surgery today.
In other stakes at Belmont Park, Forbidden Apple, ridden by Corey Nakatani, won the $400,000 Manhattan Handicap; Say Florida Sandy won the $150,000 True North Handicap; and License Fee won the $100,000 Just A Game Breeders' Cup.
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By JOE DRAPE
It is clear by now that the Saudi prince Ahmed bin Salman, Bob Baffert and Gary Stevens believe their extraordinarily talented colt, Point Given, should have swept the Triple Crown. They are disappointed, as a good many racing fans are, especially after the 3-year-old that the owner, trainer and rider call the Big Red Train rolled like one to demolish a fine field by 12 1/4 lengths in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.
They — we — need to get over it and eagerly, breathlessly move on to what promises to be a tremendous summer and fall of horse racing. Point Given's Belmont performance and impressive Preakness victory demonstrated that he is potentially a great horse.
Only 11 horses, beginning with Sir Barton in 1919 and ending with Affirmed in 1978, earned a reputation for greatness by June of their 3-year-old seasons. The other horses to win the Triple Crown were Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat and Seattle Slew. They are the standard.
Like Point Given, 44 others grabbed two of the three legs of the Triple Crown. Some of them had to wait a little longer, and win a few more big races, before being tagged as one of the best ever. There's nothing wrong with that, either.
Prince Ahmed admitted that he cried after his colt ran fifth in the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May. Baffert continues to second-guess how he trained Point Given before the Derby. And Stevens concedes he may have gotten the Big Red Train in gear too early at Churchill Downs. But each showed signs of coming out of his funk as the Belmont victory sank in.
"If you look back, you're going to drive yourself crazy," said Baffert, who for the third time in five years won two legs of the Triple Crown. "We have to figure out how to keep him healthy and sound and keep going. There's a lot of places I want to go."
Stevens, a Hall of Fame jockey, emphatically called Point Given the best horse he had ever ridden. That says a lot considering he was on two other near-winners of the Triple Crown: Point Given's sire, Thunder Gulch, in 1995, and Silver Charm in 1997. He offered a challenge to his friend, Prince Ahmed, who was sitting next to him Saturday evening. "I think with maturity he's going to continue to improve," Stevens said of Point Given. "All I hope is that he doesn't improve too quickly to where this guy retires him on me."
Stevens raised an interesting point. Too often racing fans have lost a star to the breeding shed before having a chance to appreciate him. Last year's Derby winner, Fusaichi Pegasus, finished second in the Preakness, skipped the Belmont with a minor foot injury and raced only twice more after being sold as a stallion prospect for more than $60 million.
It's the conundrum of any top-level owner in an expensive sport: race them or cash in. Prince Ahmed, who bred Point Given, is a successful international publisher and a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family, so he really doesn't need the money. He appears inclined to race the colt this year and beyond before retiring Point Given to his own operation.
Baffert says he definitely wants to run Point Given in the Breeders' Cup Classic, a $4 million race that attracts the best horses in the world and will be run at Belmont Park on Oct. 27. Baffert also wants to take Point Given to Dubai next spring for the $6 million World Cup, a race he won last March with Captain Steve.
In even better news, despite Point Given's Belmont rout, many of the top challengers in what is the deepest and most gifted crop of 3-year-olds in 20 years want to try the Big Red Train again. Their owners and trainers, too, want to show they have great horses. "We'll keep trying to beat that horse," said the trainer Nick Zito after his A P Valentine matched his runner-up finish in the Preakness in the Belmont.
Souped-up track and favorable pace or not at Churchill Downs, Monarchos was spectacular in posting the second-fastest winning time in Kentucky Derby history. His trainer, John Ward, is neither satisfied nor sorry he prevented Point Given from sweeping the Triple Crown.
Ward knows that 3-year-olds get bigger and better by the day. "I think we'll see the other guy down the road," he said after Monarchos finished third in the Belmont.
This is also true of Baffert's Congaree, the third-place finisher in the Derby and the Preakness; Ward's Hero's Tribute, winner of the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont; Millennium Wind, the Blue Grass victor; and the Fountain of Youth champion Song andaprayer.
Then there are those late developers who haven't shown themselves. Last year, as the Triple Crown kicked off, a 3-year-old named Tiznow was readying for just the second start of his career. By fall, he had won three races in five weeks, capped by a nearly gate-to-wire victory against a star-studded field in the mile-and-a-quarter Breeders' Cup Classic. Tiznow was subsequently named horse of the year.
In other words, there's plenty of good 3-year-olds out there to make the summer and fall stakes seasons special.
The Belmont drew a crowd of 73,857 and its largest national television audience since 1993 — up 44 percent from last year — demonstrating that horse racing can be captivating without a Triple Crown. Now, for Point Given and his challengers, their greatness will have to be earned rather than granted.
"They all get beat," Stevens said, before alluding to the Kentucky Derby. "Unfortunately, we got beat on the wrong day."
Fortunately for horse enthusiasts, there's an awful lot that's right about the months ahead.
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