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News and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC) (212.371.5911..)  BELMONT RATINGS, ATTENDANCE & WAGERING UP ABC Sports 96-minute Belmont Stakes telecast received a 5.9 rating and an 18 share, up 11 percent from last year. Approximately 5,782,000 households tuned in to watch Real Quiet just miss becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner. The race segment, from 5:00-6:06 p.m., garnered a 6.7 rating and a 20 share, higher than any other non-NBA sporting event that week. In contrast, Sunday's Kemper Open golf tournament on CBS was the next highest rated event at 2.8-8. During the three weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes, Real Quiet's run at history and the $5 million VISA Triple Crown Challenge bonus was heavily promoted by an advertising campaign from sponsor VISA, the newly launched National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the New York Racing Association. The race attracted the second-largest crowd in Belmont Park history, and those 80,162 fans set several wagering records. The on-track handle of $9,351,731 was Belmont's second-largest and a new record for Belmont Stakes Day. Belmont Park also set a record with a commingled handle of $50,168,550, surpassing last year's total of $46,719,629. Including non-commingled sources, the total handle was $55,613,482, over $4 million more than the record $51,275,236 established last year on Belmont Day. A new commingled record of $24,353,412 was wagered on the Belmont Stakes, while an overall record $28,354,418 was wagered on the race. DERBY ALUMNI TO GATHER AT CHURCHILL DOWNS Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Ky., will host Kentucky Derby Alumni Day on Saturday, June 13. Fifteen jockeys, 11 trainers, four owners and one horse who tasted glory in the Derby winner's circle will return for the celebration. (Last year's Deby winner, Silver Charm, will make his first start since winning the $4 million Dubai World Cup on March 28, in the $750,000 Stephen Foster Handicap.) In addition, Churchill Downs will be giving a Kentucky Derby Alumni special edition collectors mug to the first 10,000 fans. The mug features the racing silks of Derby winners celebrating anniversaries, including Winning Colors (10th), Sunny's Halo (15th), Affirmed (20th), Secretariat (25th) and Citation (50th). The afternoon will feature three autograph sessions, one for active riders from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m., active trainers from 1:30-2:30 p.m. and retired jockeys and trainers from 2:30-3:30 p.m. The 1998 Kentucky Derby trophy, valued at $65,000, will be presented to Mike Pegram, owner of Real Quiet, following the fourth race. The trophy will be on display along with a full-size replica of the Garland of Roses. Among those scheduled to participate in the special day are jockeys Ron Turcotte, Angel Cordero Jr., Jacinto Vasquez, Gary Stevens, Pat Day, Chris McCarron, Eddie Delahoussaye and Kent Desormeaux. The list of trainers features Bob Baffert, Jack Van Berg, MacK Miller, D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito and Carl Nafzger. Bob and Beverly Lewis, Mike Pegram, William T. Young and Dell Hancock are the owners who will participate. NTRA REACHES OUT TO NEW FANS THROUGH SPORTS ILLUSTRATED INSERT A colorful, easy-to-read pamphlet that introduces Thoroughbred racing to new fans hits newsstands this week in 3.2 million copies of the June 15 edition of Sports Illustrated. The 10-panel brochure, entitled 'How to Go Baby Go,' is a component of the national brand-building campaign launched in April by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), the new league office for Thoroughbred racing. 'This is a simple, easy-to-read introduction to the sport,' said Rick Baedeker, Senior Vice President of Marketing for the NTRA. 'And Sports Illustrated gives us a direct link to a huge, prime, targeted audience. Subtitled 'A little black book Pocket Guide to Wagering on the Ponies,' the pamphlet includes categories such as: 'A Menu of Bets'; 'What to Say at the Window'; and 'How to Talk the Talk,' a glossary of basic terms. 'Making the sport easier to understand is a vital component of the NTRA plan,' said Baedeker. 'This is the first step of a long-term project that includes improving the manner in which we serve our customers.' Additional pamphlets were printed for distribution through NTRA member tracks and 10,000 copies were given to fans in attendance at the Belmont Stakes last weekend. NTRA ALL-STAR JOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP TO AIR ON ESPN2 The $100,000 NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship, a unique four-race competition featuring 12 riders, seven of them Hall of Famers, will be nationally televised for the first time when ESPN2 provides live coverage from Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie, Texas, on Friday, June 19 (10-11 p.m., EDT). This year's All-Star Jockey Championship will be the first televised special event presented by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), which in conjunction with Lone Star Park and the Jockeys' Guild, is also conducting a consumer-fan promotion linked to the outcome of the four-race contest. Last year's inaugural event was a down-to-the-wire thriller for the Friday night crowd of 15,520 at Lone Star Park as six riders had a chance to win with one race to go. The rest of the nation, however, had to read about Gary Stevens' victory the following day since there was no television coverage. Now, the NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship has a potential audience of 57 million, thanks to live coverage on ESPN2. 'This is a stand-alone event which marks the first NTRA-sponsored television initiative,' said Basil DeVito Jr., the NTRA's Senior Vice President-Television and Sponsorships. 'In addition to providing national television exposure to an established event, the NTRA sees the need for fan promotion throughout the country to our initiated fans. On a national level, we have created marketing and promotional materials to go to 250 simulcast outlets, including posters, promotional and advertising materials.' This year's star-studded lineup of jockeys is headlined by defending champ Gary Stevens and Kent Desormeaux, who piloted Real Quiet to victory in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes only to fall a nose short to Victory Gallop and Stevens in the Belmont Stakes. All seven active Hall of Fame riders will compete: Stevens, Jerry Bailey, Pat Day, Eddie Delahoussaye, Sandy Hawley Chris McCarron and Laffit Pincay Jr., while Desormeaux will be joined by three of racing's young stars, Mike Smith, Shane Sellers and Julie Krone. Marlon St. Julien, Lone Star Park's leading jockey, will represent the home team. The 12 riders have won 20 Eclipse Awards, 12 Kentucky Derbies and 51 Breeders' Cup races between them. The NTRA has selected four major markets throughout the country to extensively market the event. Fans in Philadelphia, Louisville, Dallas and Los Angeles will be offered various jockey promotions, contests, and drawings for prizes and trips to the Breeders' Cup. 'It will provide a theme for a nighttime special event,' said DeVito. 'This is a multifaceted effort, combining national television, national simulcast sites and racetracks. It's part of a broad plan to integrate marketing and television.' The one-hour ESPN2 telecast will show the final two races of the four-race event live, with the first two on a tape delay. Sportscaster Kenny Rice, racing analyst Caton Bredar and jockey Donna Barton will provide the commentary. Jockeys will receive points for their finishes in each of the four races. The jockey with the most points at the end of the competition wins. The $100,000 in prize money will be distributed as follows: 1st place, $25,000; 2nd place, $15,000; 3rd place, $10,000; 4th place, $8,000; 5th place, $7,000; 6th-12th places, $5,000. HALL OF FAME FAME TO INDUCT FIRST DERBY WINNING TRAINER Anson Williamson, a former slave who trained Aristides, winner of the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Aug. 10. 'The [Historic Review] Committee felt strongly that the achievements of Ansel Williamson deserve his recognition as a Hall of Fame trainer,' said John von Stade, president of the museum. Williamson trained numerous 19th-century champions including the undefeated Norfolk and Asteroid, Australian and Tom Bowling. CALDER HOSTS FUNDRAISER FOR SPINAL CORD INJURY RESEARCH On Saturday, June 13, Calder Racecourse, Miami, Fla., will host a fundraiser in support of the Buoniconti Fund, the national fundraising organization for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. For a $5 donation to the Fund, fans can align themselves with one of three WQAM Radio sportscasters (Hank Goldberg, Jeff DeForrest or Ed Kaplan) as they try to select the winners of three races. Calder will donate $50,000 to the Fund and has already donated $75,000 the past two years. The Thoroughbred Racing Associations has also supported the Fund, recognizing that racing accidents have resulted in some riders suffering spinal cord injuries and paralysis. 'There are so many worthy causes in this country, but we felt that racing, as an industry, should offer assistance to an area that regrettably has something to do with our dangerous sport,' said Ken Dunn, a TRA Director and the president of Calder. 'The Miami Project is the premier research organization in the world whose only goal is to find a cure for paralysis. Doctors are convinced that it only a matter of time-and money-that they find a solution for this terrible condition.' NAKATANI TAKES A SWING AT CELEBRITY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP Jockey Corey Nakatani, winner of three Breeders' Cup races, will be one of 75 leading sports and entertainment figures scheduled to compete in the $500,000 Isuzu Celebrity Golf Championship, July 10-12 at the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nev. The Championship, a 54-hole stroke play event for players with a U.S.G.A. registered handicap of 10 or less, will be televised live by NBC Sports (July 11, 4:00-6:00 p.m. and July 12, 3:00-6:00 p.m., EDT). First prize is $100,000. Nakatani, who plays out of the San Gabriel Country Club in San Gabriel, Calif., has a 6.8 handicap index. Among those he is expected to face in this year's event are John Elway, Mario Lemieux, Bryant Gumble, Matt Lauer, Johnny Bench, Jerry Rice, Brett Hull, Joe Morgan, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dan Quayle. Former Major League pitcher Rick Rhoden is the defending, four-time champion of the tournament.
June 5, Racehorse Digest, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN
June 12, 1960: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr. rode his first race at El Comandante in Puerto Rico. June 12, 1982: Jockey Mike Smith rode his first winner, Future Man, in a $2,000 claiming race at Santa Fe. June 13, 1961: Ben A. Jones, who trained a record six Kentucky Derby winners, died. June 13, 1992: Angel Cordero Jr. won his first race in two tries as a trainer, with Puchinito, in the fourth race at Belmont Park. June 14, 1967: Jockey Craig Perret, age 16, won his first career race at Arlington Park. Despite starting well into the season, Perret finished the year third among the nation's apprentice riders in races won (with 114) and led all apprentices in the earnings category, with $610,003. June 15, 1963: Five weeks prior to his 90th birthday, Hall of Fame trainer 'Sunny' Jim Fitzsimmons retired. 'Mr. Fitz,' as he was also known, trained such outstanding runners as Nashua, Bold Ruler, Johnstown and Triple Crown winners Gallant Fox and his son Omaha. June 15, 1977: Future rivals Affirmed and Alydar met for the first time, in the Youthful Stakes at Belmont Park. Affirmed triumphed over Alydar, who finished fifth, and went on to win four of their six races together in 1977. June 16, 1943: With a shortage of male workers due to the war, Garden State Park announced it would employ female mutuels clerks. June 17, 1912: A record parimutuel payoff on a straight $2 wager was set when Wishing Ring, sent off at odds of 941-1, paid $1,885.50 to win at Latonia. The mark was only surpassed in 1989, when Power to Geaux paid $2,922 for a $2 wager made at AKsarben on a race that was simulcast from Fair Grounds. June 17, 1967: Buckpasser's 15-race winning streak ended when he finished third to stablemate Poker in the Bowling Green Handicap at Aqueduct, his only attempt at turf racing. Buckpasser carried 135 pounds while Poker was assigned 112. June 18, 1936: Omaha, the 1935 Triple Crown winner owned by New York banker William Woodward, lost the 2 1-2-mile Ascot Gold Cup by a head to filly Quashed at Ascot, England. A crowd of 200,000 was said to be present for the race, for which Omaha was the 11-8 favorite. Omaha had shipped to England aboard the Aquitania on Jan. 8, 1936 and won the May 30 Queens Plate at Kempton Park, England. June 19, 1880: Sheepshead Bay racecourse opened for a six-day meet. The track was the original site of the Suburban, Futurity and Realization Stakes, which eventually were transferred to Belmont Park. June 19, 1942: Count Fleet won his first race, at Aqueduct Racetrack. June 19, 1992: Charlie Whittingham became the second trainer in history, behind D. Wayne Lukas, to top $100 million in purse earnings when he sent Little by Little to a second-place finish in the sixth race at Hollywood Park.
Stephen Foster Handicap, 3&up;, $750,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade II, Churchill
Downs Brooklyn Handicap, 3&up;, $300,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade II, Belmont Baltimore Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3&up;, $200,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade III, Pimlico Pike Place Dancer Stakes, 3yo fillies, $150,000, 1 1-16 Miles Turf, Golden Gate Super Diamond Handicap, 3&up;, $100,000, 1 1-16 Miles, Hollywood
Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile Handicap, 3&up;, $400,000, 1 Mile Turf, Grade
II, Hollywood Hill Prince Stakes, 3yo, $100,000, 1 1-8 Miles Turf, Grade III, Belmont Jefferson Cup Stakes, 3yo, $250,000, 1 1-8 Miles Turf, Churchill Downs King Edward Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3&up;, $250,000a, 1 1-8 Miles Turf, Grade III, Woodbine Leonard Richards Stakes, 3yo, $150,000, 1 1-16 Miles, Delaware Princess Stakes, 3yo fillies, $150,000, 1 1-16 Miles, Grade II, Hollywood
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