Columnist Ralph Siraco: Time for the rubber match

Ralph Siraco

Friday, June 8, 2001 | 11:29 a.m.

Ralph Siraco covers horse racing for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him c/o Las Vegas Sun, 2275 Corporate Circle Drive, Henderson, NV 89014.

Saturday's Grade I Belmont Stakes won't have a Triple Crown on the line. For the second time in the past five years, the $5 million Visa Triple Crown bonus has been safely kept in the vault as the Kentucky Derby winner failed to win the Preakness Stakes, thus taking away any third-jewel drama for a potential 12th winner of the sport's most coveted accomplishment.

Unlike last year, however, the 133rd Belmont will at least have the winners of the first two jewels of the Triple Crown when Kentucky Derby victor Monarchos and Point Given, who captured the Preakness, take on seven others in the longest and most grueling of the series classics.

While this Belmont won't have the tense edge that preceded the 1997 running with Silver Charm, the 1998 edition with Real Quiet, or the 1999 renewal with Charismatic -- who were all going for the Triple Crown -- it is a far cry from last year's anti-climatic mediocre millennium victory by Commendable, who beat a field that was void of Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus and Preakness victor Red Bullet.

When the horses come on the Belmont Park track to the tune of "New York, New York," racing fans and casual players will be treated to a competitive equine puzzle. It will include much more than a rematch of the Derby and Preakness winners. Whatever drama is lost without a Triple Crown at stake will be replaced by the sheer intrigue of an unusual mix of talented sophomores going a distance much further than they will ever be asked to travel again.

On Wednesday, the post position draw for the 1 1/2-mile classic produced a rarity. Point Given has drawn the extreme outside post in all three Triple Crown races.

The fifth-placed Kentucky Derby favorite drew the outside post of the 17-horse field in Louisville. Then, two weeks later, the Preakness Stakes favorite overcame his outside post in the 11-horse field to win in Baltimore. Now, the son of 1995 Belmont Stakes winner Thunder Gulch will be expected to perform at his best from the outside post again in the nine horse-field entered on Saturday.

And, if that isn't enough, the massive chestnut has been his own worst enemy at times. His morning antics have been well documented while preparing for the Derby, but trainer Bob Baffert recently reported in a Daily Racing Form interview that Point Given had a fungus that flared up in his left rear hoof days before the Derby. The condition apparently was dormant during his preparations for the Preakness.

Point Given has been training at Churchill Downs since, and Baffert has been experimenting with different plates and angles on the left rear foot in an attempt to keep the horse from losing his shoe. A recent glue-on shoe produced some discoloration, but the silver-haired conditioner said the horse has "had problems back there (left rear hoof) with a cracked heel."

Point Given arrived at Belmont Park on Wednesday with a cut above his eye requiring three stitches and another on his hind quarters that reportedly happened when he acted up in his stall. The trainer also relayed that although the condition of the cracked heel looked "really good right now," he is concerned about the sandy composition of the Belmont track.

Meanwhile, trainer John Ward has been enjoying a kickback schedule with Derby winner Monarchos.

Ward is a firm believer in training your horse over the track he will be running on. To that end, Monarchos was one of the first to bed down at Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness following his Kentucky Derby victory.

Although Monarchos trained well over the Pimlico strip, he found the changing track conditions on Preakness day not to his liking. Jockey Jorge Chavez, who will be back in the saddle on Saturday, reported that the Derby winner didn't like the Pimlico surface and could not handle the track that day.

Monarchos, however, shipped on to New York and has been training over the Belmont Park track for almost three weeks. Again, he appears to like Belmont's sandy conditions and has enjoyed long gallops and several brisk mile-and-a-half rounds. Ward believes that Monarchos is ready to avenge his Avis spot and will give Point Given a run this time.

Besides Monarchos, four other Belmont entrants have been training over the track. They are: A P Valentine, who is 2-for-2 at Belmont and recently turned around a horrendous Derby performance into a runner-up effort in the Preakness; Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Thunder Blitz; Balto Star, who suffered heat exhaustion after attending the fastest half-mile clocking in Derby history; and Kentucky Derby long shot (56-1 odds) runner-up Invisible Ink.

Belmont starters Dollar Bill and long shot Buckle Down Ben, who won an allowance race on Memorial Day weekend at Churchill Downs, accompanied Point Given from Louisville, while the Irish-bred entrant, Dr. Greenfield, shipped in from England.

Baffert reminded those who relayed Ward's comments that Point Given had run at Belmont Park while shipping in before. That was a runner-up outing to A P Valentine last October in the Grade I Champagne as a two-year-old.

Referring to Point Given, Baffert said, "If a horse is doing good, he can run well anywhere."

This, of course, came after Baffert's joking response of, "That's my out (excuse) if we get beat."

Rubber match, rematch. Fresh horse, Derby horse, Preakness horse. Training over the track, not training over the track. Track conditions, in or out. We'll find out the ultimate answer shortly after 3:04 p.m. and a 1 1/2 mile Elmont gallop on Saturday.