Ron Kantowski observes that the Sport of Kings and the regal display of dressage are horses of a very different color

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

What: 29th annual FEI World Cup Jumping Final and 22nd annual FEI World Cup Dressage Final

When: Today -Sunday

Where: Thomas & Mack Center

Tickets: $150-$1,000. Good for all sessions; individual session tickets begin at $30

On the Web: www.worldcuplasvegas.com, unlvtickets.com

I have never seen dressage in person, or, for that matter, on Wide World of Sports. But I always have been fascinated by the word. Dressage. It sounds like an all-in-one junior prom kit for guys who can't get a job at the malt shop.

A dress and corsage, all rolled into one. A dressage.

Actually, that's just the K-Tel definition. Webster's describes it as "exhibition riding or horsemanship in which the horse is controlled in certain difficult steps and gaits by very slight movements of the rider."

That last part is where dressage and horse racing, a sport to which I, or at least my wallet, have been exposed, differ. While I have seen Angel Cordero Jr. climb aboard a 20-1 long shot and exhibit some serious riding and horsemanship, there's nothing slight about the movement of his hand - that would be the one with the whip - when his mount hits the quarter pole.

Dressage, on the other hand, is such a genteel sport they plant flowers on the track - er, inside the ring.

It's a sport in which kings have been known to participate but it's not the Sport of Kings, a fact that was driven home by a list of dressage spectator pointers on the official Rolex FEI World Cup Web site: