BELMONT STAKES NOTEBOOK: PROUD CITIZEN U.S. CHOICE?Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer ELMONT, N.Y. - Second in the Derby, third in the Preakness - and first in the hearts of his countrymen? The owners of Proud Citizen hope that describes their colt, who is among those with a chance to beat War Emblem War Emblem was the winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2002. This Thoroughbred's time was 2:01.13 around the 1 1/4 mile track. Victor Espinoza was his jockey for the Derby, never having seen the horse until the morning of the race. out of the Triple Crown on Saturday. Owners David Cornstein, Robert Baker and Bill Mack said their share of the $1 million Belmont Stakes purse - assuming Proud Citizen and jockey Mike Smith finish fifth or better - would be donated to the Twin Towers Fund benefiting the families of Sept. 11 victims. They unveiled a horse blanket for Proud Citizen that bears the logo ``FDNY FDNY Fire Department New York (New York City, NY, USA) FDNY Fort Drum, New York (US Army) ,'' honoring firefighters who died in the World Trade Center. ``We're three regular guys from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of vs. a prince from Saudi Arabia,'' Cornstein said at Belmont Park this week, referring to War Emblem's owner, Prince Ahmed Salman. Cornstein is chairman of New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. Off-Track Betting and the New York Olympic Games Commission, and a tournament bridge player. Baker and Mack are real-estate developers. The appeal for patriotic sympathy follows a Kentucky Derby-week display by trainer D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. . Playing off the name Proud Citizen, as well as that of dam Drums of Freedom, Lukas hung a Twin Towers poster and U.S. flags from his Churchill Downs barn. During the walk from the barn to the saddling paddock at Churchill Downs, the owners handed out miniature flags to fans standing at the rail. Proud Citizen ran second behind War Emblem in the Derby as a 23-1 shot and advanced from sixth to second while losing ground on the turns before finishing third behind War Emblem and Magic Weisner in the Preakness at 7-1. Proud Citizen is the 5-1 second choice on the Belmont morning line. War Emblem is the even-money favorite. --One down: If there is an upset in the Belmont Stakes, it won't be perpetrated by the trainer nicknamed The Giant Killer. Puzzlement puz·zle·ment n. The state of being confused or baffled; perplexity. Noun 1. puzzlement - confusion resulting from failure to understand bafflement, befuddlement, bemusement, bewilderment, mystification, obfuscation , who would have been a long shot, was scratched from Saturday's race after a bruise was discovered Thursday morning on the colt's right forefoot forefoot /fore·foot/ (-foot) 1. one of the front feet of a quadruped. 2. the fore part of the foot. , trainer Allen Jerkens announced. Puzzlement, a son of Pine Bluff, would have been seeking his first stakes victory in the Belmont after finishing second to Sunday Breakin in the Peter Pan Stakes The Peter Pan Stakes is a race for thoroughbred horses run each year at Belmont Park on Long Island, New York. A Grade II event, it's open to three-year-olds willing to race nine furlongs on the dirt. The Peter Pan carries a purse of $200,000. in his fifth career start. Jean-Luc Samyn was to have ridden him again. ``We discovered he was lame this morning when we were preparing to go to the track with him (for a gallop),'' said Jerkens, who will treat the condition with soaking and a poultice poultice /poul·tice/ (pol´tis) a soft, moist mass about the consistency of cooked cereal, spread between layers of muslin, linen, gauze, or towels and applied hot to a given area in order to create moist local heat or counterirritation. . Jerkens, 73, is a Hall of Famer best known for training the upsetters of great horses - including Onion and Prove Out, each of whom defeated Secretariat in 1973; Handsome Boy, who beat Buckpasser in 1967, and Beau Purple, who beat Kelso three times in 1962-63. --Changing places: The horses originally in post positions 8-12 will start one slot closer to the rail because of the withdrawal of Puzzlement, who had drawn post 7. Triple Crown hopeful War Emblem moves from 10 to 9, which produced recent winners Victory Gallop (1998) and Point Given (2001). --Locally: Hollywood Park will open its gates at 9 a.m. Saturday, take its first Belmont Park simulcast race at 9:30 and begin its live card at 1:15 p.m. The Belmont Stakes is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. PDT PDT abbr. Pacific Daylight Time PDT Pacific Daylight Time PDT n abbr (US) (= Pacific Daylight Time) → hora de verano del Pacífico PDT . 134TH BELMONT STAKES Where: Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y. When: Saturday, 3:10 p.m. PDT TV: Ch. 4, coverage begins at 2 p.m. CAPTION(S): box Box: 134TH BELMONT STAKES (see text) |
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