LUKAS, ZITO HAVE 4 BELMONT HORSES.

Byline: Associated Press 

While trainer D. Wayne Lukas is looking for a third straight victory in the Belmont Stakes, Nick Zito is hoping to avoid a third consecutive second-place finish.

The archrivals in Triple Crown racing in the 1990s will saddle two colts each for the final race of the Triple Crown.

Fifteen 3-year-olds were entered Thursday for the race on Saturday, equaling the record for the most starters in a Belmont, set in the '83 race won by Caveat.

Lukas, whose string of six wins in Triple Crown races was snapped in the Preakness, will saddle Editor's Note and Prince of Thieves in a bid to become the fourth trainer to win at least three straight Belmonts.

``I don't think Woody is nervous,'' Lukas said, referring to trainer Woody Stephens' five consecutive Belmont wins in '82-86.

Lukas won the 1994 Belmont when Tabasco Cat beat Zito's Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin. Last year, Lukas' Derby winner, Thunder Gulch, beat Zito's Star Standard.

``I just want to get it over with,'' Zito said of the second-place rut into which he has fallen.

Zito will saddle Preakness winner Louis Quatorze and Saratoga Dandy.

Not only did Zito finish second to Lukas in the past two Belmonts. He also saw his Thirty Six Red finish second in '90, and Derby winner Strike the Gold lose by a nose to Hansel in '91.

Zito and Lukas have three of the six Belmont entrants who ran in the first two Triple Crown races: Louis Quatorze, 16th in the Derby; Editor's Note, sixth in the Derby and third in the Preakness; and Prince of Thieves, third in the Derby and seventh in the Preakness. The others are Cavonnier, second and fourth; Skip Away, 12th and second, and In Contention, 15th and sixth.

``I think the winner will come out of the Derby and Preakness field, with the exception of My Flag,'' Lukas said.

My Flag will be only the 20th filly - and first since Derby winner Winning Colors finished sixth in '88 - to start in the Belmont. The only two to win were Ruthless in 1867 and Tanya in 1905.

My Flag, a double Grade I stakes winner and the daughter of '89 Belmont winner Easy Goer, will carry 121 pounds, five fewer than each of her 14 rivals. She was made the early co-second choice at 6-1 with Skip Away.

Favored at 3-1 to win the 1-1/2-mile test was Cavonnier, the Santa Anita Derby champion who would join Creme Fraiche ('85) as the only geldings to win the Belmont. At 9-2 was the entry of Louis Quatorze and Saratoga Dandy, who won the Sir Barton at Pimlico on the day his entrymate won the Preakness.

At 8-1 were Prince of Thieves and Editor's Note - a loser of nine straight stakes but second and third three times each in that span.

Gary Stevens, who aggravated a shoulder injury Wednesday at Hollywood Park and faces surgery, will be replaced aboard Editor's Note by Rene Douglas. Stevens is expected to be out three to six months.

Weather could be a factor, with showers and thunderstorms forecast throughout the weekend.

``The track plays very funny when it's wet,'' Lukas said.

Jamies First Punch, a Triple Crown newcomer, won the 1-1/8-mile Peter Pan on May 26 at Belmont Park. There have been three horses - Coastal in '79, Danzig Connection in '86 and A.P. Indy in '92 - to accomplish a Peter Pan-Belmont double.

Julie Krone will ride South Salem, making his debut in the United States and on the dirt. Krone is the only female jockey to have won a Triple Crown race, with Colonial Affair in the '93 Belmont.

Hollywood Park will take bets on the Belmont Stakes, which is scheduled for 2:31 p.m. PDT, and four other Belmont Park races Saturday.

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Photo

PHOTO D. Wayne Lukas watches Editor's Note work out at Belm ont Park.

Associated Press