Belmont Stakes

Not a lot has changed in the jockey goggle business since 1947, when Israel Kroop first stitched trim around a molded sheet of plastic, added two brass vents from a mattress, and attached a strip of elastic. Kroop's design — a made-in-Maryland variation on miners' protective eyewear — was an instant hit with jockeys at the Laurel racetrack and at Pimlico. It didn't take long for the invention to catch on outside Maryland. Riders around the country swapped cumbersome motorcycle goggles for the wafer-thin, well-ventilated models.

Even when he's not here, they can't stop talking about Bodemeister. Gutsy runner-up to I'll Have Another at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, the colt was never in serious consideration for the Belmont. But his stablemate could finish what Bodemeister couldn't. Paynter, last seen breezing past the field in a race on the Preakness undercard, is the 8-1 fourth choice on the morning line and will start the Belmont from post position No. 9. "[Trainer] Bob Baffert , from Day 1, thought Paynter was the better horse," owner Ahmed Zayat said.

Billy Turner will be in the stands at Belmont Park on Saturday, a shock of silver hair - and a slew of memories - tucked beneath his familiar Irish-peaked cap. At 72, he is the only living trainer of a Triple Crown champion. For now. I'll Have Another  could change that, with a victory in the Belmont Stakes. And Turner, who took Seattle Slew to the top in 1977, likes this colt's chances. "He's a really good horse," Turner said of I'll Have Another, who has won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

When I'll Have Another narrowly dodged being clipped by a rider-less horse who had gotten loose on the Belmont Park track last week, he avoided the sort of complication nobody had been talking about. Who could worry about something like that when there are so many other things that could go wrong? The final leg of the Triple Crown has proved, for almost a century, to be difficult enough without factoring in unruly horses. Eleven of the 30 colts who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness managed to win the Belmont Stakes.

Only 30 horses have made it to the Belmont Stakes with a chance to win the Triple Crown. Eleven have succeeded. This is whyI'll Have Another's quest to become the 12th at Belmont Park on June 9 will captivate a nation that long ago stopped paying close attention to the way thoroughbred horses run. Every contender vying to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978 is a Cinderella - a term not commonly used to describe...

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another galloped over the track at Belmont on Friday for the first time, about 12 hours after news broke that the colt's trainer had been suspended 45 days . Doug O'Neill is not in danger of missing the final leg of the Triple Crown, as his California suspension - which would likely be upheld by other states - will not begin until some time after the June 9th race. O'Neill was found guilty of racing a horse with a raised total carbon dioxide count in its blood.

Here's a look at what some media outlets are saying about I'll Have Another and his shot at the first Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. * Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News says the speed numbers of Union Rags, who expected to contend in the Kentucky Derby as the second favorite, aren't enough to match up with I'll Have Another in the Belmont : When I'll Have Another had to run faster than he ever had to...

Start spreading the news if you want, but it won't be necessary. Doug O'Neill is about to take New York. If you thought the trainer of Triple Crown candidateI'll Have Another had fun in Louisville and Baltimore, imagine what it's going to be like when he waltzes into the Big Apple with a chance to make horse racing history. That was just a warmup ceremonial pitch he threw at Oriole Park last week. Wait until you see him at Citi Field or Yankee Stadium. Wait until he does a little sit-down standup on Late Night with David Letterman.

D. Wayne Lukas has had plenty of success with horses running in the second leg of the Triple Crown. His five career wins at Pimlico's featured event speak for themselves. But this year, Lukas decided to take a slightly different approach. His horse, Optimizer, will be using Saturday's Preakness as an opportunity to prepare for the Belmont Stakes in June, the longest of the Triple Crown races - one Lukas thinks the colt has a better shot at winning. Lukas made a switch at jockey, giving the mount to Corey Nakatani to get the new rider some experience before the final leg of the Triple Crown three weeks from Saturday.

A wild and unpredictable Triple Crown season came to an appropriately stunning conclusion Saturday as 24-1 long shot Ruler On Ice won the 143rd running of the Belmont Stakes. Ruler On Ice, a gelding who didn't run in either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness and was wearing blinkers for the first time, sat just off the lead for most of the race, and then jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. let him surge to the lead with 1/4 of a mile to go. The temperamental but talented colt ran hard to the wire, holding off Stay Thirsty (second)