Kentucky Oaks

It's Hammer Time at the Preakness, and for this blessed event the racing world is forever indebted to a man named Lance.Trainer D. Wayne Lukas doesn't know his last name. All he can recall is Lance strolling toward him at Santa Anita Park, resplendent in an expensive Armani suit.In his previous life, Lance was a scruffy kid who hung around the track when Lukas trained quarter horses in northern California during the late '70s.But on this fine day in March of 1991, he was the dapper go-between who arranged perhaps the most bizarre marriage in entertainment history, the one joining rap music and horse racing.

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.

Last year's chase for the Triple Crown ended when trainer Doug O'Neill stepped to a microphone stand in a patch of fenced-in grass next to a barn near the Belmont Park track. Brushing back tears, he announced that a tendon injury would prevent I'll Have Another - the 12th horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Affirmed last completed the trifecta in 1978 - from going to post the next day. On Saturday, a full field of 20 is expected for the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby and to begin the quest anew.

Fans at Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park who want to bet on today's Belmont Stakes - and cash out if they win - will be able to, despite the continuing dispute between the thoroughbred tracks and the state's standardbred tracks over how to share revenue from simulcasting. In April, Pimlico and Laurel Park began closing at night because state law says that in a dispute over simulcasting, the standardbred side can shut down the thoroughbred tracks after 6:15 p.m. Post time for today's Belmont Stakes is scheduled for 6:38 p.m. But, according to Pimlico spokesman Mike Gathagan, the rule doesn't apply on so-called "big days."

FRIDAY'S TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS NASCAR Nationwide Aaron's 312, qualifying ESPN2Noon Sprint Cup Aaron's 499, practice SPEED2 Sprint Cup Aaron's 499, final practice SPEED3:30 ARCA Re/Max Talladega SPEED5 MLB Orioles@Angels (T) MASN9 a.m. Washington@Atlanta (T) MASN12:30 Washington@Pittsburgh MASN7 Boston at Texas MLB8 Orioles@Angels MASN210 C. base. Florida@LSU CSN7:30 NBA play.

Filly Rachel Alexandra , the 2009 Horse of the Year who knocked off the Kentucky Derby winner in the Preakness and finished the year 8-0, has retired, majority owner Jess Jackson announced Tuesday. "Despite top training and a patient campaign, Rachel Alexandra did not return to her 2009 form," Jackson said in a statement. "I believe it's time to retire our champion and reward her with a less stressful life. " After winning the Kentucky Oaks by 20 lengths the day before the 2009 Kentucky Derby, Rachel Alexandra stumbled at the start of the Preakness but was good enough to beat Mine That Bird, the Derby winner, to the wire.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Trainer Bruce Jackson made it clear he is angry that Corey Nakatani broke a commitment to In Character so that he could ride Serena's Song in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.Jackson also said he doesn't want Nakatani to ride his colt anyway, and gave Chris Antley the mount."He [Nakatani] gave me a firm call, that's all there is to it," Jackson said yesterday.But agent Bob Meldahl, saying it was only a tentative commitment, put Nakatani back on Serena's Song in the Derby after trainer D. Wayne Lukas unexpectedly chose that race over the Friday's Kentucky Oaks for fillies.

Jazz Napravnik didn't even wait for her sister, Rosie, to get across the finish line. She saw the way the jockey was riding Believe You Can in the Kentucky Oaks, saw the horse stretch its legs down the final hundred yards under guidance from a nearly motionless rider, and she knew. "I just left my box, ran toward the winner's circle," Jazz Napravnik said. With her win in Kentucky, Rosie Napravnik, 24, pushed her name even further into the discussion of the country's top jockeys.