Preakness Day

Preakness spokescentaur Kegasus held his first press conference at Pimlico on Monday morning, and as was the case during our chat two months ago , he didn't really say anything of substance. Thankfully, I don't think any of the reporters on hand were expecting to glean a useful sound bite out of the hairy, husky guy in half of a horse costume. They were all there to see the spectacle for themselves, and we got a sneak preview of what Kegasus will look like on Preakness Day. I was hoping his costume would be a two-person operation, but I'm told his hind legs were on wheels.

Katherine Sancuk's No Brakes rallied from next to last to win $25,000 Deputed Testamony Starter Handicap, the first of nine stakes on Preakness Day. Xavier Perez rode the 6-year-old gelding, who finished fifth in the race last year and was claimed for $5,000 by his present connections in March, pulled ahead near the 16th marker and narrowly beat Money For Love to the finish. "I claimed this horse specifically for this race," said Sancuk, the owner and trainer. "He runs hard every time.

Pimlico Race Course officials have changed the time of the post position draws for the Preakness Stakes and Early Times Dixie.Previously held on the Thursday morning before the Preakness, the draws will be held in the Pimlico Sports Palace at approximately 5: 30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15.The Grade I, $500,000 Preakness and Grade II, $200,000 Early Times will be run May 18."The popularity of the post position draws has grown dramatically," said Pimlico president Joe De Francis. "This change certainly enhances the draws."

P Day brought back more to Charles H. Hadry than the chance for another paycheck when he rejoined the Hadry stable last fall after a failed foray into New York. The 8-year-old horse whom Hadry bred, trained and owned brought renewal to the veteran trainer at a time when spirit meant more than money. Hadry, 72, perhaps the most respected horseman in Maryland, has cancer. Overseeing the return of his favorite horse, especially under such unusual circumstances, was a boost. "It's the best thing that could have happened to him," said Charles J. Hadry, his son. "Horses are his life, his job, all he cares about outside his family.

Saturday's other races: 1st race: Primary Witness survived a jockey challenge from No Mesa With Me and outlasted Kurbat in the stretch to win the mile and 1/16th Maryland Heritage Purse in the first race on the Preakness card. Jockey Luis Garcia's objection that both Primary Witness and Kurbat interfered in the upper stretch was not allowed. Javier Castellano was on Primary Witness and Julien Leparoux on Kurbat. 2nd race: In the one-mile Virtual Golf Girl Race on turf, Virsito dueled Mikoshi in midstretch, lost the lead and came back to win by a head in the final 50 yards under Ramon Dominguez.

A plastic cup of homemade lemonade, with floating slices of strawberries, for $2. Sixty bucks to park. Extra for that big-body truck. Bathroom break? Five dollars. Can't bear to schlep that heavy cooler? Have somebody roll it for $20. On Preakness Day, outside the sprawling Pimlico Race Course in Northwest Baltimore, it seems there is something for sale on every block. Inside the track, it's $100 bets on Curlin and Hard Spun. Outside, it's $200 for the right to sell Italian sausages and ribs on a stranger's lawn.

I've stood in the infield at Pimlico on Preakness Day and I've spent the afternoon in the clubhouse. Both have their places. Each is utterly remarkable. Reading The Baltimore Sun's accounts of the great race in years gone by reminds me that the past is often prologue. In the 1940s, when the infield was merely an oval of grass and held no boozy revelers, there were "sweltering, elbowing crowds" at the track and the betting ring became "stifling with heat, a virtual Turkish bath."

For the second time within eight days, a prohibitive favorite has been beaten at Pimlico.Blushing K.D., the nation's leading 3-year-old filly, was fourth at 1-to-10 odds in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes on May 16 and Awad followed suit at 1-to-2 yesterday, finishing third in the $75,000 Riggs Handicap over the turf course.Awad, now 7, has earned almost $3 million during a distinguished career that has spanned the globe, but he couldn't challenge virtual wire-to-wire winner Winsox and the fast-closing Shoot Back in the Riggs.

A story in yesterday's editions incorrectly reported price increases for several categories of tickets for next year's Preakness. The Sun regrets the error. Here are the correct prices:Seat location .......1996 .......1997Infield advance .....$17 .........$20Inf. Preakness day ..$20 .........$25Sports Pal. reserve .$145 ..... .$150Grand. upper reserve $55 ....... .$60Grand. upper box ....$120 .......$130Grand. lower box ....$130 .......$150Grand. concourse ....$40 .........$45The Maryland Racing Commission renewed the licenses of the state's five off-track betting parlors for 1998 yesterday, but attached an amendment that means the sites could be inspected by commission members every three months.

Wiz Khalifa, one of the headline acts for this year's Preakness Infield party, was busted for pot in North Carolina Tuesday -- the second time in a week, just days before his Baltimore appearance. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the rapper was arrested for marijuana possession after officers smelled the smoke pouring from his tour bus. On April 21, police in Nashville found pot in the hotel room of the rapper, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz. In Winston-Salem, police arrested nearly 20 people, including fans and members of Khalifa's entourage, the Journal reported.