Timber Country

ELMONT, N.Y. -- D. Wayne Lukas' seemingly unstoppable march through the Triple Crown was slowed yesterday with the outfit's first bit of bad news.At a hastily arranged news conference called about 6 p.m. outside of his barn, Lukas announced that Preakness winner Timber Country, the 6-5 favorite in today's 127th Belmont Stakes, suddenly had come down with a temperature of 104 degrees and will be scratched from the race.The fever is considered fairly high for a horse. Normal temperature for equines is 99.4 degrees.

After crossing the finish line, after one streak had ended and another one had been extended, Pat Day fired his left fist into the air. He spread his fingers as wide as he could.Five. Five fingers, one for each victory in the Preakness . Yesterday's victory aboard 8-1 Louis Quatorze was Day's third in a row. And that ended another streak -- six straight wins in Triple Crown races by trainer D. Wayne Lukas. In this, there is great irony. Lukas bumped Day off one of his Preakness horses, Prince of Thieves.

D. Wayne Lukas' grip on the Triple Crown gathered strength once again in Baltimore yesterday, when Timber Country's stalled career got back on track with a win in the 120th Preakness.The chestnut colt, called the "Big Red Train" by Thunder Gulch jockey Gary Stevens, swooped by his Kentucky Derby-winning stablemate at the sixteenth pole under jockey Pat Day, then held off a surprise late run on the rail by Maryland-bred champion Oliver's Twist.The victory derailed Thunder Gulch's attempt to become the sport's 12th Triple Crown winner, but gave Lukas his fourth consecutive win in a Triple Crown race, equaling the mark of retired trainer Lucien Laurin.

All eyes in the local horse industry will be on racing secretary Georgeanne Hale when Timonium Race Course opens on Saturday.Hale is attempting to do what could be almost impossible -- filling 93 live races at the half-mile oval in one, continuous 10-day stretch. That's three more races than Laurel/Pimlico fills in the same time frame, but spread over a 14-day period.The horse shortage at local tracks became a bit more acute this summer when Pimlico/Laurel reduced its weekly live package from 47 to 45 races and is considering going dark next year from four to six weeks.

Between now and the first Saturday in May, Wayne Lukas will be asked about the jinx at least 50,000 times, as if winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and the 2-year-old championship means Timber Country might as well not even show up at the Triple Crown. The facts: no Breeders' Cup winner has ever won a Triple Crown race and Easy Goer, who won the 1989 Belmont, is the only 2-year-old champ to win a Triple Crown race since 1979.On Saturday, the road to the Kentucky Derby begins in earnest and Breeders' Cup winner Timber Country, who will be named 2-year-old champ tomorrow, will be the first star in action.

D. Wayne Lukas' grip on the Triple Crown gathered strength once again in Baltimore yesterday, when Timber Country's stalled career got back on track with a win in the 120th Preakness.The chestnut colt, called the "Big Red Train" by Thunder Gulch jockey Gary Stevens , swooped by his Kentucky Derby -winning stablemate at the sixteenth pole under jockey Pat Day, then held off a surprise late run on the rail by Maryland-bred champion Oliver's Twist. The victory derailed Thunder Gulch's attempt to become the sport's 12th Triple Crown winner, but gave Lukas his fourth consecutive win in a Triple Crown race, equaling the mark of retired trainer Lucien Laurin.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- The two favorites for the Kentucky Derby, Timber Country and Afternoon Deelites, could meet earlier than expected, in the San Felipe Stakes on March 19 at Santa Anita Park.Still smarting from Timber Country's loss in the San Rafael Stakes, the colt's trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said Sunday that he's leaning strongly toward altering his original plan on how to get the big colt to the Kentucky Derby, which still is two months away.Timber Country, last year's juvenile champion, was expected to have two outings before the Kentucky Derby: the San Rafael and the Santa Anita Derby.

Four times in 1995, the horse left the starting gate, carrying the expectations of a public expecting him to show his championship form from the year before.Four times, he came back beaten.Something was wrong. That was clear. Timber Country, the best 2-year-old in America last year, was too talented to keep losing like this.After the horse ran third in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, D. Wayne Lukas began wondering if the problem, incredibly, was the jockey, Pat Day.Lukas never said so publicly, but his increasing doubt became obvious as yesterday's Preakness neared.

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- D. Wayne Lukas filed an appeal yesterday for his 60-day suspension in the drug case involving the undefeated filly Flanders, and the trainer was granted a stay until after hearings are held by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.Robert Feuerstein, counsel to the board, said by telephone that the stay probably would carry past the Kentucky Derby on May 6, thereby leaving Lukas free to continue training his star 3-year-old colts, Timber Country and Thunder Gulch.

Just as he had done in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, Thunder Gulch was running wide and well when he hit the backstretch at Pimlico.But just as quickly as the specter of a Triple Crown winner arose, it was snuffed by the blur that was Timber Country.Yesterday, Thunder Gulch went back to being the "stepchild" to D. Wayne Lukas' preferred colt, finishing third in the 120th Preakness behind Timber Country and Oliver's Twist."It seems Timber Country is still head of the pack in Wayne's eyes," said Thunder Gulch jockey Gary Stevens.

The Triple Crown trail.It's a tortured route, even more so this year when only one horse, Thunder Gulch, made it through all three races.The buildup to the series started with a falling star, Afternoon Deelites, tripping on more than his dosage. The horse grabbed the early headlines, then bowed a tendon after an eighth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. The trail ended on a bizarre note when a feverish Timber Country was pulled out of the Belmont Stakes.In between, there were lots of memorable moments:* Nick Zito, standing up at the Kentucky Derby Trainers' Dinner, referring to D. Wayne Lukas' three-horse entry of Timber Country, Serena's Song and Thunder Gulch as "Me, Myself and I."

ELMONT, N.Y. -- D. Wayne Lukas' seemingly unstoppable march through the Triple Crown was slowed yesterday with the outfit's first bit of bad news.At a hastily arranged news conference called about 6 p.m. outside of his barn, Lukas announced that Preakness winner Timber Country, the 6-5 favorite in today's 127th Belmont Stakes, suddenly had come down with a temperature of 104 degrees and will be scratched from the race.The fever is considered fairly high for a horse. Normal temperature for equines is 99.4 degrees.

The TV Repairman:No big secret what the story line will be for the 127th running of the Belmont Stakes on ABC tomorrow (4:30-6 p.m.): Which of his steeds, Thunder Gulch or Timber Country, winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, respectively, will master trainer D. Wayne Lukas be pulling for? In a couple of words, who cares?While it's true horses aren't very quotable, it always seems as if entirely too much attention is paid to the trainers of these beauties. Basically, all trainers work pretty much the same and the ones with the owners who spend the most when it comes to breeding are the ones who are going to be successful.

When Bill Boniface Jr. puts a colt in the Preakness lineup it's best you pay attention. It's as if he's serving notice. He doesn't believe in cluttering the field, being there for purposes of vanity or merely to join in a sing-along of "Maryland My Maryland." If he's convinced the horse has a honest chance, he'll endorse the effort. Otherwise, he'll stay home.This means Boniface doesn't embarrass himself, the owner or the horse . . . nor take advantage of the public. There should be more such reality in this sport of runaway dreams.

The weather cleared in plenty of time for the party. The one that draws tens of thousands to the infield at Pimlico Race Course. The one that brings trainer D. Wayne Lukas and jockey (( Pat Day to town each year for their seemingly annual Preakness victory. The one that makes Baltimore the center of the racing universe for one Saturday every May.Pimlico officials sweated out three days of rain, but conditions were beautiful when favorite Timber Country came down the stretch for the victory that everyone thought he would get two weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby.

Tejano Run had put up some numbers. The Kentucky-bred chestnut had finished out of the money once in nine lifetime starts and had run an impressive second at the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago.It was no wonder that he was one of the betting favorites for yesterday's 120th running of the Preakness, but Tejano Run didn't run very well -- finishing a disappointing ninth in the 11-horse field.The Derby runner-up got out of the gate slowly and never mounted a serious challenge over the 1 3/16-mile course.

Jockey Pat Day took the questions head on, until the final one."How do you feel about owning the Preakness?" someone said.Owning it?Yes, owning it. Day posted his second straight Preakness victory yesterday, this one aboard Timber Country, and his fourth in 10 tries. He has finished second three times.So how does Day, 41, feel about owning the Preakness?"I can't answer that," he said. "But I'm grateful to be here now."Day, who won last year with Tabasco Cat, with Tank's Prospect in 1985 and Summer Squall in 1990, was in front of the nation's turf writers because he found the key to getting a strong effort out of Timber Country.

In Sunday's editions, one of the owners of Preakness winner Timber Country was misidentified in a photo. The owner pictured was W. T. Young.The Sun regrets the errors.Bob Lewis has been to Baltimore several times, visiting friends and taking in the sights. But this was his first time running horses here.It probably won't be his last.Lewis is one of the three owners of Timber Country, and is also the sole owner of Serena's Song, the filly who was a disappointing favorite in the Kentucky Derby but won Friday's Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.

In Sunday's editions, one of the owners of Preakness winner Timber Country was misidentified in a photo. The owner pictured was W. T. Young.The Sun regrets the errors.Bob Lewis has been to Baltimore several times, visiting friends and taking in the sights. But this was his first time running horses here.It probably won't be his last.Lewis is one of the three owners of Timber Country, and is also the sole owner of Serena's Song, the filly who was a disappointing favorite in the Kentucky Derby but won Friday's Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course.

Jockey Pat Day took the questions head on, until the final one."How do you feel about owning the Preakness?" someone said.Owning it?Yes, owning it. Day posted his second straight Preakness victory yesterday, this one aboard Timber Country, and his fourth in 10 tries. He has finished second three times.So how does Day, 41, feel about owning the Preakness?"I can't answer that," he said. "But I'm grateful to be here now."Day, who won last year with Tabasco Cat, with Tank's Prospect in 1985 and Summer Squall in 1990, was in front of the nation's turf writers because he found the key to getting a strong effort out of Timber Country.