Trifecta

(NOTE: To download Liam's full cheat sheet for all of Saturday's races, click here . Following is his analysis on the Preakness Stakes.)   There are always lots of hard luck stories in the Kentucky Derby, and some of those hard luck horses come to the Preakness looking to set the record straight. Several of those guys are here to take on Orb. And a handful more Derby grumblers are skipping the Preakness to set their sights on the Belmont. However, recent history shows that the Derby winner tends to back up the Derby win and beat most if not all of those Derby finishers again.

Who's buying our democracy? Wall Street financiers, the Koch brothers, and casino magnates Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn, among others. And they're doing much of it in secret. It's a perfect storm -- the combination of three waves that are about to drown government as we know it. The first is the greatest concentration of wealth in America in more than a century. The 400 richest Americans are richer than the bottom 150 million Americans put together. The trend started 30 years ago, and it's related to globalization and technological changes that have stymied wage growth for most people.

A colleague who organized the recent editorial cartoonists' convention in town reported that the visitors had a splendid time in Baltimore. "They'd expected so little," he explained.Alas, Charm City still suffers from a touch of the inferiority complex that afflicted it for many years. (The pursuit of NFL football to replace the Colts hasn't helped the old ego, either.) But if Baltimore's self-esteem ever needs a pick-me-up, consider that no other American city has hit the tourism trifecta this city has over the past decade and a half:* Harborplace, which turned 15 years old this month, outdoes all the other festival marketplaces run by the Rouse Co. It draws more visitors than similar attractions in New York, Boston or Atlanta despite being among the smallest and oldest.

Results, entries and comments provided by the Maryland Jockey Club. For automated results by phone, call 410-792-0278. Thursday, Oct. 20 results First - Purse $20,000, Maiden Claiming $25,000-$20,000, 2 yo, One Mile 5 Her Way Vega H. $6.60 $4.60 $2.80 4 Will n' Pat Whitacre G. $9.40 $3.60 3 Bobjonclairenalice Rook S. $2.20 Time: 1:42.18 Exacta (5-4), $58.80; Trifecta (5-4-3), $195.20 Owner: John E. Salzman, Jr., Danny Divver & Fred Wasserloos Trainer: Salzman, Jr., John E. Breeder: Lickity Split Services, Inc. Also Ran: Garden Gate, High Top Sneakers, Aspen Blush, Youcancountonme Second - Purse $19,000, Claiming $15,000-$12,000, 3 yo's & up, Six Furlongs 1 Fancy Leap Pimentel J. $4.80 $2.80 $2.20 6 Congaree Princess Navarro J. $2.40 $2.10 2 Falcon's Flight Pino M. $2.10 Time: 1:13.40 Daily Double (5-1)

WASHINGTON -- A conservative Midwestern talk-radio host recently asked me a question that I am certain haunts many minds these days: "If Barack Obama doesn't get elected, are black people going to say he lost because he is half-black?" Sure, I responded. Some black people will presume the worst if the Illinois senator's bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination fails. But, I hastened to add, that prospect is no reason for whites to avoid voting for him. Welcome to the subtext of Campaign 2008.

OUR HEART goes out to the fellow who hit the trifecta at Pimlico on Friday, April 12, which we recognize as being but three days before federal and state income taxes were - and always are - due. A buddy told us this story over coffee a week ago, and we can't stop thinking about its central character. To protect his identity - and his pride - we will refer to him by his birth name of John or, in the interest of preserving the racetrack tradition of railbirds having nicknames, we will anoint him Johnny Goin' for the Trey.

Add this to the list of Manny being Manny. A clip circulating on the Web shows Manny Ramirez sitting on the bench during the Boston Red Sox's weekend series in Minnesota. The Boston slugger obviously has great affection for teammate Julian Tavarez. Ramirez is seen petting Tavarez on the head as if he were a cocker spaniel. Say what you will, but, in this case, you can't accuse Ramirez of dogging it. Far from trifection A bettor at a New York off-track betting site decided he wanted to cover all of the possibilities for the trifecta (the first three finishers)

Races four through 10 at Laurel Park were canceled yesterday because of extreme cold and wind. Two winners of the first half of the Twin Trifecta, who each selected 5-2-3 in the third race, were rewarded with a consolation payout of $3,238.20 each when the second half of the two-part wager (fifth race) was canceled. The Twin Trifecta carry-over on Thursday (third and fifth races) will be $27,640. Earlier in the day, live thoroughbred racing was canceled at Suffolk Downs in Boston, Aqueduct in New York and Philadelphia Park in Philadelphia, also because of weather conditions.

Results, entries and comments provided by the Maryland Jockey Club. For automated results by phone, call 410-792-0278. Friday, March 12 results First - Purse $10,000, Maiden Claiming $12,500-$10,500, 3 yo's & up, Five And A Half Furlongs 4 Hawaiian Hula Camacho E. $9.40 $4.00 $2.10 7 Lovely Lashes Garcia L. $3.40 $2.10 1A Kate's Dance Card Yodice A. $2.10 Time: 1:07.83...

Timonium results Yesterday Weather cloudy; track fast. First Purse $14,000, mdn cl, 3YO up F&M, 6 1/2 f. 1 (1) Dew Too (M.Rosenthal) 7.40 4.20 2.40 4 (4) Trueborn (C.Calucag) 5.80 2.80 5 (5) Extra Robin (E.Rodriguez) 2.40 Off 1:11. Time 1:21.69. Also Ran-Ice'em, Reality Makin, Clip N Save, Clara's Legacy. Exacta (1-4) paid $47.40. Superfecta (1-4-5-7) paid $403.30. Trifecta (1-4-5) paid $131.20. Second Purse $6,000, cl, 3YO up F&M, 6 1/2 f. 1 (1) Singing Laur (E.Rodriguez) 8.40 3.00 3.40 3 (3)

A previous version of this story included incorrect information on the cost of betting on a trifecta box. It has been corrected. At the races, there are two categories of bets -- straight bets that involve only one horse, and exotic bets that involve two or more horses. The standard bet for all wagers is $2. You can bet any amount, starting with $1, but the payoff prices shown on the infield tote board and TVs around the track are always based on a $2 wager. That means if you bet $1, you will get half the amount shown on the tote board.

The state's historic steeplechase season gets underway in earnest Saturday with the 101st edition of My Lady's Manor launching three consecutive weekends of major spring action. Feature purses begin with $35,000 for the big race at My Lady's Manor and conclude with a $75,000 offering at the Maryland Hunt Cup in Glyndon on April 30. While Tom Voss of Monkton (who has taken the early lead in the National Steeplechase Association trainer standings with three victories) campaigns at another meet near Atlanta, familiar top-flight local conditioners like Jack Fisher, William Meister, Ricky Hendriks, Katherine McKenna and Sanna Hendriks will have horses entered on the three-race Maryland card over timber.

Dave Rodman would like to say that what drew him as a child to horse racing was his deep and abiding love for the animals - those proud, glistening beasts whose names now roll off his tongue in a cadence as rhythmic as the churning of their hooves on the track below. He'd like to say that, but he can't. "I've always enjoyed being around the track, but I can't say I was in love with the horses; it was more the gambling aspect of it," said Rodman, who, as track announcer at Pimlico, will be calling his17th Preakness tomorrow.

Add this to the list of Manny being Manny. A clip circulating on the Web shows Manny Ramirez sitting on the bench during the Boston Red Sox's weekend series in Minnesota. The Boston slugger obviously has great affection for teammate Julian Tavarez. Ramirez is seen petting Tavarez on the head as if he were a cocker spaniel. Say what you will, but, in this case, you can't accuse Ramirez of dogging it. Far from trifection A bettor at a New York off-track betting site decided he wanted to cover all of the possibilities for the trifecta (the first three finishers)

WASHINGTON -- A conservative Midwestern talk-radio host recently asked me a question that I am certain haunts many minds these days: "If Barack Obama doesn't get elected, are black people going to say he lost because he is half-black?" Sure, I responded. Some black people will presume the worst if the Illinois senator's bid for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination fails. But, I hastened to add, that prospect is no reason for whites to avoid voting for him. Welcome to the subtext of Campaign 2008.

PHILADELPHIA - Over the course of eight years bookended by Olympic gold medals in Athens, Ga., and Athens, Greece, the most important question facing the U.S. women's soccer team was usually "What's next?" That question has been replaced by "What now?" With no major tournaments scheduled for the next two years, no professional league to keep newer players in the public eye and some entrenched personalities ending or winding down their careers, the team that bushwhacked its way into mainstream sports consciousness wants to keep from getting lost in the jungle of the marketplace.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - H. Graham Motion, who trained horses at Laurel Park for years and now trains at Fair Hill in Cecil County, brought three horses to the Breeders' Cup in his first involvement with North American racing's marquee day. Motion, 40, won the $2 million Turf with Better Talk Now after a bumper-cars stretch engulfed the race in controversy. He finished second in the $1.41 million Filly and Mare Turf with Film Maker. Motion's third entrant, Dance Away Capote, finished fifth in the $1 million Juvenile Fillies after running into traffic problems around both turns.