Victory Gallop

Coronado's Quest begins his long-shot quest for racing's 3-year-old championship today in the $150,000 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont Park.Owned by Stuart S. Janney III of Butler in Baltimore County, Coronado's Quest ranks behind only three 3-year-old colts in Daily Racing Form's weekly Top 40: Real Quiet, No. 5; Victory Gallop, No. 8, and Indian Charlie, No. 24. Coronado's Quest ranks No. 28, one spot ahead of another 3-year-old, Favorite Trick.Janney said he believes the race for an Eclipse Award in the 3-year-old male division is wide-open despite the dominance of the Triple Crown by Real Quiet and Victory Gallop.

What: 130th Belmont Stakes, third leg of horse racing's Triple CrownPost time: Today, 5: 27 p.m.Where: Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y.Distance: 1 1/2 milesPurse: 1st -- $600,000; 2nd -- $200,000; 3rd -- $110,000.TV: Chs. 2, 7Weather forecast: Sunny, breezy, low 70sField:PP Horse Odds1. Hanuman Highway .. .. ..30-12. Thomas Jo .. .. .. .. ..30-1Basic Trainee .. .. .. .99-14. Chilito .. .. .. .. .. .30-1Parade Ground .. .. .. .20-16. Classic Cat .. .. .. ...15-17. Limit Out .. .. .. .. ..10-1Real Quiet .. .. .. .. ..6-5Hot Wells .. .. .. .. ..30-1Raffie's Majesty .. ...20-111.

The pace should be fast, the track conditions uncertain and this is what else I think I know about the 124th running of the world's most intriguing race.Favorite Trick, last year's Horse of the Year, seems a risky proposition at the Derby distance. His best asset however, is trainer Billy Mott, a distance specialist.Still, Favorite Trick probably will need a major rainstorm to stay in the race. In 1997, his most impressive performance was a smashing, 3 1/2 -length win in the rain-soaked Saratoga Special.

Coronado's Quest, the early favorite for the Preakness who was scratched from the race because of a foot injury, is not likely to challenge the Triple Crown hopeful Real Quiet in the June 6 Belmont Stakes either, trainer Shug McGaughey said yesterday."

The post-position draw turned out to be no detriment in the 123rd Preakness yesterday.Bettors began looking for alternatives when the 1-2 finishers in the Kentucky Derby landed the two outside slots for the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, meaning that they would have to run farther than their eight rivals.But, as the race developed, quality prevailed over position.There were no strategic surprises whatsoever, as Real Quiet and Victory Gallop moved into contending spots on the backstretch, took over the race in tandem on the final turn and slugged it out down the stretch.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- A surprise entrant surfaced yesterday for the Belmont from an unlikely place: Maryland.The Laurel Park-based trainer H. Graham Motion entered Chilito at the last minute, increasing to 12 the challengers to Real Quiet's Triple Crown bid. Real Quiet will break from the No. 8 post, inside his nemesis, Victory Gallop, who drew an unfortunate outside starting position."

Everything is magnified when a Triple Crown is on the line, even the losses. Seventeen horses have won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and then faltered in the Belmont. That includes five starting in 1997. They failed trying to join the immortal 11 who have swept the series known as the Triple Crown. On Saturday, Smarty Jones will try to become the 12th when he competes in the 136th Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Smarty Jones has never lost in his eight races. But good, even great, horses have won the Derby and Preakness, but lost the Belmont.

The scene was a blur: Lemon Drop Kid prancing into the packed winner's circle, state troopers whisking his owners through the boisterous crowd, the questions, the emotions, the reaction."

This time, there was no driving finish, no suspense whatsoever.The 1997 Laurel Futurity was a one-horse show, with Fight for M'Lady dictating all the way to score an easy victory over five rivals and a sloppy track yesterday at Laurel Park.Fight for M'Lady thus avenged his only defeat -- by less than a length to Victory Gallop in the Chenery Stakes at Colonial Downs on Sept. 10 -- and positioned himself for a possible run at next year's Triple Crown."We'll give him a break now and let him get ready for the spring campaign," said trainer Ben Perkins Jr., whose father, Ben Sr., won the Futurity two years ago with Appealing Skier.

Classic Cat didn't exactly knock them dead in the Preakness yesterday, but finishing in third place was good enough to keep him from returning to the rock-hard tracks in California."