Zito

THE OAKLAND Athletics just showed the Orioles the difference between a great starting rotation and a merely adequate one, which should remind Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan that the acquisition of a marquee starting pitcher this winter is not an option ... it's an absolute necessity. That the message was delivered by the A's could even be considered serendipitous, since that is the team that just might have a premier starter to spare. Remember those Barry Zito rumors? You'll be hearing them again.

With only three games remaining before the All-Star break, the Orioles will move Daniel Cabrera into the bullpen this weekend and withhold his next start until the second half. Cabrera has emerged as an unlikely staff ace at age 23, with no experience beyond Single-A until this season. Because of today's open date, his next turn wasn't scheduled until Sunday. The Orioles are being cautious with Cabrera, who hasn't totaled more than 125 1/3 innings in a single season. He's thrown 70 2/3 this year with the Orioles, going 5-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 12 appearances since being recalled from Double-A Bowie, where he had 27 1/3 innings.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The journey began in January, when the newly turned 3-year-olds embarked upon their long, strenuous trek to the Triple Crown series. Birdstone, a Grade I stakes winner trained by the well-known Nick Zito, stood at the head of the class. Smarty Jones, a Pennsylvania-bred speedster trained by the little-known John Servis, was just another long face in the classroom. As the racing world watched, the obscure Pennsylvania horse soared to the top, winning all of his races, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

ELMONT, N.Y. - For the winning connections, victory in the Belmont Stakes yesterday was a bittersweet experience. "I'm happy and sad at the same time," said Birdstone's jockey, Edgar Prado. "I said to Stewart [Elliott, Smarty Jones' rider], "I'm sorry, my friend,' and I really meant it. I've known him a long time. He's a great guy and a good person to win the Triple Crown. I let him know I was just doing my job, what I get paid for. I feel very sad at the moment." Trainer Nick Zito, the native New Yorker, exulted in his first Belmont victory after 11 previous attempts had produced five runner-up finishes.

The Maryland colt Tapit, who would have been one of the primary challengers to Smarty Jones in the Belmont, won't contest the final leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday at Belmont Park. David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds, Tapit's owner, said yesterday that the colt had not completely recovered from a lung infection that hampered him earlier this spring. Tapit last raced in the Kentucky Derby, finishing ninth. Michael Dickinson, who trains Tapit at his Tapeta Farm in Cecil County, could not be reached for comment.

Nick Zito turned the corner from 2003 into 2004 with the strongest hand of any trainer pointing to the Kentucky Derby. Birdstone and Eurosilver headed many prognosticators' rankings. But then, both horses got sick, ran poorly and missed starts. Birdstone made the Derby but lost a shoe and finished eighth. Eurosilver missed the Derby, and it cost Zito the horse. Mahmoud Fustok, Eurosilver's owner, took him from Zito five days ago and sent him to Carl Nafzger, a Kentucky trainer. Yesterday, Zito received more bad news when The Cliff's Edge - third-stringer turned barn star - woke up stiff in his right front leg. The problem was in his foot, a bruise or an abscess, Zito said.

Nick Zito had experienced every stroke of bad luck that can beset a horse in a race - stumbles, poor positioning, traffic problems, bumps, inclement weather. Until the Kentucky Derby. That's when The Cliff's Edge, the Derby's morning-line favorite, lost his front shoes and came home fifth after running next-to-last in the 18-horse field early in the race. "I've never had that happen," Zito said of the shoe incident after his two Preakness horses, The Cliff's Edge and Sir Shackleton, galloped over the Pimlico track yesterday morning.

BENSALEM, Pa. - Charles J. Cella, the flashy owner of Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, strolled into Philadelphia Park yesterday with a $5 million check for the owners of Smarty Jones. Wearing an outfit featuring a green and black stripe sports coat, Cella presented the check to Patricia and Roy Chapman, whose popular 3-year-old Smarty Jones earned Oaklawn Park's $5 million bonus for sweeping two stakes at Oaklawn and then winning the Kentucky Derby. Cella compared what Smarty Jones is doing for the country to what Secretariat did three decades ago during the Watergate scandal.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Nick Zito began the year with two of the top-rated 3-year-olds: Birdstone and Eurosilver. The Cliff's Edge was almost an afterthought, at best, third on the roster. A rare glandular infection knocked Eurosilver off the Derby trail. Birdstone finished a dull fifth as the 3-5 favorite in the Land's End Stakes and then got sick and was scratched from the Blue Grass. He's the longest shot in the Derby morning line at 50-1. Meanwhile, The Cliff's Edge closed for third in the Florida Derby and then ran down the speedy Lion Heart to win the Blue Grass.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Shane Sellers didn't even have time to shower. He disrobed after his day of riding yesterday at Churchill Downs, wrapped himself in a white towel and settled in front of the TV in the jockey's room to watch the post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby. Before it started he said he wanted Post 11 for The Cliff's Edge, his mount. He said he hadn't discussed it with Nick Zito, trainer of the horse. He said he didn't even know which pick Zito had. Before the Blue Grass Stakes, which The Cliff's Edge won, Sellers said, he wanted Post 3 - and got it. "Lady luck, keep smiling on me," he said.