SLOW STARTING WINNER IN ‘RACE TRACK’ DOCUMENTARY

Documentarian Frederick Wiseman has a panoramic eye. Disdaining narration and relying on the camera to reflect its own truth, he often makes the ordinary seem fascinating. On occasion, he also makes the fascinating seem ordinary.

There is some of both in his two-hour PBS documentary “Race Track,” airing at 8 tonight on Channel 50 and at 9 p.m. on Channels 28, 15 and 24.

This is the much-honored Wiseman’s 17th documentary for public TV. For his first film on sports, he has chosen New York’s Belmont Race Track, where the last leg of racing’s Triple Crown will be run Saturday (2 p.m. on ABC).

In “Race Track,” Belmont is seen almost as a microcosm of a teeming, diverse world that ranges from the birth of a foal to the pursuits of wealthy owners. We see track workers, a thoroughbred in surgery, jockeys relaxing. One sequence showing bettors watching a race on closed-circuit TV at the track is a remarkable expression of horse racing ardor and is Wiseman at his best.

Unfortunately, though, Wiseman again shoots in black and white, diminishing his subject’s natural beauty. Moreover, you may want to keep a book handy while watching “Race Track,” a stretch runner that starts slowly.