Those Narrow Defeats Can Take Their Toll Back in the Barn Too

Race horses can give bettors ulcers, and perhaps the opposite is true.

Lottery Winner, a 5-year-old gelding who ran fourth in last Saturday’s Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood Park, receives treatment for a stomach condition.

“We’ve been treating him three times a day since the ulcers were discovered about a year ago,” trainer Jay Robbins said. “He gets a little cranky if he misses his medication.”

The Daily Racing Form makes notations when horses race with permitted medications such as the anti-bleeding drug Lasix. So far, there is no designation for the medication Lottery Winner receives: milk of magnesia.

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Trivia time: Even though Sir Barton was the first Triple Crown winner in 1919, nobody realized he had won it at the time. Why?

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Vintage knees: Philip Marone, whose clients include the Philadelphia Phillies, performed arthroscopic knee surgeries May 13 on four patients, among them John Kruk and coach Mike Ryan. Marone said of the four: “The best knee I saw belonged to a 77-year-old woman.”

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Rapping Raptors: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, commenting on the nickname of the Toronto expansion team in the NBA, the Raptors:

“The Raptors’ publicists proudly point out that the raptor was the most intelligent of dinosaurs, which, when you think about it, is probably not lavish praise.

“And if fans really wanted intelligent mascots, they would lobby for the Utah Classical Music and the San Francisco Intellectual Giants.”

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Mistaken identity: Marv Albert tells this story about Mike Tyson, who happened to meet a boxing reporter from the UPI wire service.

“One of your trucks ran over my dog,” Tyson said.

One of Tyson’s associates whispered: “No, no Mike. That was UPS.”

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Strange range: A misguided Canada goose has spent the last two weeks nesting on piles of golf balls at a driving range in Lakeville, Mass.

“I think the goose is frustrated,” range owner Lynne Petrowski told the Enterprise of Brockton. “I’d be frustrated too if I had 6,000 golf balls to sit on. That’s just too many eggs.”

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Change-up: Manager Davey Johnson of the Cincinnati Reds, on disgruntled infielder Tony Fernandez: “If you gave him a $5 bill, he’d ask for five ones instead.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1943, the Chicago White Sox disposed of the Washington Senators in 1 hour 29 minutes, the fastest nine-inning game in American League history.

Ah, the good old days.

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Trivia answer: The name Triple Crown didn’t come into existence until 1930, when coined by Charley Hatton, looking for a short way to mention the races.

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Quotebook: Chris McCarron, who will ride Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin in the Preakness today, at the outset of an interview with Jim Rome on XTRA radio: “If you call me Chris one time, I’m hanging up on you.”