The Luster Is Horses, Not People

Despite the records that trainer Wayne Lukas set--sweeping the Triple Crown with different horses and adding to a streak that has reached five consecutive victories in the series--there was a hollowness to this year’s Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes. For example:

--Only one horse, Thunder Gulch, winner of the Derby and the Belmont, ran in all three races, which meant that the rivalries were missing.

This was the first year since 1986, when Ferdinand was first in the Derby, second in the Preakness and third in the Belmont, that only one horse participated in all three races.

Last year, the automobile maker that sponsors the Triple Crown dropped the $1-million bonus, which went to the horse with the three best finishes, and it’s now time to re-think that decision.

--The Preakness, which had a low television rating, was hard on many horses. Of the 11 starters, four showed signs of bleeding from the lungs afterward, another left Pimlico with a throat infection and still another chipped an ankle.

--The Belmont had its worst field in years, and when Timber Country, the Preakness winner, got sick on the eve of the race, the day lost much of what little luster it had. New Yorkers weren’t fooled. Attendance dipped to less than 40,000, lowest for the race in the 35 years Belmont Park has been keeping track.

--Then Thunder Gulch won the race by running 1 1/2 miles in only 2:32. How slow was that? Well, Lammtarra, a colt who had run only once before, won the English Derby in a time that was only one-fifth of a second slower, and the Epsom Downs grass course is up and down hills.

Lukas’ charisma doesn’t mean much at the box office, and no one knows this better than Lukas.

“The horses are the start,” the trainer of Thunder Gulch and Timber Country said. “People don’t go to basketball games to see [Coach] Phil Jackson, they go to watch Michael Jordan.”

This year, but for Lukas’ two colts and his filly, Serena’s Song, who was 16th in the Derby before resuming her demolition of her own division, the rest of the 3-year-olds have become a blur. This is the way the Triple Crown panelists tried to sort out the unfolding action:

Kentucky Derby--They had Talkin Man No. 1, based on his strong races at Aqueduct, but the Canadian colt was a fraud, beating third-raters and unable to distinguish himself when he got to the main events. Talkin Man finished 12th at Churchill Downs. Thunder Gulch, the panel’s ninth-place horse, won the race at 24-1.

Preakness--Thunder Gulch was moved to the head of the class, just ahead of his stablemate, and Timber Country finally won as a 3-year-old.

Belmont Stakes--Timber Country was back at the top of the poll, but a 104-degree fever deprived him of his chance. Thunder Gulch, second in the poll, became the 12th horse--and the first since Swale in 1984--to accomplish the Derby-Belmont double.

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THE RATINGS

Horse S 1 2 3 Earnings 1. Thunder Gulch 12 6 2 2 $1,907,586 2. Timber Country 12 5 1 4 $1,560,400 3. Serena’s Song 17 10 2 1 $1,471,435 4. Tejano Run 10 3 3 2 $626,147 5. Star Standard 13 4 2 1 $341,072 6. Oliver’s Twist 9 4 2 0 $390,755 7. Jumron 9 5 2 1 $404,380 8. Citadeed 9 3 0 2 $185,600 9. Larry The Legend 5 4 1 0 $548,425 10. Afternoon Deelites 7 5 1 0 $668,125

Advisory panel for The Times’ Triple Crown Ratings: Racing historian Jim Bolus; Trevor Denman, announcer at four Southern California tracks; Tom Durkin, track announcer in New York and Florida, and Dave Johnson, racing telecaster for ABC and ESPN.