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The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS Monday,May21, 2001 HORSE RACING ROCKY MOUNTAIN RACEWAYS Stage Set for Belmont Showdown In Trains Class, 3 Cars AlwaysBetter Than 1 Though Baffert has yet to confirm Point Given’s entry in final leg of series Figure-eight races like water skiing without water, boat BY ED SCHUYLERJR. BY TRAVIS GAUCHAY ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE BALTIMORE — Once again,there will be WEST VALLEY CITY — Try to imagine waterskiing without no Triple Crown winner,but there is a bud- ding rivalry between Preakness winner Point Given and Kentucky Derby the water. Now,substitute cars for the skis. winner Monarchos. “It's going to be real rivalry between these twocolts,” said Bob Baffert, trainer of Point Given, who rebounded from fifth-place fin- For Brian “Skipper” ‘Delaney and Jack Eaton,this is their racing reality. Both team up again for the fourth year in the Trains ish as the favorite in the Derby to win the Preakness on Saturdayat Pimlico.“It will be ‘ good for racing.” racing class at Rocky Mountain Raceways. “Train racing is probably the rodeo clownsofracing,” Delaney John Ward, trainer of Monarchos, who finished seventh in the Preakness,said-a trip said. Trains consist of three cars. Thelead car has an engine with a gas pedal but no brakes. The middle car is the shell car with to the BelmontStakes was important because ofthebattle for the 3-year-old championship. ee competing with Point Given,” Ward said. Should either Monarchos or Point ae win the 1%mile Belmont on June9, he woul assume clear leadership of the ea division. It is the anticipated showdown between thecolts that wouldbe the main attraction in the Belmonta year after neither the Derby winner (Fusaichi Pegasus) nor the Preakness winner(Red Bullet) competed in the race. fe a Roberto Borea/The Associated Press Jockey Gary Steven rides Preakness winnerPoint Given in the Winner'sCircle at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday. Point Given and Kentucky Derby winner Monarchoscould square off again June 9 at the Belmont Stakes. sore horse. “This business is a business of knockers,” the Preakness; Dollar Bill, 15th in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness; Invisible Ink, runnerupin the Derby; ThunderBlitz,fourth in the Derby; and Balto Star, 14th in the or Thursday. He said the colt was OK but cameoutof the race tired because ofexerting himselfona track he couldn't handle. he said. “I train for some high-profile guys andI can’t take any chances” running a horse Derby. Baffert, of course, was happy about Point While. Point Given is expected to start in thefinal race of the Triple Crown series, Baffert would not commit himself Sunday. Point Given is owned by Prince Ahmed Ward said Monarchos would be’ sent to Belmont Park in New York either Wednesday He returned to California, while Point Given wentto his barn at Churchill Downsin Louisville, Ky. “T'll makethatcall in about a week or so after I go back to Kentucky and see how he looks,” Baffert said. “I'd like to go to the Belmont, buthe has to be doing very well.” Baffert shrugged off talk during Preakness week that the strapping Point Given was a thatis lame. Salman of Saudi Arabia. Baffert’s other 3year-old star, Congaree, who was third in both the Derby and Preakness, is owned by Robert McNair, ownerof the new Houston NFLfranchise, andhis wife, Janice. Baffert said that he talked with McNair and that Congaree won't start in the Belmont. Some other Belmont probables are A P Valentine,seventh in the Derby and second in Given’s image-restoring performancein the Preakness, but there was lingering disappointment aboutnot winning the Derby. “T really thought thatif 1 was goingto doit {win the Triple Crown], | was going to do it with this horse,” said Baffert, who won the Derby and Preakness with Silver Charm in 1997 and with Real Quiet in ’98, only to see those colts suffer narrow losses in the Belmont. The last Triple Crown winner was Affirmed in 1978. TENNIS Dokic Takes First Title at. Italian Open ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ROME — With only hertennis commanding attention, Jelena Dokic wonherfirsttitle by beating Amelie MauresmoattheItalian Open in Romeanddefeating the most formidable player on tour this year. The 18-year-old Yugoslav kept her composure and delivered punishing shots in winning 7-6 (3), 61 Sunday and establishing herself as a threat for the French Open crown. “It's really nice to win that ‘i id Dokic, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year. “This isn’t a small one, either. And, hopefully, it won't be thelast.” Mauresmohaswonfour titles this year. But the fourth-seeded Frenchwoman crumbled in the second set, repeatedly netting shots as a light drizzlefell on the red clayat Foro Italico. The loss ends a nine-match winning streak for Mauresmo, whose record this year remains a tour-best 31-3. A week ago, she won the German Open. nogas or brakes. The end car has only brakes. Hook the three together as they drive around a figure-eight — and you've got comedyon wheels. “The crowd really loves them,” Delanéysaid. “We're not cateringto the real race fan, but produce a stiff neck, but “nothing a hotbath anda few days recovery won't heal,” according to Delaney. Both racers agree train racing requires a little more luck than the otherclasses because of the nature of dealing with so many cars. “Sure, it requires probably more skill, more money and more talent to race the other classes, but in this class, we deal with more variables than they ever thought of, due to the fact we are running three cars,” Delaneysaid. Delaney had raced in the Late Modelclass, even taking rookie of the year honors in 1985, but said it became too expensive and “Just wasn’t fun anymore.” Once Rocky Mountain Raceways was built, he joked that he would like to race trains. Next thing he knew,he hada train car. The 43-year old Eaton has been around racing for more than 20 years, also racing the Late Models and building cars on the side. Delaney persuaded Eaton to “comeout and play”in train racing. In the real world, Delaney we're opening up to a whole new manages Totem’s, a club in Salt LakeCity, and is the event coordinatorfor the Utah Motorsports tainment — andI'll tell you what, weprovideentertainment.” Delaney, six days shy of his Equipment. audience that are out for enter- 47th birthday,drives thelead car. With controlof the acceleration, he looks for the holes to shoot through, trying to gain an advan- tage. Eaton works the brakes in the third car, controlling how they mightget throughthathole. Said Eaton: “You are the wa- ter skier back there. Except when you hit something,youfeelit.” They havesteered clear of serious injuries. A lost fender here and T-bone accident there may Foundation. Eaton works at ICM W Saturday’s winners at RMR included Lynn Hardy and Jim Wysong in the two PPG Modi- fieds main events, Nick Parker in the Super Stock, Wade Hugoe in the Figure 8s, Scott Cook in the Pro 4s and the SharkBite team in the Trains. RMRwill feature three special events in the next week: Extreme Motocross on Thursday, the Jet Car Spring Nationals on the drag strip Saturday and the Snap-On 125 on the oval track Monday. AUTO RACING Foyt Qualifies Three for Indy, Boat Stays Afloat THE ASSOCIATED PRESS INDIANAPOLIS — A.J. Foyt has been , around — andaround and around — Indy enough to know whento gamble and when to be conservative. The wily Foyt used caution Sunday and it worked well enough to give him three cars solidly,in the 33-car lineup for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. Eliseo Salazar and Donnie Beechler joined previous A.J. Foyt Enterprises qualifier Robby Gordonin thefield early in the day on seeminglyeffortless runs. Five other drivers also madeit, then sat and watched a smothering drama in thelast 50 minutes ofthe six-hour qualifying session, with 12 attempts to bump thefield’s slowestqualifier, Billy Boat. Boat, the 1998 pole winner,was thefirst qualifier of the last of three days of time trials, filling the field just, moments after the session began with a four-lap run average of 221.528 mph. Six entries were then bumped out of the lineup, thelast, rookie Filipe Giaffone, leaving Boat on the bubble as the slowest remaining qualifier. Foyt was delighted not to have to deal with thelate-day drama. “I definitely wanted to go early today so if we had a problem wecould come back andfix it,” said Foyt, a four-time winner here as a driver and the winning car WreckKills Racer ownerin 1999. “I usually do a lot more to make mycars runfasterin qualifying, but it was too muchof a gamble today. I just wanted to get these guysin.” Mike Gagliardo died after being injured in a two-car crash during the Trans-Am Series 125 at Mosport Interna- Gordon Thanks Crew After wrecking his car moments after The Winston began, Jeff Gordon thought his race was over. But this was an all-star tional Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario. Biffle Cruises Rookie Greg Biffle went to the lead on the 114th lap andeasily won the Nazareth event, after all, and anythinggoes. So NASCARallowed him to bring out his backupcar for the rain-delayed event and, after a mad scramble byhis Hendrick Motorsports team to get the car ready to 200 for the second victory of his Busch Series career. Biffle grabbed the top spot at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway when leaders Saturday at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, NC, “T'll tell you what, it just says a lot aboutthis race team,” Gordon said. “They just work their tails off to not only put greatprimary cars out there, but to havea great backupcar in the truck.I just can’t say enoughfor them andtheir effort.” Ruttman Two-Time Winner race, Gordon drove it to victory late Kevin Harvick, Jeff Green and Jason Keller pitted for tires and fuel. Joe Ruttman wonhis second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the season, holding off Scott Riggs and Jack Sprague at the Jelly Belly 200 at Pikes PeakInternational Racewayin Fountain, Colo. Rookie Rules in ASA Berstein in Contention Rookie Johnny Sauterled the final 95 laps to record his second career American Speed Association victory in the BFGoo- tion for the Top Fuel points lead by beat- drich Tires 300 stock-car race at Concord (N.C.) Motorsports Park. ‘Seth Rossman/TheAssociated Press Kenny Bernstein moved into contening DougKalitta in thefinals in the Matco Tools SuperNationals at Englishtown, NJ. Driver Billy Boatis lifted by a crew memberafter surviving 12 attempts to knock him out of the Indy 500 qualifying field Sunday. Streak Snapped A masteron clay thesé last few weeks, Juan Carlos Ferrero lost in the final of the German Openin Hamburg, a five-set defeat that ended the season's longest winning streak. Qualifier Albert Portas cap- tured hisfirst title, winning 4-6, 6-2, 0-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5 in a match between Spaniards leading to the French Open. “It was unbelievable, the most incredible experience in my life,” Portas said, “It was a beautiful match.” Ferrero had won 16 straight yorHebest on the tour this ras going after his third straightti title. Gustafsson Advances Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden PRICED TO MAKE YOUR PULSE GO beat Andrei Stoliarov of Russia 1-6 (1), 63 to advance to the second round of the Raiffeisen Grand Prix in St. Poelten, Austria. 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