New s and notes from around the Thoroughbred racing world, compiled by Thoroughbred Racing Communications, Inc. (TRC) (212.371.5911..)

DERBY WINNER GRINDSTONE RETIRED
Grindstone, winner of last Saturday's Kentucky Derby, has been retired to stud at the farm of his owner, William T. Young, it was announced Thursday, May 9 after veterinarians discovered a chip in the colt's right front knee. Grindstone, still stabled at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky., went to the track this morning for a light jog, his first workout since his Derby victory. The injury was noticed by Dallas Stewart, assistant to trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who immediately called veterinarian Alex Harthill at 6:30 a.m. According to Dr. Harthill, x-rays were taken which showed Grindstone had a chip the 'size of the first joint of the little finger' (of a human) on his right foreleg (the right radial carpal bone). Dr. Robert Copelan, veterinarian for Young's Overbrook Farm, concurred, and since the horse has had surgery for the same injury before, he will be retired to stud at Overbrook Farm in Lexington, Ky.

'This is in the best interest of the health of the horse,' said Young. This injury is not life-threatening to Grindstone; it's simply the right thing to do. We are so thankful for the Derby win. He will make a great sire.'

Grindstone was previously sidelined with a chip after running fourth in the Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs, July 1. He returned to the races Feb. 16, running second to Cobra King in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

PREAKNESS START STILL POSSIBLE FOR UNBRIDLED'S SONG
Unbridled's Song, who was favored to win the Kentucky Derby but finished a disappointing fifth, arrived at Monmouth Park, Oceanport, N.J., this morning at 7:50 a.m. The three-year-old colt's connections are not ruling out a start in the May 18 Preakness Stakes at Baltimore's Pimlico Racecourse.

'He came out of the Derby just fine and already went back to the track to jog right before shipping to New Jersey,' said Buzz Chace, stable manager for the colt's owner, Ernie Paragallo. 'We will further evaluate his progress this week before we make a definite decision about the Preakness.'

According to Thursday's edition of the Asbury Park Press, Chace said that if Unbridled's Song does not need a bar shoe, "We're going to the Preakness."

DERBY WAGERING SETS NEW RECORD
According to preliminary figures, wagering on the May 4 Kentucky Derby totaled a record $47,387,442. Kentucky-wide wagering, including on-track, inter-track and Churchill Downs' Sports Spectrum, accounted for $9,843,512 of the total, with the balance, $37,543,930, coming from out-of-state sources.

DERBY RATINGS JUMP
The official ratings for ABC's coverage of the 1996 Kentucky Derby were up by 23 percent over last year's figures. The one-and-a-half- hour telecast drew a 7.4 rating and 21 share, compared to 1995's 6.0 rating, 17 share. The last hour of the telecast, from 4:59 to 6:00 p. m., garnered the highest ratings, with an 8.2 rating, 23 share.

FULL-CARD SIMULCASTING COMES TO OKLAHOMA
The Oklahoma State Legislature passed a bill Wednesday, May 8 that will allow Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw and Fair Meadows in Tulsa to import full-program signals from other racetracks in North America to supplement their live events. Senate Bill 1167, which passed by a margin of 71-25, is on its way to Governor Frank Keating, who indicated he will sign it. Simulcasting could begin as early as May 17.

Once the bill becomes law, the state's racetracks will be able to offer wagers on up to six full-card simulcasts on a racing day and two can be shown while an Oklahoma track is conducting a live race. Each track can simulcast six full-card programs from out-of-state racetracks on days when no racing is conducted, but that number is limited to 50 percent of the number of live race days allotted each track.

ONTARIO LOWERS PARIMUTUEL TAX, ADDS VIDEO LOTTERY TERMINALS
Ontario's ailing horse racing industry is expected to show signs of improvement with the introduction of video lottery terminals (VLT's) and a reduction in parimutuel taxes under new guidelines announced Tuesday. The measures will boost revenues for the Ontario government and provide the horse racing industry a level playing field in the gaming sector. Under the Race Tracks Tax Act, triactor wagers (analogous to trifecta wagers in the U.S.) were taxed at a rate of nine percent and all other bets at seven percent. Tuesday's announced tax reduction will result in a 0.5 percent tax on all wagers. Horse racing in Ontario had been taxed at a higher effective rate than government-sponsored casinos. Ontario also had the highest parimutuel tax rate of any major racing jurisdiction in North America, causing a significant erosion of the horse breeding and racing industry in Ontario.

'The industry is extremely pleased this government provided horse racing with the opportunity to compete fairly with other forms of gaming in the province,' said Robert Hall, chairman of the Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association (OHRIA), a group of racetrack representatives who have been lobbying the Ontario government since last year.

MEADOWLANDS EXPANSION UNVEILED
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority unveiled plans Wednesday for a $265 million addition designed to attract millions of new patrons. The five-year project will include construction of a four-section pavilion complete with a 7,000-seat movie theater, restaurants, stores and a glass-enclosed atrium with an indoor mountain, rivers, waterfalls and gardens. Another section will have a children's theater and play area.

The 1.1 million square foot pavilion is part of a larger, $850 million plan to add hotels, an office complex and mass transit rail system and other facilities over the next 10 years. The expansion will create 625 construction jobs and 1,800 jobs once completed. Ground breaking is expected to be in late 1998 or early 1999, with completion in two years.

JOCKEY CLUB WEB SITE RECORDS HIT NUMBER TWO MILLION
The Jockey Club's Equine Online, the Internet home of The Jockey Club, The Jockey Club Information Systems, Inc., Equibase Company and other industry organizations, recently reached a significant milestone by notching its two-millionth 'hit.' Jockey Club Vice President for Corporate Communications, Jim Peden, cited the popularity and rapid growth of the site, developed late last year and currently averaging more than 17,000 hits per day, as indicative of racing's compatibility with the Internet.

SPECIAL PRE-BREEDERS' CUP RACES FOR HOLLYWOOD PARK
The California Horse Racing Board has endorsed a special racing calendar for Southern California next year, in anticipation of the Nov. 8, 1997 Breeders' Cup Championship Day at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. Under the CHRB's plan, Hollywood Park will be open for the last three weekends in September 1997 to accommodate the race preparations of Breeders' Cup horses and allow trainers to acclimatize their horses to California and test their feel for the Hollywood racing strip. Friday night and Saturday afternoon race cards would be offered, with Hollywood running concurrent with the Los Angeles County Fair meet at Fairplex in Pomona. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club closes Sept. 10 and Santa Anita Park opens for its Oak Tree meet on Oct. 1, leaving Breeders' Cup hopefuls without high- caliber stakes races in which to compete during most of September in Southern California.

FLORIDA BILL USHERS IN FULL-CARD SIMULCASTING
On Friday, May 3, the Florida Senate and House passed a bill allowing full-card simulcasting in the state and also granting tax concessions to the Breeders' Cup with the intent of luring the event back to South Florida. One of the concessions made to accommodate Hialeah was a revision that allows the track to take Calder's signal, including out-of-state simulcasts, much like other simulcasting sites throughout the state.

The bill must be signed by the governor, a process that may take 60 to 90 days, but Deborah R. Miller, Florida's Director of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, is permitting full-card simulcasting to take place while the bill is waiting to be signed.

THE 121ST PREAKNESS STAKES -- TIDBITS AND TRIVIA
PURE SPEED: There have been 25 winning horses who have led every step of the way, the last being Aloma's Ruler in 1982.
LONGSHOTS: The longest priced Preakness winner was Master Derby, who paid $48.80 in 1975.
ODDS-ON FAVORITES: Sixteen of the 23 odds-on favorites have won the Preakness, the last being Spectacular Bid in 1979. Of the last three odds-on horses, Easy Goer, at 3-5, was second in 1989; Swale, at 4-5, was seventh in 1984; and Linkage, at 1-2, was second in 1982.
BY THE COLORS: Of 121 Preakness winners (there were two divisions of the race in 1918), there were 63 bays, 38 chestnuts, 15 brown- , two black- and three gray-colored horses. No roan has ever won the Preakness.
CHECK WITH THE WEATHERMAN: The last two Preakness Stakes run on sloppy tracks produced upsets. Deputed Testamony, paying $31.00, won in 1983 as Derby winner Sunny's Halo ran sixth. In 1972, Derby winner Riva Ridge was fourth to Bee Bee Bee, who returned $39.40.
WEIGHTY ISSUES: While contestants in the Preakness (and the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes) now carry 126 pounds, it was not always so. In 1910, Layminster carried 84 pounds to victory, getting a 31-pound allowance from favored Martinez and between 14 and 34 pounds from the rest of the field. It was the least weight any Preakness entrant has ever carried.
MARGINAL MATTERS: The easiest victory was in 1873, when an 11-1 shot named Survivor romped to a 10-length victory in the first Preakness ever. The tightest finishes were nose victories by Old England (1902), Victorian (1928), High Quest (1934), Bold Venture (1936), Greek Money (1962) and Sunday Silence (1989).
THE SMALL AND LARGE: The smallest fields ever to start were the two horses who went to the post in 1883, 1884 and 1889. The largest field was 18 in 1928.
A LAMENTABLE RECORD: Dancer's Image, who was disqualified in the 1968 Kentucky Derby after post-race testing turned up traces of a banned medication, was also disqualified (from third to eighth) in the Preakness after a bumping incident. He remains the only horse to be set down in two Triple Crown races.
EVEN A PROGRAM WOULDN'T HELP: There have been two unnamed horses to run in the Preakness. In 1874, a horse listed as "bay colt" ran fourth while in 1888, a horse listed as "Bertha B. colt" (later Judge Murray) was second.
A FILLIES' RACE: Fifty-one fillies have contested the Preakness, the last being Winning Colors in 1988, with four going on to victory: Flocarline (1903), Whimsical (1906), Rhine Maiden (1915) and Nellie Morse (1924).
STOPPED BY THE PREAKNESS: Eleven horses have won the Derby and Belmont. The Triple Crown hopes of Zev (1923), Twenty Grand (1931), Johnstown (1939), Shut Out (1942), Middleground (1950), Needles (1956), Chateaugay (1963), Riva Ridge (1972), Bold Forbes (1976), Swale (1984) and Thunder Gulch (1995) all were ended by the Preakness.
HOW FAR YOU GOIN'?: The Preakness has been run at seven different distances. Starting at 1 1-2 miles (1873-1888) at Pimlico, the race was shortened to 1 1-4 miles in 1889 but was once again run at 1 1-2 miles in 1890 when it was held as a handicap for horses three-years-old and up at Morris Park in The Bronx, N.Y. No three-year-olds started that year. The Preakness then took a three-year absence between 1891 and 1893. When the race resumed in 1894, it was still in New York, this time at the Brooklyn Jockey Club's Gravesend Course and the field was asked to go 1 1-16 miles. But that didn't last for long; from 1901-1907 the race was shortened to 1 mile and 70 yards. Returning to Pimlico in 1908, the distance was lengthened to 1 1-16 miles, then it was down to 1 mile for the 1909 and 1910 runnings, up to 1-miles from 1911-1924 and finally, in 1925, the current distance of 1 3-16 miles was instituted.
WHO'S GOT THE TROPHY?: The Woodlawn Vase, the priceless Preakness Stakes trophy, has a remarkable history. First raced for in 1861 (the first Preakness was in 1873), it became the perpetual Preakness Stakes trophy in 1917 when won by Kalitan on the same day, May 12, 1917, that Omar Khayyam became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. A strong rumor still persists that it was buried during the Civil War to prevent its capture by Union soldiers and marauding Confederates, a practice commonly used by Southerners of that era to protect their valuables.

CORDERO AND HIS TWO BIRTHDAYS
Reports of jockey-turned-trainer Angel Cordero Jr.'s 54th birthday on Wednesday were premature. Although Cordero's name was included in a May 8 radio broadcast noting celebrities born on that day, he won't turn 54 until November. 'I have two birth certificates,' explained Cordero. 'When I started to ride, I couldn't ride until I was 18 so my father doctored a birth certificate so I could be 18 six months earlier. My driver's license says my birthday is May 8, but my real birthday isn't until November.'

RACING ON THE AIR
May 9 'Racehorse Digest' 2:30-3:00 a.m., ESPN
May 11 'Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
May 11 Illinois Derby, Sportsman's 4:00-5:00 p.m., ESPN
May 11 Pimlico Special, Pimlico 4:30-6:00 p.m., ABC
May 15 'Racehorse Digest' 3:30-4:00 p.m., ESPN
May 16 'Racehorse Digest' 2:30-3:00 a.m., ESPN
May 18 'Racehorse Digest' 6:00-6:30 a.m., ESPN
May 18 Preakness Stakes, Pimlico 4:30-6:00 p.m., ABC

RACING TO HISTORY
May 9, 1945: The wartime government ban on horse racing in the United States was lifted.

May 9, 1982: Chris McCarron won his 3,000th career race, aboard Aggrandizement, in the ninth race at Hollywood Park. At age 27, he was the youngest rider to reach that plateau.

May 10, 1910: Jockey George Woolf was born in Cardston, Alb., Canada.

May 10, 1919: Sir Barton won the Kentucky Derby after being winless in six tries. Four days later, on May 14, he won the Preakness Stakes, and on June 11, he became the first Triple Crown winner after capturing the Belmont Stakes.

May 11, 1887: African American rider Isaac Lewis won the 13th running of the Kentucky Derby aboard Montrose.

May 11, 1888: Trainer Robert Walden set the record for the most number of Preakness winners - seven - when he sent Refund to victory.

May 11, 1892: African American jockey Alonzo Clayton, age 15, became the youngest rider to win the Kentucky Derby when he guided Azra to victory in the 18th running of the Derby.

May 12, 1909: The colors of the Preakness Stakes winner were first painted onto the ornamental weathervane at Pimlico Racecourse.

May 12, 1917: Omar Khayyam became the first foreign-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. He was bred in England.

May 12, 1990: D. Wayne Lukas became the first trainer to top $100 million in purses when he sent Calumet Farm's Criminal Type to win the Pimlico Special at Pimlico Racecourse.

May 13, 1880: Hindoo made his two-year-old debut, winning by three lengths. When he was retired at age four, his record was 36-31-3-2, with earnings of $72,340. Hindoo holds one of the longest winning streaks, 19 races, in racing history.

May 13, 1891: Kingman, the only African American-owned horse to win the Kentucky Derby, did so with jockey Isaac Murphy in the irons. Kingman was owned and trained by African American Dudley Allen. The win gave jockey Isaac Murphy back-to-back Derby victories and made him the first jockey to win three Derbies.

May 13, 1973: Secretariat worked five furlongs in :57 2-5 at Pimlico Racecourse in preparation for the May 19 Preakness Stakes. He was eased after completing his workout distance, but still ran six furlongs in 1:10.

May 14, 1885: African American trainer Alex Perry saddled Joe Cotton to victory in the 11th running of the Kentucky Derby.

May 14, 1890: African American jockey Isaac Murphy won the 16th Kentucky Derby aboard Riley, giving Murphy his second Derby win. Murphy won an astonishing 44 percent of all races he rode, a fete no jockey has ever been able to match. Murphy was the first jockey elected into the Jockey Hall of Fame at the National Museum of Racing, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

May 14, 1978: Having recovered from the often-deadly Colitis X virus, Seattle Slew won his first start as a four-year-old in an allowance race at Aqueduct.

May 14, 1989: E.P. Taylor, owner of Windfields Farms and breeder of Northern Dancer, died at age 88.

May 15, 1952: John Longden won his 4,000th victory, riding at Hollywood Park.

May 15, 1954: Nashua won his first race, running 4 1-2 furlongs over a straightaway at Belmont Park.

May 15, 1993: Genuine Risk, the second of three fillies to have won the Kentucky Derby since it began in 1875, gave birth to her first foal after 13 years of failed attempts and miscarriages. The foal, a son of Rahy, was named Genuine Reward.

May 16, 1882: Apollo was guided to victory by African American Babe Hurd in the eighth running of the Kentucky Derby, overtaking favored Runnymede in the final strides.

May 16, 1884: Buchanan became the first maiden to win the Kentucky Derby. Only two other maiden horses have gone on to win the Run For The Roses: Sir Barton in 1919, and Brokers Tip in 1933.

May 16, 1884: African American Isaac Murphy, considered one of the greatest race riders in American history won the first of his three Kentucky Derbies when he guided Buchanan to victory. The horse was trained by African American William Bird.

May 16, 1925: The first network radio broadcast of the Kentucky Derby aired from WHAS in Louisville.

May 16, 1979: Gary Stevens rode his first career winner, named Lil Star, trained by his father, Ron Stevens, at Les Bois Park.

May 17, 1875: Aristides, a chestnut colt, won the inaugural Kentucky Derby, run at Churchill Downs on its opening day before an estimated 10,000 spectators. Aristides was ridden and trained by an African Americans, Oliver Lewis and Ansel Williamson, respectively.

May 17, 1881: James Rowe Sr., then age 24, became the youngest trainer to saddle a Kentucky Derby winner after Hindoo took the 7th Derby for his owners, brothers Phil and Mike Dwyer, both notorious gamblers. Hindoo, regarded as one of the greatest racehorses of his era, retired in 1882 with 30 wins, three seconds and two thirds in 35 starts.

May 17, 1930: Two-year-old Equipoise gave owner C.V. Whitney his first stakes victory when he captured the Keene Memorial Stakes at Belmont Park at odds of 3-5.

May 17, 1947: Seabiscuit, owned by Charles S. Howard, succumbed to a heart attack at Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, Calif. He was 14.

May 17, 1976: Sixteen-year-old Steve Cauthen rode his first winner, Thomas Bischoff-trained Red Pipe, in the eighth race at River Downs. By the end of his first year of apprenticeship, Cauthen had won 240 races from 1,170 mounts and $1.2 million in purses.

May 18, 1880: African American jockey George Jarret Lewis rode Fonso to victory in the sixth running of the Kentucky Derby.

May 18, 1931: Fifteen-year-old Eddie Arcaro rode his first race, finishing sixth, at Bainbridge Park, Ohio. At year's end, he remained winless after 36 tries.

May 18, 1985: Patricia Cooksey became the first female jockey to compete in the Preakness Stakes. Her mount, Tajawa, finished sixth in a field of 11.

Pimlico Special, 4&up, $600,000, 1 3-16 Miles, Grade I, Pimlico
A small but quality field of four are entered, led by Geri, owned by Allen Paulson, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Jerry Bailey, the team that handles Cigar. Geri has won six straight including a convincing win in the Oaklawn Handicap, April 6. Mott will also saddle Wekiva Springs, who has been running second to Mott's other stars. Wekiva Springs was second to Geri in the Oaklawn Handicap and second to Cigar in the Donn Handicap. He was also second in the NYRA Mile and the Broward Handicap. He did break through, however, with a win in the Grade I Gulfstream Park Handicap, March 2. Star Standard was second in the Gulfstream Park Handicap, second to Cigar in last year's Woodward Stakes and second in the Belmont Stakes to Thunder Gulch. He won his last start, an allowance race at Keeneland, April 10. The wildcard in the field is Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum's Key of Luck. He won the Dubai Duty Free Stakes by 20 lengths with jockey Gary Stevens in a better time than Cigar at the same distance.

Illinois Derby, 3yo, $500,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Grade II, Sportsman's
El Amante and Bold Lachee, first and second in the Grade III Flamingo Stakes at Hialeah on April 6, meet again along with Connecting Terms, who has run second in four straight stakes events. Stalwart Member has won half his six starts while never finishing worse than third. Davor, Laffer and Honor the Time have each won two straight while Instant Friendship and Sword's Point have each won their last start. Natural Selection, Run David Run and Never to Squander, a maiden after 16 starts, round out the field of 13.

Withers Stakes, 3yo, $100,00, 1 Mile, Grade II, Belmont
Jim Beam Stakes winner Roar heads the field. Trainer Shug McGaughey passed up the Derby after Roar's third-place finish in Keeneland's Lexington Stakes and has opted for the mile of the Withers rather than the 1 3-16 miles of the Preakness. Romano Gucci won two stakes at Aqueduct and a strong showing in the Withers may earn him a ticket to the Preakness one week later. Other possible starters are Jamies First Punch and Cliveden Hall.

Ark-La-Tex Handicap, 3&up, $125,000, 1 1-8 Miles, Louisiana Downs

Regret Stakes, 3yo fillies, $75,000, 1 1-16 Miles Turf, Churchill

Will Rogers Handicap, 3yo, $100,000, 1 Mile Turf, Grade III, Hollywood

Inglewood Handicap, 3&up, $125,000, 1 1-16 Miles Turf, Grade III, Hollywood
Fastness (IRE) makes his first start of 1996 with a new rider, Corey Nakatani, taking over for Gary Stevens, who will ride Tychonic (GB). Fastness (IRE) was second in last year's Breeders' Cup Mile and then took the Grade II Citation Handicap Nov. 25. Tychonic (GB) won the Grade II El Rincon Handicap in his last start and is riding a five- race winning streak, all in stakes races. Helmsman had won two graded stakes before displacing his palate and being badly bumped in a fourth-place finish in the Santa Anita Handicap. He returns to the turf where he won the Grade III Volante Handicap last year and was second in the Grade I Hollywood Derby. Dernier Empereur hated the mud in New York in his last start, Oct. 28, finishing last in the Stuyvesant Handicap. He hasn’t done much on the dirt but has won on the turf in Europe. College Town and Lord Shirldor (SAF) round out the expected field.

Eclipse Handicap, 4&up, $100,000, 1 1-16 Miles, Grade III, Woodbine

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