MONARCHOS DRAWS POST SEVEN, MADE 2-1 FAVORITE FOR SATURDAY'S PREAKNESS

Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos will break from post seven in Saturday's 126th Preakness Stakes, the second jewel of horseracing's Triple Crown, and has been installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite by Pimlico Racecourse oddsmaker Clem Florio. Congaree, the third-place finisher in the Derby, will break from post five and has been made the 5-2 second choice, while Derby favorite Point Given will break from the extreme outside in post eleven and has been set as the 3-1 third choice. NBC will televise the Preakness live from Pimlico in Baltimore from 5:00-6:30 p.m. (ET) ESPN and ESPN2 will also carry extensive live programming covering Preakness Day. See the television listings below for details.

TRF NAMED NTRA CHARITIES AFFILIATE

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has named the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF) a horseracing affiliate of its nonprofit branch, NTRA Charities. The TRF provides aftercare and adoptive services for retired racehorses in several states and is the largest and oldest organization of its kind in the U.S. More

LUKAS JOINS THE 4,000 CLUB

With the victory by Overbrook Farms' Added Spice in the ninth race at Delaware Park on May 7, D. Wayne Lukas recorded his 4,000th win as a trainer, becoming just the fourth conditioner in history to reach that plateau. The three trainers ahead of Lukas on the all-time win list are Dale Baird (8,479 victories), Jack Van Berg (6,300) and King Leatherbury (5910).

BAILEY, DAY MAINTAIN EARLY LEAD IN JOCKEY VOTING

Hall-of-Fame riders Jerry Bailey and Pat Day are the leading vote getters thus far for starting berths in this year's fifth annual renewal of the NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship, which will again take place at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie, located in the heart of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Bailey leads the pack of 30 nominees with 18% of the popular vote, with Day in second at 12%. Gary Stevens is running third with 11%. Laffit Pincay Jr. is fourth with 9%. And 2001 Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Jorge Chavez is in fifth position with 8% of the vote.

Through May 22, fans may log on to ntra.com, lonestarpark.com or drf.com and vote for two jockeys they would like to see invited to compete in the NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship. The two riders receiving the most votes will receive automatic invitations to the event. Nine riders named to the Championship will be determined, as in the past, by committee, with one spot reserved for the leading rider at host track Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie. ESPN2 will televise the June 22 Championship on a same-day-tape basis. The one-hour telecast will air at 12 midnight (ET).

In addition to fan voting, there will be a special Internet and e-mail promotion in conjunction with the Championship. After the final field of 12 riders is determined, fans can log on to ntra.com, lonestarpark.com, nbc5i.com or drf.com and select their choice to win the competition. One of those correctly predicting the winner will receive a guaranteed cash prize of $7,500, with other prizes to be awarded as well to other contestants. Registered fans may also receive a series of customized e-mail messages that will preview the NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship and contain hotlinks to handicapping information and horseracing sites. e-Dialog, a Massachusetts-based direct marketing firm whose clients include the NFL and Ticketmaster, will be providing data collection and e-mail communication services for the promotion.

The NTRA All Star Jockey Championship will receive additional support from NBC 5/KXAS-TV, based in Dallas/Ft. Worth. NBC 5/KXAS-TV and nbc51.com will offer extensive on-air and online promotional support throughout the month of June leading up to the Championship. The station will also supply prizes toward the Internet and e-mail-based promotion.

CHAVEZ TO HEAD JOCKEY COMPETITION AT PRAIRIE MEADOWS ON MONDAY

This year`s winning rider of the Kentucky Derby, Jorge Chavez, will be one of eight leading jockeys coming to Prairie Meadows on Monday, May 21 to compete in Riding Cup IV, a charity fundraising event. Jockey Jorge Chavez won the Kentucky Derby on May 5th aboard John Oxley`s three-year-old colt Monarchos, trained by John Ward, registering the Derby`s second fastest finish since Secretariat set the record in 1973.

The first post on May 21 is 4:30 p.m., with a jockey autograph session to be held on the track apron from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Laffit Pincay, Jr., the winningest jockey in history, joins Chavez in Riding Cup IV, along with nationally-known riders Jerry Bailey, Pat Day, Victor Espinoza, and Corey Nakatani. Terry Thompson and Luis Quinonez, the two leading jockeys at the current Prairie Meadows meeting with 19 wins and 18 wins, respectively, have earned berths to compete with the incoming riders.

Quinonez will ride with Bailey, Day, and Chavez for Team East. Thompson will join Pincay, Nakatani and Espinoza on Team West.

Following the competition, the jockeys will join Prairie Meadows officials in the winner's circle to present a check for $10,000 from the day`s proceeds to the Des Moines Ronald McDonald House. The Ronald McDonald House, observing its 20th anniversary in 2001, is a "home away-from-home," providing temporary lodging facilities for the families of seriously ill children being treated at nearby hospitals.

RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern)

May 17 Thoroughbred Classics Presented by the NTRA, Preakness Stakes, 7:00-7:30 a.m., ESPN Classic

May 18 Thoroughbred Classics Presented by the NTRA, Preakness Stakes, 9:30-10:00 a.m., ESPN Classic

May 18 2Day at Pimlico, Gallorette Handicap and The Very One Stakes (Pimlico), 3:30-5:00 p.m., ESPN2

May 18 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (Pimlico), 5:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN

May 18 Thoroughbred Classics Presented by the NTRA, Preakness Stakes, 5:30-6:00 p.m., ESPN Classic

May 18 Handicapping the Preakness, 8:30-9:00 p.m., ESPN2

May 19 Racehorse Digest, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN

May 19 Breakfast at Pimlico, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., ESPN2

May 19 2Day at the Preakness, Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap and Sir Barton Stakes (Pimlico), 1:30-3:00 p.m., ESPN2

May 19 The Preakness Special; Dixie Stakes, Pimlico Distaff Handicap and William Donald Schaefer Handicap (Pimlico); 3:00-5:00 p.m., ESPN

May 19 Preakness Stakes (Pimlico), 5:00-6:30 p.m., NBC

May 23 Racehorse Digest, 1:00-1:30 p.m., ESPN

May 26 Racehorse Digest, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN

May 27 NTRA 2Day at the Races, Jaipur Handicap (Belmont Park), Los Angeles Handicap (Hollywood Park) and MBNA America Challenge (Los Alamitos), 8:00-8:30 p.m., ESPN2

May 28 NTRA 2Day at the Races, Metropolitan Handicap (Belmont Park), Lone Star Handicap (Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie), USA Stakes (Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie) and Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile (Hollywood Park), 11:30 p.m.-12:00 a.m., ESPN2

May 30 Racehorse Digest, 1:00-1:30 p.m., ESPN

RACING TO HISTORY

May 17, 1875: America's oldest continuously held sporting event, the Kentucky Derby, was first run. The race was won by Aristides, who was ridden and trained by African Americans Oliver Lewis and Ansel Williamson, respectively. The day marked the opening of Churchill Downs; an estimated 10,000 spectators witnessed the first Derby.

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.

May 17, 1915: Rhine Maiden, in winning the Preakness Stakes, produced the only Kentucky Derby-Preakness wins by fillies in the same year. The 1915 Derby was won by Regret, who did not compete in the Preakness.

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, 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, 1935: The Seagram family won the Queen's Plate stakes (then called the King's Plate), a record 20th time. From 1891-1898, the Seagrams' horses won the Plate every year.

May 18, 1957: Eddie Arcaro set the record for most number of Preakness Stakes wins by a jockey, six, when he rode Bold Ruler to victory for Wheatley Stable.

May 18, 1968: Judy Johnson became the first female trainer to saddle a horse for the Preakness Stakes. Her horse, Sir Beau, finished seventh in a field of 10.

May 18, 1968: Calumet Farm set the record for most number of wins in the Preakness Stakes by an owner, seven, when Forward Pass won the race by six lengths.

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.

May 18, 1996: Jockey Pat Day won his third consecutive Preakness Stakes and his fifth Preakness overall, after riding Louis Quatorze to victory. The win, for trainer Nick Zito, snapped the Triple Crown race win-streak of trainer D. Wayne Lukas, which had run to six, beginning with the 1994 Preakness, won by Tabasco Cat.

May 18, 1998: Trainer Aimee Hall saddled four winners from five starters at Suffolk Downs, with all of the winners being ridden by her husband, Jose Caraballo. The wins are believed to be the first involving a married couple as jockey and trainer.

May 18, 2000: The NTRA and Breeders' Cup Ltd., were given preliminary approval for a consolidation plan under which all business, marketing and administrative duties of the two organizations would be combined.

May 19, 1961: Jockey Bill Shoemaker notched his 4,000th career win aboard Guaranteeya at Hollywood Park.

May 19, 1964: Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. won his first race, aboard Huelen, riding at Presidente Remon in Panama.

May 19, 1973: Secretariat's winning performance in the Preakness Stakes was marred by a controversy over the timing of the race. The original teletimer time was 1:55 for the 1 3/16-mile race; Pimlico amended it to 1:54 2/5 two days later.

May 19, 1999: Secretariat was honored as the 35th greatest athlete of the 20th Century by ESPN's SportsCentury, a series of programs profiling the top athletes of the past 100 years. Secretariat was the only non-human to make the top 50.

May 20, 1916: In an unprecedented sweep, Mandarin, Gala Water and Gala Day finished first, second and third, respectively, in the King's Plate at Woodbine for their owner, distiller Joseph Seagram. Three days later, Mandarin and Gala Water again finished one-two, this time in the Breeders' Stakes.

May 20, 1941: Seventeen days after his Kentucky Derby win and 10 days after his Preakness victory, Whirlaway raced against older horses for the first time. Carrying 108 pounds, Whirlaway defeated his four rivals in the Henry of Navarre Purse at Belmont Park.

May 20, 1954: At odds of 13-1, Rex Ellsworth's two-year-old colt Swaps won his maiden race by three lengths at Hollywood Park.

May 20, 1973: Having won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Secretariat shipped from Pimlico to New York in preparation for the Belmont Stakes, final jewel in the Triple Crown.

May 20, 1977: Two-year-old John Henry won his first start ever, a four-furlong maiden race at Jefferson Downs, by a nose. When he was retired in 1984, the gelding had 39 wins, 15 seconds and nine thirds from 83 starts, seven Eclipse Awards and earnings of $6,597,947.

May 21, 1978: John Henry made his first start for Dotsam Stable, winning a $25,000 claiming race at Aqueduct.

May 21, 1992: Jockey Gary Stevens hit his 3,000th winner in the fifth race at Hollywood Park, aboard Sharp Event.

May 22, 1974: Locust Hill Farm's Ruffian won her first start, a maiden race for two-year-old fillies, by 15 lengths at Belmont Park. Sent off at odds of 4-1, Ruffian completed the 5½ furlongs in 1:03.

May 23, 1936: Rushaway, ridden by John Longden, won his second derby in as many days, taking the 1¼-mile Latonia Derby at Latonia in Covington, Ky. Rushaway had won the 1 1/8-mile Illinois Derby, run at Aurora, outside Chicago, the previous day.

May 23, 1992: Jockey Jacinto Vasquez had his 5,000th career winner, aboard Susan Pixum, at Calder Racecourse. May 23, 1992: Angel Cordero Jr. made his first start as a trainer, with Puchinito, who finished fifth in the fifth race at Belmont Park.

May 24, 1905: Harry Payne Whitney's Tanya became the second (and last) filly to win the Belmont Stakes. Ruthless was the first filly to win the Belmont, in 1867. Whitney also won the Kentucky Derby with a filly, Regret, in 1915.

May 24, 1977: At odds of 13-1, Louis and Patrice Wolfson's two-year-old colt Affirmed won his maiden race by 4 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park, ridden by jockey Bernie Gonzalez.

May 25, 1991: Jockey Steve Cauthen won his fourth European derby, the Derby Italiano, with Hailsham, trained by Clive Brittain. Cauthen has also won the Epsom Derby twice, the Irish Derby and the French Derby, in addition to his Kentucky Derby win with Affirmed.

May 25, 1998: Jockey Eddie Maple announced his retirement at Belmont Park while accepting the 1998 Mike Venezia Award. Maple ended his career with 4,398 career victories and earnings of $105,318,593.

May 27, 1823: A $20,000 match race between American Eclipse (representing The North) and Henry (representing The South) was held at Union Course, Long Island. Eclipse won in two-of-three heats, after his original jockey, William Crafts, was replaced by Samuel Purdy before the second heat. The race, witnessed by 60,000 spectators, was the first to have been timed by split-second chronometers, which were imported for the event.

May 27, 1873: A bay colt, Survivor, won the first Preakness Stakes by 10 lengths, the largest margin in the race's history.

May 27, 1878: The entire field of Preakness Stakes horses-three-was owned by a single family, the brothers George and Pierre Lorillard. George's horses finished first and third.

May 27, 1882: Trainer Robert Walden won his fifth consecutive Preakness Stakes, with Vanguard. Walden won a total of seven Preaknesses, a record for a trainer.

May 27, 1979: Jockey Chris McCarron, 24, won his 2,000th career race, aboard Stembok, in the second race at Hollywood Park.

May 27, 1981: Bill Shoemaker became the first jockey in racing history to win 8,000 races when he rode War Allied to victory in the first race at Hollywood Park.

May 27, 1985: Under jockey Laffit Pincay Jr., odds-on favorite Spend a Buck defeated Creme Fraiche by a neck to win the Jersey Derby and earn $2.6 million, the largest single purse in American racing history. Two million dollars of the purse came from a bonus to Spend a Buck for winning the Cherry Hill Mile, the Garden State Stakes, the Kentucky Derby and the Jersey Derby. Angel Cordero Jr., the regular rider of Spend a Buck, was committed to ride Track Barron in the Metropolitan Handicap in New York on the same day and was persuaded to give up his mount in the Jersey Derby. Track Barron finished third in the Metropolitan, earning $40,620.

May 28, 1997: Visa USA and Triple Crown Productions announced that they had increased the bonus for winning the Triple Crown to a total of $5 million.

May 28, 2000: Jockey Edgar Prado registered his 4,000th career victory aboard Thunder Breeze in the second race at Belmont Park.

May 29, 1897: Scottish Chieftain, owned by Marcus Daly, became the only Montana bred to win the Belmont Stakes.

May 29, 1907: Colin began his undefeated career, breaking his maiden by two lengths at Belmont Park.

May 29, 1946: Two-year-old fillies Chakoora and Uleta became the first Thoroughbreds to complete a transcontinental flight. They were flown from New York to Inglewood, Calif., by the American Air Express Corporation, for a 2,446-mile trip that lasted 20 hours due to adverse weather conditions.

May 30, 1903: Flocarline became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes.

May 30, 1908: Jockey Joe Notter misjudged the finish of the Belmont Stakes and eased up on his mount, Colin, whose career record to that point was 13-for-13. Notter barely recovered from his mistake to hold off the drive of Fair Play, who came within a head of defeating Colin. When he retired, Colin's record stood at 15 wins in as many starts.

May 30, 1936: Omaha, the Triple Crown winner of 1935, won the Queens Plate at Kempton Park, England, for owner William Woodward.

May 30, 1941: Hollywood Park introduced the "vibrationless camera," developed by Hollywood cameraman Lorenzo del Ricio. Eight patrol judges with the cameras, which were attached to their binoculars, were stationed at intervals around the track. Jockey Nunzio Pariso was the camera's first victim-he was shown on film crowding a rival on the far turn.

May 30, 1969: Jockey Patty Barton won her first career race, at Pikes Peak.

WEEKEND STAKES RACES (unrestricted stakes worth $75,000 and up)

THURSDAY, MAY 17
Miss Preakness Stakes, 3yo fillies, $100,000, 6F, Pimlico

FRIDAY, MAY 18
Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, 3yo fillies, $200,000, Grade II, 1 1/8 M, Pimlico
Gallorette Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $100,000, Grade III, 1 1/16 M (T), Pimlico
The Very One Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $75,000, 5F (T), Pimlico

SATURDAY, MAY 19
Preakness Stakes, 3yo, $1,000,000, Grade I, 1 3/16 M, Pimlico
Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap, 3&up, $500,000, Grade II, 1¼ M, Hawthorne
Dixie Stakes, 3&up, $200,000, Grade II, 1 1/8 M (T), Pimlico
Shuvee Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $200,000, Grade II, 1M, Belmont Park
Pimlico Distaff Handicap, 3&up (f&m), $200,000, Grade III, 1 1/8 M, Pimlico
Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap, 3&up, $200,000, Grade III, 6F, Pimlico
Railbird Stakes, 3yo fillies, $150,000, Grade II, 7F, Hollywood Park
Marine Stakes, 3yo, $125,000, Grade II, 1 1/16 M, Woodbine
William Donald Schaefer Handicap, 3&up, $100,000, Grade III, 1 1/8 M, Pimlico
Early Times Mint Julep Handicap, 4&up (f&m), $100,000, Grade III, 1 1/6 M (T), Churchill Downs
Sir Barton Stakes, 3yo, $100,000, 1 1/16 M, Pimlico
Nursery Stakes, 2yo fillies, $75,000, 5F, Hollywood Park
Wafare Stakes, 3yo fillies, $75,000, 6F, Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie

SUNDAY, MAY 20
Cinema Handicap, 3yo, $100,000, Grade III, 1 1/8 M (T), Hollywood Park
Nastique Stakes, 3&up (f&m), $75,000, 1 1/16 M, Delaware Park

MONDAY, MAY 21
Selene Stakes, 3yo fillies, $250,000, Grade I, 1 1/16 M, Woodbine