[epona]

RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern)

June 4 Acorn Stakes and Flash Stakes (Belmont Park), 5:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN2

June 4 Smarty Jones Visa Triple Crown Challenge; 6:00-7:00 p.m., ESPN2

June 5 Smarty Jones Visa Triple Crown Challenge; 1:00-2:00 a.m., ESPN2

June 5 Smarty Jones Visa Triple Crown Challenge; 12:00-1:00 p.m., ESPN2

June 5 Wire to Wire, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN

June 5 Belmont Stakes Special; Vagrancy Handicap, Just a Game Breeders' Cup Handicap, Riva Ridge Breeders' Cup Handicap and True North Breeders' Cup Handicap (Belmont Park), 1:00-5:30 p.m., ESPN

June 5 Belmont Stakes (Belmont Park), 5:30-7:00 p.m., NBC

June 5 Visa Triple Crown 2004, 7:00-8:00 p.m., ESPN

June 8 Wire to Wire, 2:00-2:30 p.m., ESPN2

 

[epona]

From the NTRA ...

RACING ON THE AIR (all times Eastern)

June 12 Wire to Wire, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN

June 12 NTRA Super Saturday; Stephen Foster Handicap and Fleur de Lis Handicap (Churchill Downs), Brooklyn Handicap (Belmont Park), Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap (Hollywood Park) and Ohio Derby (Thistledown); 4:00-6:00 p.m., ESPN

NTRA SUPER SATURDAY SERIES KICKS OFF ON SATURDAY

NTRA Super Saturday," a new, five-show series of horseracing coverage airing on ABC and ESPN for the first time this year, will make its debut Saturday on ESPN with a two-hour telecast (4:00-6:00 p.m. ET) featuring five graded stakes from four different tracks. "NTRA Super Saturday" will air one Saturday a month, except for a special Sunday edition, through October.

With the 2004 Visa Triple Crown Challenge now in the history books, this week's "NTRA Super Saturday" show ushers in the second half of the horseracing season - the run up to Oct. 30 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, to be held at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie outside Dallas.

Featured on "NTRA Super Saturday" will be live races from each of the eight Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships divisions. These races are critical in determining which horses make it to Lone Star Park at the end of October.

In addition to presenting the races, which will carry total purses worth more than $2 million each week, each show will also feature a $400,000 guaranteed National Pick 4 wager, a bet that allows fans to pick the winners of four of the televised races. These wagers can result in hefty payoffs.

Headlining Saturday's program is a pair of Grade I events - the Stephen Foster Handicap from Churchill Downs in Louisville, and the Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap from Hollywood Park in Southern California.

Also scheduled are three Grade II contests - the Brooklyn Handicap from New York's Belmont Park, the Fleur de Lis Handicap from Churchill Downs and the Ohio Derby from Thistledown in Cleveland.


June 15 Wire to Wire, 2:00-2:30 p.m., ESPN2

June 19 Wire to Wire, 5:30-6:00 a.m., ESPN

June 22 Wire to Wire, 1:00-1:30 p.m., ESPN2