[b]Note: The older you are, the more you might appreciate seeing some of the
names in here. If you are a younger Triple Crown "expert", there is very little
here for you.[/b]

One way to be certain that time is passing is that you are seeing thoroughbred
names for the second and maybe third time. Since the alphabet is limited to 26
letters, and the Jockey Club will not accept all names (they would not let my
father name a 2YO after his favorite Met, Ed Kranepool), it is necessary that
they allow names to be recycled after a given period of time, maybe 25 years.

Two recycled names appear on Friday's Belmont card.

In the 8th at Belmont Friday, the English bred Ring of Truth, bred by an entity
known simply as "The Queen" makes her third U.S. start. Her Highness might have
had high hopes for this one after she was second and first in her first two
starts as a 2YO. In her subsequent three tries, the comments were "tired",
"weakened" and "faded", and she ended up in Hallandale this winter on lasix.

The first Ring of Truth I remember was a Rokeby bred foaled in 1975, about the
time when I was doing my best to disrupt all the best laid plans in my life.
Ring of Truth was sired by Belmont winner Arts and Letters and trained by MacK
Miller. Ring of Truth broke his maiden in his fifth try, beating Robin's Song,
who went on to become the first stake winner for jockey Jose Amy, who was
banned for 20 years by New York state authorities, allegedly taking the fall
for some higher profile riders in a NYRA race fixing scandal.

MacK Miller could only get one more win out of RoT. In the fall of 1979, Miller
dropped the homebred in for 16K, where he was taken by Frank "Pancho" Martin.
(Note: in his last four starts for Miller, RoT was ridden by Joe Imparato, one
of the true racetrack characters).

Because the game was the same then as it is now, RoT raced 11 times between
9/24/79 and 2/3/80 for Pancho, winning seven and running second three times.
During his time with Pancho, RoT was not able to win a stake but competed
against some familiar names: Czaravich, State Dinner, Peat Moss, Dr Patches. At
the end of 1980, after racing 19 times during that year, RoT changed hands
frequently, going to Frank LaBocetta, to Joe Acquilino, to Mike Sedlacek. On
May 7, 1981, RoT, ridden by 5 pound bug Richard Migliore, was well beaten by
champion Fappiano.

The ravages of Time. On 1/15/81, RoT wins a 75K claimer at AQ; 2/28/82, wins a
45K claimer at AQ; 8/16/82, wins a 7500 claimer at MTh.

So its 1983 and some would say I've blown my life up pretty good and I am
grooming horses at Churchill. I ship with one of my cheaper charges to Latonia,
the racetrack now known as Turfway. Night racing at a leaky roof. I'm cooling
my horse out in the spit barn and in walks the winner of the ninth race, a 2500
claimer -- Ring of Truth, the same horse I had watched compete at the NYRA
tracks, against some of the top horses in the country, back when NYRA was the
gold standard.

I walked up to RoT in his stall as his groom was bandaging his front legs. I
remember patting RoT's snout and saying something like "We've hit bottom, bub."

RoT soldiered on the leaky roof Ohio circuit for another four years, until he
was 12. When it was all said and done Ring of Truth started 119 times, winning
24 races and $246,228.

The other recycled name with a familiar ring is Truly Bound, who is entered in
Friday's ninth at Belmont, trained by a surprisingly ice cold Anthony Dutrow.
This Winstar bred 320K yearling purchase has lost ground in all of her races,
including at 3/5 at Parx.

Slightly more impressive was the Truly Bound I remember. Truly Bound was a 1978
foal sired by In Reality and trained by Bud Delp. This filly was 9 for 12
lifetime, and the three losses were to the top notch fillies Heavenly Cause,
Wings of Grace and Glorious Song. Notably, Truly Bound competed at four
racetracks which are more or less no longer with us: Atlantic City,
Meadowlands, Keystone and Bowie.