140th Belmont Stakes Airs on ABC Saturday, June 5

Big Brown Seeks First Triple Crown Since 1978; ESPN to Offer Extensive Multimedia Coverage

June 2, 2008 -- ESPN will offer seven hours of coverage leading to ABC’s two-hour race broadcast Sat., June 5, as Big Brown attempts to win the 140th Belmont Stakes and become the first horse to capture the Triple Crown since 1978. ESPN will have programming from noon to 5 p.m. ET , followed by the race coverage on ABC. All Belmont programming on ABC and ESPN will be aired in high definition television on ABC HD and ESPN HD, respectively.

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Overall, ESPN will provide Belmont Stakes coverage on nine platforms: ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN Deportes, ESPN360.com, ESPN International, and ESPN Mobile TV.

Joe Tessitore and Brent Musburger will host the race coverage with analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss, reporters Jeannine Edwards, Rece Davis, Jay Privman, Steve Cyphers, Tom Rinaldi and Caton Bredar and handicappers Kenny Mayne and Hank Goldberg. Rick Reilly will make his ESPN television debut, providing commentaries.

ABC Sports will use 40 cameras to cover the race, including ESPN Rail-view camera, a super slo-mo camera and a blimp camera

Features on The Belmont telecast on ABC and ESPN will include:

* Big Brown’s jockey Kent Desormeaux and his family
* All-Access with Desormeaux
* The trials and tribulations of Big Brown’s trainer Rick Dutrow
* Horses who have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, only to lose the Belmont (6 horses in last 11 years)
* Casino drive, a horse from Japan, a top contender
* Rick Reilly commentary
* Kenny Mayne Event
* Affirmed (the last Triple Crown winner- in 1978) and Alydar rivalry.

The multi-media coverage will include:

* ESPN Radio: first-time live coverage of the race, from 5-7 p.m.; Mike and Mike in the Morning will be live from Belmont on Friday from 6 - 10 a.m.; ESPN 1050 in New York from 7 a.m.- 1 p.m.
* ESPN.com: Stories, updates and video clips all week leading up to the Belmont.
* ESPNDeportes.com:
* ESPN360: Will simulcast the Hill Prince Hill on Friday and the ESPN Belmont Special on Saturday. ESPN360.com will feature the entire Belmont race replay starting Sunday.
* ESPN Mobile TV : Belmont content in the Hot Corner, a Break News Alert on the winner, downloadable preview clips, and a post-race wrap from Randy Moss. ESPN Mobile Web will feature the Triple Crown spotlight on Big Brown as well as breaking news alerts at the conclusion of the race.
* ESPN International: Atlantic Network (Sub-Saharan Africa and Israel), Middle East Network (North Africa and the Middle East), Pac Rim (Australia and New Zealand), Latin American Network, Latin American Network-Brazil, ESPN+ (Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay), TSN and JSB (Japan)
* On-Demand: ESPN will make the running of the Belmont, along with other related content available through multiple television VOD services on-demand after 2:30am the morning after the race.

Day
Time (ET)
Program
Network

Wed., June 4

11a.m. - noon
Belmont Draw
ESPN Radio, ESPNews

Fri., June 6

5 – 6 p.m.
Hill Prince Stakes

ESPN2

Sat., June 7

Noon - 3 p.m.
Today at the Belmont Stakes
ESPN

3 - 5 p.m.
The Belmont Stakes Special
ESPN

5 - 7 p.m.
The 140th Belmont Stakes
ABC, ESPN Radio

Sun., June 8

3 - 5 a.m.
Replay of Belmont Stakes
ESPN

This week, ABC is the home of The Belmont Stakes and the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers at the Boston Celtics in primetime (8:30 p.m., ET), which begin Thursday and continue on Sunday.

Source: ESPN