It's one Hall of a game for owner

The big reason horses don't win the Triple Crown any more, according to the owner of the horse that won the Belmont Stakes Saturday, is that the business has become so specialized and scientific. Fair enough. Still, the reason people such as George Hall buy and raise horses is that it's still the same sport that used to inspire him to bet his lunch money.

Hall and his younger brother grew up in Freeport, and they looked forward to the one afternoon a week, when they would go to Belmont or Aqueduct with their grandfather. "You know Catholic schools, they get out early," Hall said. "Every Thursday, we'd go to the track.

George was nine, his brother was five and each had a system. "Our grandfather used to give us a few bucks each for food, spaghetti, a hot dog and so forth," Hall said. "My brother would bet a nickel to show on the favorite every race. I was a degenerate gambler, so by the seventh race, I hadn't eaten. I had bet my food money so I had to beg my little brother to buy me a hot dog."

Funny that George didn't grow up to be so reckless with his money. Maybe it was the discipline at Chaminade High School and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, or maybe it was getting married, moving to Monmouth, N.J. and owning their own farm in Kentucky. In any case, he doesn't overspend on horses, not even Ruler On Ice, who won the final leg of the Triple Crown.

"We try not to pay too much for horses, we don't fall in love with a 2-year-old that we want or a yearling that we want and just pay any price for them," Hall said. "We try to run it like a business. It's particularly satisfying to win, after you've made a disciplined decision to buy a horse."

So how much did he pay for Ruler On Ice? "I don't remember, but it wasn't a lot," he said.

Whatever it was, it was worth it. Yes, this is a business and an art and a science. But horse racing also is enough to make a 50-year-old father of three feel like a kid rolling into the grandstand with Granddad (who also brought the kids to Saratoga for a week every summer). Hall was a happy youngster again Saturday, and he was home.

"There's no better place for us to win a big race," he said. "We would have loved to have won the Derby [with Pants on Fire], but winning at Belmont is just as special."

That is because Belmont was in the air at home, where his father was a New York City police officer and his mom taught piano. Belmont isn't far from Chaminade, where he was on the varsity swim team. Belmont was pretty close when he was going to college. "I decided I was going to go to a military academy. I was fortunate enough to get the appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy," he said. "I've always liked boats and traveling, so it was a great place for me to go."

Hall's Clinton Group Inc. manages $6.6 billion in capital, so he had enough money to get into the racing game -- an industry that isn't turning out Triple Crown winners the way it used to. Kelly Breen, Ruler On Ice's trainer, said it will require "a super horse, a 'now' horse."

The owner said, "I think people have gotten more scientific about breeding. There are horses bred for speed, horses bred for distance. And it's just hard to have that super horse. It's actually great because when it happens, it will be that much more exciting."

Don't hold your breath. Many will tell you that the dearth of triple threats has drained interest and passion from racing. You just couldn't prove that by the Halls Saturday.

George said that, as soon as Ruler On Ice crossed the finish line, his brother hugged him and told him, "I had flashbacks, of when we used to come here with Grandpa."