Jay Hovdey

Fair is fair, so if I am going to poke Seth Hancock and Edward Evans for retiring their perfectly sound and happy 4-year-olds Blame and Quality Road to stallion duty, thereby depriving racing fans of two bonafide stars who provided both continuity and reliable pari-mutuel investment, then it is only right to rattle Mike Pegram's cage about his sale of 3-year-old Lookin at Lucky to the Coolmore stallion machine. 

Rather than looking at the glass as half full, or half empty, I am going to consider the finish photo of the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday as if it were a glass made of pure Baccarat crystal, forever sparkling beneath the artifical lighting of Churchill Downs.

Oh yeah. They're about to start this Breeders' Cup thing, Day 1, and before they do, a promise: You will not hear a peep from this spoiled, sun-drenched Californian about the weather, which is brisk, but there are a lot of fine folks who must deal with frozen toes and noses who do not have the diversion of watching Zenyatta, Lookin at Lucky, Goldikova and Workforce perform for their pleasure. I feel obligated to explain, however, that because I can't feel my fingers I am typing this with a pen clenched in my teeth. There, I went and complained.

Try as he might, Gary Stevens will never forget his experience in the 1986 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, when he had the lights-out best day of his fledgling California career and went to bed that night an unhappy young man.

As advertised on its website, the Halloween evening edition of "60 Minutes" was determined to take on the question of whether or not Zenyatta, six days shy of her defense of her title in the Breeders' Cup Classic, should be referred to as "the best horse ever."