Jay Hovdey

This time of year it rains Hall of Fame inductions, from major league baseball in Cooperstown (Bert Blyleveln entered last month), to the NFL last Saturday night (all hail Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Richard Dent, Chris Hanburger and Les Richter) to this Friday's ceremonies in Saratoga Springs for Thoroughred racing's finest.

Of the $15,715,478 gambled on the races at Del Mar on Saturday through transparently reportable sources, $31,413 of it was bet on the debut of the Head-to-Head proposition offered in the featured Eddie Read. This figure represented 0.19 % of the total pool (okay, let's round up and call it 0.2 % -- looks better), which is just about where it belongs until, hopefully, it is put out of its misery.

While waiting for the Hollywood Gold Cup horses to take the stage on Saturday, I tickled the keyboard and landed on this headline: "Sports Illustrated's Ultimate Playlist"

Consider for a moment the larger issues being raised by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's investigation into the charges against chief steward John Veitch surrounding the poor performance of Life at Ten in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic last November at Churchill Downs.

At first glance, it seemed as if the news about the latest addition to the Breeders' Cup program was purposely and very effectively buried during a week in which the Mavs reigned marvelous, Rory saved golf, and the Bruins ruined life as we know it for Western Canadians.