WASHINGTON - It has become a depressingly familiar scenario: A Thoroughbred displays special talent, generating excitement and anticipation that he might become a genuinely great racehorse. But then he departs from the sport prematurely, without fulfilling his potential and depriving the game of a star it desperately needs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As the son of a horseman widely recognized as the greatest trainer America ever produced, Jimmy Jones began his racing career with certain valuable assets but a lot of baggage as well. He made the most of the former and coped so successfully with the latter that he gained Hall of Fame credentials on his own merit before his retirement in 1964 to launch a new career as director of racing at Monmouth Park.

Far from the thundering crowds of Churchill Downs, where his family's name became synonymous with success in America's most famous horse race, H.A. "Jimmy" Jones died Sunday afternoon at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Mo., near his home in Parnell. He was 94 and had been hospitalized since May.

"His kidneys hadn't been good," said Hale Sanders, a prominent local farmer and a lifelong friend of Jones.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The audience made a sound that could best be described as a cross between a gasp of wonder and an "ahhh" of recognition. There before them, striding to the podium, was a tall, big-chested man wearing gray slacks and a blue blazer. He was being introduced as Allen Jerkens, but that was impossible, because the last time most of them had heard the name mentioned, Allen Jerkens was flat on his back in a hospital in Florida.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - His place in racing history, as one of the outstanding 3-year-olds of our time, is assured. Point Given was brilliant in winning the Santa Anita Derby and, with the exception of the Kentucky Derby, when flawed tactics may have contributed to his defeat, every succeeding appearance added to his stature. Those who saw him win the Travers here last weekend left with a keen anticipation of his next triumph, never guessing that an injury would force him into retirement so soon.

NEW YORK - What American racing needs today is not a $10 million Cigar but a 50-cent superfecta.

The notion that a single popular horse can save racing by becoming a national hero is in vogue again, thanks in part to the commercial success of the book "Seabiscuit: An American Legend." Racing people, hearing how 63 years ago a nation huddled by radios to hear of a racehorse's exploits, seem to think that if another Seabiscuit materializes, racing will once again dominate popular culture.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Most horses need some time and some experience or seasoning to learn their job. Mayakovsky, a quick study, had it figured out before he made his first start. When he debuted here on opening day last month, he won smartly and set a track record of 1:03.32 for 5 1/2 furlongs, surprising few after training sensationally on the West Coast.

DEL MAR, Calif. - In the talented family of trainers employed by The Thoroughbred Corp. of Ahmed Salman, England's legendary Henry Cecil could be considered the eldest and most accomplished while local boy Bob Baffert is the baby, precocious and somewhat spoiled. That makes John Shirreffs the middle child.

"The middle child is the normal, friendly one," wrote Garrison Keillor in "The Book of Guys."

"Parents devote themselves to the troubled children and become close to them. So the middle child is ignored, because he or she is so nice and requires no special attention."

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - At an age when the stars of other professional sports are largely in retirement, jockeys, from one end of America to the other, are turning back the clock.

On the West Coast, Laffit Pincay Jr., at 54, is enjoying a sensational season. He topped the riders' list at Hollywood Park and is battling for similar honors at Del Mar, while colleagues Chris McCarron, 46, and Eddie Delahoussaye, 49, are prominent in the competition.

DEL MAR, Calif. - There is a fine line between a good idea and a bad idea, just as there is that same fine line between genius and stupidity. Little wonder the two are often confused. For example . . .

* Bob Baffert was just kidding. Or was he? Asked where Point Given would run next, following his win in the Travers, the trainer told the ESPN television audience, "Either the Goodwood Handicap or the Pomona Championship."