ELMONT, N.Y. - It is one of the oldest stories in racing. Something goes wrong with the favorite, shortly before the big race. The substitute takes his place, wins in a notable upset, and his story is retold with glee every year.

Sun Briar was 2-year-old champion of 1917 and the Kentucky Derby favorite. Exterminator, just a horse, was purchased as a workmate for Sun Briar. When Sun Briar didn't come up to the Derby to suit him, Uncle Henry McDaniel didn't run him. Instead he called on the 30-1 Exterminator, who went resolutely through the mud and carried the day.

In last month's National Basket-ball Association finals, the Los Angeles Lakers were heavily, heavily favored to win the series, offering odds somewhere between 1-10 and

1-20, depending on where you did your shopping.

Thoroughbred racing's clever solution to this disparity would have been either to put ankle weights and cast-iron sneakers on Shaq, Kobe, and the rest of the Lakers, or to allow the underdog Philadelphia 76ers to shoot at baskets just five feet off the ground.

Will someone please explain why this would be any more stupid than handicap racing?

WASHINGTON - Ever since the advent of simulcasting, customers at the Maryland racetracks have been betting more and more of their money on televised races and less on the local product. But this negative trend has been offset by Maryland's success in the simulcast marketplace; out-of-state bettors have wagered enough on races from Pimlico and Laurel to keep the sport here relatively healthy.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Most trainers plan ahead, but some are able to focus on events and circumstances several months in the future. By taking some action now, they can bring about desired results, or at least work to enhance their chances.

Christophe Clement will have victory on his mind when he saddles Forbidden Apple in Saturday's $150,000 Bowling Green Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on the turf. But Clement, one of New York's most successful horsemen, is also using the Bowling Green for a decision pertinent to the Breeders' Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 27.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - California is too big. We already know that. And like most things that are too big, there never seems to be enough room. Call it the inverse law of capacity. Or, more to the point, how many two-car garages actually contain two cars?

ELMONT, N.Y. - The most exciting event in American racing last year was the Breeders' Cup Classic, in which the late-developing 3-year-old Tiznow stood off a spectacular challenge by Europe's leading 3-year-old, Giant's Causeway, to win in a photo.

We could have a reprise this fall for the Breeders' Cup Classic is on the schedule trainer Aidan O' Brien has mapped out for the brilliant Galileo, winner of the Epsom Derby and the more recent Irish Derby

TUSCON, Ariz. - The mysteries in racing are infinite, and they just keep coming.

Another arrived recently in the announcement that the Kentucky Association of Equine Practitioners had passed a resolution endorsing Kentucky's current medication rules and the use of drugs to treat bleeding from the lungs.

The resolution was drafted and approved in response to the national American Association of Equine Practitioners calling for uniform medication laws.

ELMONT, N.Y. - A step in the right direction.

At mid-point in the racing season, Albert the Great is on the lead for the championship of the handicap division. His weekend performance in the $500,000 Suburban Handicap was strong from start to finish, and he beat a nice field of horses on a track he obviously favors. He is now 6 for 7 at Belmont Park and is favored by circumstances which call for the Breeders' Cup to be run here this fall.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - While the rest of the world arose Sunday as if it were just another summer's morn, Bobby Frankel - the man with horses running everywhere - woke up with a rainbow on his shoulder. Calling him lucky hardly does the term justice. He was blessed. He was anointed. He was nothing less than imbued with the power to change history.

But he didn't even know it until 2:30 that afternoon.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There is only one Bobby Frankel, which is probably a good thing, since the one Frankel we've got is a pretty intense individual who tends to rule the room whether he wants to or not.

There is only one Bobby Frankel, even though he has gone through three distinct stages in his racing career as hotshot claiming hustler, stakes-class internationalist, and now as a not-so-elder Hall of Fame statesman.