Baltimore, Md. - So how rainy was it here Friday?

It was so rainy that stretches of Northern Parkway, the main artery to Pimlico, were closed due to flooding.

It was so rainy that the $100,000 Joe Aitcheson Hurdle was cancelled outright due to two inches of standing water on the turf course.

It was so rainy that I left dreary and waterlogged Pimlico to watch the remaining stakes races on ESPN and ESPN2 at the ESPN Zone restaurant in the rainswept Inner Harbor.

But not so rainy that Pimlico officials didn't guarantee - that was their word - that the track will be fast by post time for the Preakness. No kidding.

Nor was it so rainy that Friday's other stakes races didn't yield some interesting and significant results. A quick recap:

The Pimlico Breeders' Cup Distaff Handicap scratched down to just four fillies but two were Grade 1 winners who put on quite a show. Summer Colony, making her first start since the Breeders' Cup, stalked the pace and took over in the stretch but was nailed at the wire by Mandy's Gold ($3.60).

The $75,000 The Very One was rained onto the main track, where Forest Heiress ($3.40) ran off to win by seven lengths. The head-to-head bet of the winner vs. 18-1 Maypole Dance paid a whopping $2.10.

In the Black-Eyed Susan, Roar Emotion ($8.80) led all the way, opening a five-length lead at the furlong pole and torturing anyone (or at least me) who bet on 13-1 Fircroft by giving back only 4 1/2 lengths of it in the final eighth of a mile. Favored Santa Catarina stalked while wide and had nothing in the drive, and second choice Ivanavinalot faded to fourth.

The performance of the day belonged to Mineshaft, who stormed to a 3 3/4-length victory over Western Pride to win the Grade 1 Pimlico Special. Mineshaft, a 4-year-old A.P. Indy colt, is now 6 for 7 since being repatriated from England and has won the New Orleans Handicap, Ben Ali and Special in succession. It helped his cause that Balto Star returned to his front-running ways and took some of the starch out of Western Pride, but Mineshaft is for real and a welcome addition to the top flight of the handicap ranks.

As for the Preakness card, even if Pimlico's main track is fast, the turf course will be boggy for the $200,000 Dixie. (It's probably a safe bet that this race stays on the grass, given that it's a Grade 2 and not one of the 10 entrants has ever won on the dirt.) The course condition could make this an interesting betting race, not only on its own but as part of a $500,000 guaranteed pick four culminating in the Preakness, since favorites Del Mar Show, Sarafan and Blue Steller all reportedly prefer the footing firm. Some of the longshots may merit a longer look.

The two other pieces to the pick four puzzle are the Sir Barton for 3-year-olds and the Schaefer Handicap for sub-Special handicap horses. During is likely to win the Sir Barton as the favorite but Sky Soldier, adding blinkers and Bailey, and impressive maiden graduate Best Minister are possibilities. The Schaefer could be the place to spread out. The classiest entrants are Windsor Castle and Strive, but they drew the outside posts and are low-percentage winners who will need to circle the field. You could make a case for many of the others.

If I get that far, I'll be happy to be alive to just Peace Rules and Funny Cide, a little heavier on the former. The more you look at this Preakness, it seems like a race with two very nice colts who tower over the rest.

There's a head-to-head bet between them that doesn't make much sense. Do you really want about $3.40 on one to beat the other as opposed to $4.80 or so on whichever one you like to win the race outright? A better choice might have been to split the Senor Swinger/Scrimshaw entry. Plenty of bettors like one and not the other and are moaning about having their price cut in half by the coupling.

Anyone driving to Pimlico Saturday morning is advised to avoid arriving at 11 a.m., not only because the first race goes at 10:30 but also because that is when a passel of dignitaries, including former Preident Bill Clinton, is scheduled to show up. New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is also on the guest list, as he was at Churchill Downs for the Derby. His apparent interest in horse racing was hitherto unknown, unlike, say, both Churchill's and Magna Entertainment's interest in acquiring New York City OTB.