SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It was one year ago that Rachel Alexandra beat males in an electrifying Woodward Stakes at Saratoga, completing a historic 8-for-8 campaign and clinching the Horse of the Year title. Since that memorable day, the filly has looked decidedly mortal, and America's racing fans have been wondering for months: Will we ever again see the great Rachel Alexandra?

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Rachel Alexandra, America’s reigning Horse of the Year, finally returns to Grade 1 company in Sunday’s Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga, nearly a year after the dramatic victory here in the Woodward earned her that title − and launched unrealistic expectations she has failed to meet.

Sometimes reading the intentions of trainer Aidan O’Brien is like trying to decipher the Rosetta Stone. He will frequently nominate five or six horses to a Group 1 race, then a few days later say that only two of them will run, but that two others are “definite possibles.” Last week he was nearly as inscrutable about his intentions for St Nicholas Abbey.

In light of recent Pacific Classic history, with such winners as Student Council ($48.80) and Richard’s Kid ($50.80) lighting up two of its three runnings over the Polytrack synthetic surface, there is a temptation to sidestep such obvious candidates as Awesome Gem, The Usual Q.T., Dakota Phone, and Hold Me Back in favor of a longshot from deep left field.

Ben Cecil will be saddling two who fit the category Saturday, when the $1 million Pacific Classic is run for the 20th time, at 1 1/4 miles over the Del Mar main track.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 141st Travers Stakes is not exactly a vintage edition on paper. Lookin At Lucky, the division’s leader, took a pass on the race. The remaining field of 11 has a combined record of 2 for 19 in Grade 1 company, and its two Grade 1 winners, Super Saver and Ice Box, have both finished off the board in their last two starts.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. − One of the most talked-about horses at Saratoga this summer was a 3-year-old who had not yet run in a race. On the day he was entered, analyst Andy Serling told his audience on the track’s pre-race television show: “If you haven’t heard a tip on Admiral Alex in the second race, you must be in a coma.”

It has been an exciting summer on the National Handicapping Championship Tour, with some fantastic finishes – especially from the point of view of those who have qualified for the 12th annual Daily Racing Form /NTRA National Handicapping Championship set for Jan. 28-29, 2011, at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.

What’s this? The last weekend of August, already? And for some, even the end of summer. That was fast, but it always goes fast, like falling asleep in mid-June and waking up two months later, without a tan.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Thoroughbred racing in America is filled with fascinating stories about flamboyant people, some lost in the mists of history.

I came across one of them while working on a piece about the 57th anniversary next week of the opening of the ill-fated Las Vegas Park, an impressive track built on the premise that a racetrack had to succeed in a town built on gambling. It cost $4.9 million.

At the end of the ordeal, the exchange that rang most painfully memorable at Thursday’s meeting of the California Horse Racing Board occurred during an impassioned testimony from Dr. Rick Arthur, the state’s equine medical director, who insisted he had the utmost confidence in the ability of the Santa Anita track superintendent to repair the track’s synthetic surface in time to run the Oak Tree there beginning Sept. 29. Arthur is also a member of the Oak Tree board.