TUCSON, Ariz. - Where is Paul Revere when we need him? If he is too far removed, any old rider on a nag will do to spread the word that the British are coming. Again.

They have waited patiently for more than 200 years, and now we colonials face Lexington and Concord all over again as Betfair spreads over the land, seeking to end bricks-and-mortar racing as we know it. The British bet-matching company denies that, saying it will provide horse racing with unprecedented popularity and build the sport with new, young, savvy customers.

If the emirate of Dubai, its ruling Maktoums and their high-profile Godolphin Stable of Thoroughbreds are in a financial twist, as recent headlines suggest, it's probably news to the international crew of young folks who have been bedded down since late October in England's horse country of Newmarket.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It makes perfect sense that Lava Man is scheduled to make his improbable comeback on Saturday directly in the wake of the annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners earlier this week in Las Vegas. After all, the soon-to-be 9-year-old gelding represents at least a seminar's worth of applied veterinary research and development. And his return is definitely a roll of the dice.

In a column written way too early for its own good, it was noted in this space 14 months ago that Keith Card, still recovering from the effects of a stroke, had nothing to worry about if his California Flag won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Card, 81 at the time, was assured that he would practically float down to the winner's circle.

NEW YORK - Remember Jealous Again? It has been nearly six months since she set Royal Ascot alight with a five-length victory in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes, providing trainer Wesley Ward and America with their first group race triumph in England. Two weeks later, in early July, she was bought by Sheikh Mohammed from a consortium that included Ward, Robert Abrams, Ron Brewer, and Mitch Dutko, and turned over to Saeed bin Suroor at Godolphin, but hasn't been seen on a racecourse since.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Finally, on Sunday, there can be found at Hollywood Park a nice, quiet little $100,000 sprint race without a trace of Eclipse Award ramifications. It is called the Vernon O. Underwood Handicap, honoring the late Hollywood Park chairman of the board, and believe me, no one argued when its name was changed in 1990 from the bombastic National Sprint Championship. We had some laughs over that one. Good times.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tim Ice is excused from paying any attention to the running of the Japan Cup Dirt on Saturday night, U.S. time, at Hanshin Racecourse in southwestern Japan. If he could care less, he would.

Ice will be preoccupied with the surgical recovery of Summer Bird, the undeclared champion 3-year-old colt of 2009, who was all dressed up and ready to roll in the JCD until he came out of a workout there on Nov. 21 with a nondisplaced fracture of the cannon bone in his right foreleg.

For all their travels, there was a reasonable chance that 9-year-old Buddy Gil and 6-year-old Fete, a pair of well-seasoned geldings, might have crossed paths at some point along the way.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Racing's early December daily double is on tap next week, in Tucson and Las Vegas.

Both events, overlapping as usual, are offered in glossy locations. The University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Symposium is at the Westin La Paloma resort, and the 55th annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners is based at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

NEW YORK - The Oak Tree Racing Association's announcement last week that it is renaming the Lady's Secret Stakes the Zenyatta was not only a premature and disrespectful decision but also an improper attempt to influence the Horse of the Year voting.

"We feel strongly that Zenyatta should be Horse of the Year," said Sherwood Chillingsworth, Oak Tree's executive vice president, in an over-the-top press release that began, "In the wake of what many consider to be the most dramatic performance in Breeders' Cup history . . ."