SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The main street in downtown Saratoga Springs is lined with banners reading, "Rachel Alexandra: Run Like a Girl." The mayor has declared Saturday to be "Rachel Alexandra Day." A press release declares that the filly's impending appearance is one of the most anticipated races in Saratoga's 141-year history.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Win or lose on Saturday, Rachel Alexandra's appearance in the Woodward Stakes was both the most ambitious and appropriate place for the next stop in what already has been a historic campaign by a sensational filly. You might not gather as much amid the constant carping about her accomplishments and her schedule, from a variety of self-interested media outlets and from those still miffed she's not going to run in the Breeders' Cup.

DEL MAR, Calif. - This time last year, the Eoin Harty stable won the Travers by a nose with Colonel John, lost the Pacific Classic by a neck with Well Armed, and threw a scare into Curlin when Past the Point led inside the eighth pole of the Woodward Stakes and surrendered only in the final 50 yards.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The first official nail in what could be the synthetic track coffin was tapped gently into place last April at Hollywood Park, when the California Horse Racing Board acknowledged that it probably could not enforce its own rule requiring a track running more than four continuous weeks of Thoroughbred sport to conduct that sport on a "polymer synthetic type" racing surface. The board agreed that future applications to run meets would be considered on a "case-by-case" basis when it came to racing surfaces.

NEW YORK - When the New York Racing Association threw in the towel on permitting furosemide (better known as Lasix or Salix) at its tracks 15 years ago, the battle over the use of the anti-bleeding medication appeared to be over after a generation of acrimonious debate.

DEL MAR, Calif. - With the elimination last year of the Carleton F. Burke Handicap during the Oak Tree meet, the death of the Jim Murray Memorial at Hollywood Park last spring, and now the cancellation of the 2009 Hollywood Turf Cup, usually run in early December, the California circuit continues to discourage ownership of long-distance grass horses.

NEW YORK - The best European sprinter since Dayjur, Oasis Dream has quickly established himself as one of the world's leading sires with just three crops of racing age. What is remarkable about his early record at stud is that despite being a sprinter he is siring winners of group races at all distances between five furlongs and 1 1/2 miles.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Call it Travers envy. Whether they admit it or not, every track wishes they had one.

By the time the 1 1/4-mile drama is offered, American racing is getting to the hard edge of summer, and the novelty has worn off. Sunburns have come and gone. Flings have hit the "what next" point. Families have moved from pools and spas to school supplies.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The Travers Day card at Saratoga features three important and intriguing Grade 1 races, each of them a handicapping puzzle fraught with very 21st century issues such as long layoffs and new track surfaces.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Rafael Bejarano returns to competition on Friday, which is a small miracle, considering the fact that the last time he was seen under silks he was being taken by ambulance to Scripps Memorial Hospital just down the road from Del Mar, with his face cracked by a flying hoof after his mount was fatally injured.

That was opening day.