To quote the president who left office not long ago, "Fool me once - shame on, shame on you. Fool me . . . you can't get fooled again."

Words to live by, especially for Tom Durkin, the eminent race caller and NBC's voice of the Kentucky Derby, who is still second-guessing himself over missing Mine That Bird's miraculous winning move along the rail at Churchill Downs.

It wasn't exactly Franklin Roosevelt trying to pack the Supreme Court with a group of younger judges, more supportive of his besieged New Deal programs. But the idea floated by racehorse owners Ahmed Zayat of Pioneerof the Nile and Mark Allen of Mine That Bird - to stuff the Preakness starting gate full of unworthy animals just to keep Rachel Alexandra in the barn - had the same odor of rancid desperation.

WASHINGTON - As the Preakness is run for the 134th time Saturday, Maryland's politicians will be proclaiming their reverence for the state's great event and its Thoroughbred industry. Just last month, lawmakers were sporting "Save the Preakness" badges as they voted to give the state eminent domain rights to purchase the race and the Maryland racetracks.

Hearing these outpourings of support, people in Maryland who truly love horse racing may not know whether to laugh or cry.

NEW YORK - Two weeks ago, this looked like it could be an especially compelling Triple Crown season. That's exactly what it has turned out to be - just for entirely different reasons than anyone expected.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kentucky has those Mammoth Caves, a long stretch of the Ohio River, coal mines, rabbit hash, hot browns, and sour mash to chase it all down.

Arizona has a big ol' meteor crater, what's left of the Colorado River, a petrified forest, salsa verde, and the OK Corral.

The last time the University of Kentucky won the NCAA basketball championship was 1998. The only time the University of Arizona won the NCAA title was 1997.

The Derby result has had a week now to sink in, and still there are handicappers and historians wrestling with the reality of Sunland Park as the place to prep a classic winner. It has been comforting, therefore, to temporarily suspend belief in all things held dear and true, and focus instead on Calvin Borel's ride aboard Mine That Bird, hereafter to be referred to as The Ride.

For my money, there has not been nearly enough outrage in the racing community over the discovery last month that 177 horses owned by Ernie Paragallo - who raced Breeders' Cup winners Artax and Unbridled's Song - were discovered at his upstate New York farm to be malnourished and neglected to the point of abuse.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Saturday's Derby was a triumph for Central Casting. A script writer might have tried to replicate the implausible fairy-tale plot, but no one would have believed it and no one could have improved on the cast.

WASHINGTON - After Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby, all reports of the race noted the 50-1 payoff was the second highest in the race's history. Even so, most casual fans probably did not appreciate the magnitude of this incomprehensible upset.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Chip Woolley is on a roll. Barely a full day after he won the Kentucky Derby with Mine That Bird, the Woolley stable clicked at short odds in the first race on Sunday afternoon at SunRay Park, a 440-yard maiden test for 3-year-olds of the Quarter Horse persuasion.