INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, and Samantha may have cornered sex and style in most cities. But for class on the hoof, give me Zenyatta, Diamond Diva, Pure Clan, and Ventura any day of the week. Dressed to kill in nothing more than colored towels, low heels, and leather accessories, they put the sizzle in the fireworks of a $24.4 million parimutuel day last Saturday at Hollywood Park, in three races that won't soon be forgotten.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – After a career of 83 starts, 39 victories and 27 graded stakes wins, the record of a horse like John Henry should provide plenty of 25th anniversaries to celebrate. Few, though, are of more importance than the events of July 4, 1983, when Ol’ John won the American Handicap at Hollywood Park.

On paper it was no big deal. At 1 1/8 miles on firm turf, John Henry was in his element. His 127-pound assignment had become par for the course. The opposition was stern, but by then John Henry was accustomed to meeting and beating the best.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The ownership of Hollywood Park recently assured the California Horse Racing Board that they would keep running through the end of 2009. Probably. Unless for some reason they don't.

NEW YORK - The second half of 2008 began a few days ago but the second half of the backloaded 2008 schedule of Grade 1 races doesn't begin until Aug. 16, when either the Sword Dancer or Alabama at Saratoga will be the 56th of the year's 110 Grade 1 events. We have only 36 of them in the books so far, won by 32 different horses from Ariege and Artiste Royale to Zaftig and Zenyatta, but there have already been plenty of surprises.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In a gesture of compassion for his fellow trainers, John Sadler will be sitting out the major stakes racing at Hollywood Park this weekend, taking a pass on such richly rewarding events as the American Oaks, the Vanity Handicap, the Triple Bend Handicap, and the CashCall Mile.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bobby Frankel might have been 2,500 miles away at the time, snug in his Long Island townhouse and sipping a glass of chardonnay. But his fingerprints were all over the 69th running of the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup last Saturday, won by the 4-year-old colt Mast Track in lieu of anything among the opposition that could run an opening half-mile in less than 49 seconds.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It has happened before, and it will happen again. Just because entries are taken, hotel reservations are made, and headlines are written in breathless anticipation, that does not mean the horse is along for the ride.

NEW YORK - These are sad and dangerous times for racing. On a Saturday when fans would normally be anticipating and enjoying the Hollywood Gold Cup, the Mother Goose, and the Suburban, their sport is instead all over the headlines for entirely different reasons.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Nature abhors a vacuum. When a dynasty falls, chaos reigns. The Romans, the Spanish, the Yankees - look what happened when their empires crumbled, when warring factions swept in to fight over the pieces.

About two years ago, television reporter turned documentary filmmaker John Corey thought he had a happy little horse story all wrapped up and ready to go, complete with a feel-good ending that was sure to send an audience smiling from the darkened theater.

Then, without warning, feel-good went very bad. Corey's story took a twist that needed telling when the star of the piece, a champion racehorse, was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Corey figured he owed it to the colt, and the people closest to him, to stick with the project until the inevitable, bitter end.