TUCSON, Ariz. - Susan Bala is writing a book, and it will sell, to racing enthusiasts, to TV, and possibly to the silver screen as well.

You remember Susan. She is not easy to forget - a striking brunette, impeccably dressed, and extraordinarily smart. A few years ago she ran the biggest rebate operation in America, from the most unlikely spot: Fargo, North Dakota.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Racing's cross-cultural exposure got a shot in the arm over the weekend when Cobalt Blue won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park to thrust Merv Griffin back into the Kentucky Derby spotlight.

The accessible, energetic entertainment mogul now becomes the unofficial go-to guy for all things quotable leading up to the May 5 running of the Derby, complete with impromptu serenades of "My Old Kentucky Home" and rat-a-tat reminiscences of racing's glorious past.

NEW YORK - The only problem with the 13 newest nominees to the Racing Hall of Fame is that almost every one of them belongs but only four can be inducted. That will be four more than made it last year, but it's still not enough.

ARCADIA, Calif. - In this age of instant gratification, when nonwinners of a race other than maiden or claiming are regularly groomed for Kentucky Derby dates, it's nice to discover an owner and a trainer who have taken their time.

NEW YORK - The retirement to stud last week of Holy Roman Emperor was a disheartening milestone in the annals of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and in the relationship between those two intertwined pursuits.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It is probably safe to say that Bobby Frankel would have passed Charlie Whittingham a whole lot sooner on the all-time list of Santa Anita trainers had it not been for Farrell "Wild Horse" Jones.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Street Sense was crowned the nation's champion 2-year-old last season, and now Carl Nafzger, the colt's trainer, is starting the serious preparation that will lead him to the Kentucky Derby. But anything Nafzger accomplishes with Street Sense, or anything else that he does in his life, for that matter, will be regarded as an anticlimax.

There was one moment in Nafzger's 65 years that will always define him. If the sport had a time capsule, it would include a film clip of the trainer on the first Saturday in May 1990.

NEW YORK - There are signs of hope that the long winter at Aqueduct is finally rounding the stretch turn. First post moved back from 12:30 to 1 p.m. last Wednesday, and Saturday's Gotham Stakes was a race someone outside of New York might actually care about. In three weeks the main track at Aqueduct will be ready to open for racing, and it's on to Belmont five weeks after that.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The Kentucky Derby can be a great distraction, with its obsessive/compulsive focus on the 3-year-old male of the Thoroughbred species. Beginning each year in late January, and lasting until the chances of a Triple Crown winner are exhausted, the Derby-age colts clog the arteries of the racing world, reducing all other divisions to bit players and novelty acts.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. Unless you are talking about a horse named Wilko.

As a role model for high-profile frustration, Wilko has few peers. Indeed, he's more like the rest of hard-working America - a blue collar clock-puncher who shows up every day, puts in his shift, buys a six-pack and a lottery ticket on the way home, nods off to ESPN, and then does it all over again.