Along with the official apparel, the generous expense accounts, and the company cars (this year it's the sleek and sassy Honda Element), it is a little-known fact that Daily Racing Form columnists are issued a genuine crystal ball.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - For many racing fans, life without the TVG Network would be almost unimaginable. The horse-racing channel has altered the sport. Thoroughbred racing had a minimal presence on television until TVG was born in 1999 and eventually secured a place on DirecTV, the Dish Network, and local cable systems. It televises live races for as many as 12 hours a day and sends reporters to major stakes and race meetings throughout the country. Yet whenever serious bettors talk about TVG, they are relentlessly critical.

Tyler Baze was asked if he recognized the guy in the framed photograph hanging behind him on the wall of the Del Mar jockeys' room lounge. One in a large grouping of jockey portraits, the subject in question sported a lopsided grin, a mouthful of crooked teeth, and a callow face that had yet to feel the scrape of a razor.

"I have no clue - some kid, I guess," Baze replied. "Some kid who rode his first season at Pomona right after his first meet at Del Mar."

It should have been a day of great celebration, of cheering the TV screen and champagne toasts. But John Hettinger, the heart and soul of the forces battling the slaughter of horses in the United States, couldn't bear to watch.

"I did all that I could for the cause," said Hettinger from his Akindale Farm near Pawling, N.Y. "But I'm not in as good health as I used to be, and I decided it would be too upsetting. So I got on my horse, went for a ride, then had a couple glasses of wine and went to bed. The miracle is that I was able to sleep."

NEW YORK - The best of the 336 races in 35 days that were Saratoga 2006:

Best horse race: The Diana on Aug. 4. The only Grade 1 race of the meeting to end in a multiway photo, with Angara edging Sweet Talker and Argentina.

Best 2-year-old: On accomplishment, Hopeful winner Circular Quay. Against the clock, maiden winners City Snitch (July 26) and Tiz Wonderful (Sept. 3), who each earned Beyer Speed Figures of 99.

Best 2-year-old filly: In a less than brilliant group, Appealing Zophie gets a timid vote for winning the Spinaway.

DEL MAR, Calif. - On the afternoon of Aug. 18, two days before the running of the Pacific Classic, Trevor Denman finally got the call he had been waiting for. And what did he do? He told the guy from the network that he was busy, and asked if he wouldn't mind ringing back in 10 minutes or so.

At least Denman had his priorities straight. The ESPN executive was not aware that horses were just then entering the Del Mar starting gate, and even an offer to call the Breeders' Cup program had to wait in line while Denman unspooled one of his peerless commentaries.

DEL MAR, Calif. - It was the best of Labor Days, it was the worst of Labor Days - depending on if you answer to the name of Victor Espinoza or Alex Solis.

Seven winners vs. bruised ribs. A champagne toast as opposed to extra-strength Tylenol. Sometimes it really pays to get out of bed. Other times, well . . .

TUCSON, Ariz. - Somewhere, high above, Bill King is smiling broadly.

Better make that laughing, at the announcement of ESPN's "new" concept of a Thoroughbred race on ESPN2 at halftime of a pro football game on ESPN.

King, one of America's greatest sports promoters in the 1960's, 70's, and 80's, not only introduced that idea, but also executed it, on CBS television, 28 years ago, without channel switching.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Richard Mandella resented the suggestion that he ran a horse in the Del Mar Futurity about as often as Halley's comet was sighted in the northern sky.

"I'll have you know I once finished one-two in the Futurity," he said, trying hard to hide the fact that he was deeply wounded. "One-two."

DEL MAR, Calif. - Saint Liam, lost in a freakish accident last week, never got a chance to leave his mark, beyond a brilliant racing career and what may come of a single season at stud. He made it to his sixth birthday, but not much farther.

At the other end of the scale lived Pirate's Bounty, also lost last week, but quietly and without trauma. He was 31 years old, exceptional by Thoroughbred standards, but there was more to Pirate's Bounty than mere longevity. For California, at least, he was a pillar of the racing community.