NEW YORK - The Jockeys' Guild's decision to hire Jesse Jackson and Dwight Manley as its new national managers appears to be both a declaration of war on the racing industry and an eerie rerun of previous decisions that have nearly bankrupted the organization and cost it credibility.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - If August Belmont could win the Belmont Stakes, and if C.V. Whitney could win the Whitney Handicap, why can't J. Paul CashCall win the first running of the $750,000 CashCall Mile on Saturday at Hollywood Park?

Sorry about that. Make the name J. Paul Reddam, founder of CashCall, who stands as good a chance as any to take home the $450,000 winning piece of the CashCall Mile prize with his 4-year-old filly Dancing Edie.

NEW YORK - A lame-duck governor appointing his pals to long-term government jobs on his way out the door is neither new nor peculiar to New York state and horse racing. Still, what outgoing Gov. George Pataki did last week was particularly egregious.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Memorette's victory in the Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park last weekend added yet another layer to the growing reputation of the American Oaks as a bubbling hotbed of talent.

Rarely has a new race caught fire so quickly. One look at the some of the names who hit the board in the first four runnings is enough to make the case. Cesario, Megahertz, Dimitrova, Ticker Tape, Dublino, Dance in the Mood, Sand Springs - any one of those alone could nail down the number one stall in a given stable.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Bear with me while I make what most readers will consider an invidious comparison between Thoroughbreds and their despised, or ignored, trotting and pacing cousins.

I assume, safely, that 99 percent of Thoroughbred followers have never heard of a 3-year-old pacing colt named Total Truth.

Last Saturday night he won the $500,000 Hoosier Cup at Hoosier Park in Anderson, Ind., racing twice, in an elimination mile and final, his mile times four-fifths of a second apart.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Nearly half the 2006 racing season is history, and a whole lot has happened. Here's a little pop quiz to see who has been paying attention, with a few general-knowledge questions tossed in for fun.

1. In the category of Names in the News, Greg Avioli is noteworthy because he is:

a. The guy who drove Barbaro's ambulance.
b. Ernie Paragallo's recently hired trainer.
c. Interim CEO of the NTRA and Breeders' Cup Ltd.
d. Ernie Paragallo's recently fired trainer.

NEW YORK - The Eclipse Award categories for racing's equine champions have not changed since 1979, when the grass award was first split to honor both a male and female turf champion. Is it time to consider adding some new divisions to acknowledge and reflect changes in the game since the days of Affirmed and Spectacular Bid?

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Now that he has exhausted the markets of places like England, Ireland and Argentina, turning modestly priced runners into California gold, it appears as if trainer Darrell Vienna is opening up a whole new territory. How else does he explain the presence of the 6-year-old Peruvian mare Immortalite in the Beverly Hills Handicap at Hollywood Park on Saturday? That's right, Peru.

NEW YORK - So which race got the best speed figure of the day last Saturday at Churchill Downs, an extraordinary card with six graded stakes including the Grade 1 Stephen Foster?

It wasn't the Foster, which got a substandard Beyer of 99, consistent with how the race unraveled late. Form prevailed until the top of the stretch, as favorites Love of Money, Buzzards Bay, and Brass Hat were running one-two-three, then all seemed to hit a wall as Perfect Drift spurted past them only to be nailed at the wire by 91-1 Seek Gold.

The Queen's Plate, to be run Sunday at Woodbine, is not only Canada's most famous race, it is also North America's longest-running stakes event. It is being presented this year for the 147th time, in ongoing tribute to Canada's former status as a British crown colony.

Still, it's hard to take a race seriously when they keep changing its name every half a century or so, especially when the changes are triggered by the mortality rate of a distant monarchy.