ARCADIA, Calif. - For all his accomplishments as a Thoroughbred trainer, Bill Spawr is pretty much used to the fact that he'll never be treated as a celebrity. Spawr groupies tend to be older guys in bad shirts who peer over the top of reading glasses and ask, "Do you like your horse in the fifth?" He gets autograph requests about as often as the mailman.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Two civil wars were in the news of racing and gaming last week, one finally ending after a decade of fighting, the other still raging.

Both were geographically near the originals.

The racing version was settled not far from the bloodiest one-day battle of the real Civil War, Antietam in Maryland.

The gaming battle was being fought at the very gates of the battlefield that Lincoln called "this hallowed ground," Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The prep races for 3-year-olds this spring have produced numerous solid contenders for the Kentucky Derby. Most handicappers agree on the merits of Brother Derek, who has won four straight stakes in California; Lawyer Ron, winner of six in a row; the undefeated Barbaro; and the Maryland-based Sweetnorthernsaint, runaway winner of the Illinois Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The date has already passed - it was March 12 - but the significance of the anniversary lingers. Forty years ago, on a smog-shrouded Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita Park, a 5-year-old horse and his 59-year-old jockey made the kind of racing history that remains as vibrant and alive as yesterday's news.

ARCADIA, Calif. - According to company literature, the Maserati Cambiocorsa is powered by a 4.2- litre, eight-cylinder, 90-degree V-type aspirated engine that is "enhanced by timing gear featuring two overhead, chain-driven camshafts per bank, four valves per cylinder driven by hydraulic tappets and inlet camshafts equipped with continuously variable timing."

The equine version of the Cambiocorsa, on the other hand, wears earmuffs.

NEW YORK - Last Saturday's 10th race at Aqueduct was not the most important one on the Wood Memorial card, but it had the closest finish and the most confusing aftermath.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Don't look for him in the pages of Sports Illustrated, nor will his name be making the evening news. But for those who enjoy the sight of a full-hearted Thoroughbred doing what he does best, search no farther than the corner of the Bob Hess barn occupied by Fly to the Wire.

ARCADIA, Calif. - As it turned out, the magical mystery helmet didn't help at all.

When Ross Fenstermaker was stricken by the effects of a cranial blood clot last month, he was not on horseback, for a change, and therefore not wearing the wildly decorated Caliente helmet that had protected his noggin for the last 50 years.

ARCADIA, Calif. - They bear some resemblance, the two trainers, both of them sporting a strong jawline, sandy hair, and the weathered, squinting countenance that comes from spending most of their lives outdoors, in the company of horses. One of them walks with a limp, and the other wishes he did, which made Eddie Truman the perfect setup guy for a piece of street theater that could only come from the strange, dark place that Dan Hendricks keeps his sense of humor.

NEW YORK - If racing fans would like to feel even worse about filing their tax returns, they should consider how their tax dollars were being spent last Wednesday at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C.