ARCADIA, Calif. - Now that Bordonaro has established himself as a beast of both speed and considerable class, questions arise. Where did he come from? What was he doing at 2 and 3? And is there a Mr. Bordonaro?

As the winner of the $300,000 last Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Bordonaro deserves all the attention he can get. Six furlongs at full steam can be a tough race, and there are a lot of Thoroughbreds who do it well. He did it in 1:08.57, leading with his left all the way around the turn and through the stretch to beat local hope Tacirring by three-quarters of a length.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It takes a figure of considerable stature to be conspicuous by his absence, which is why the name of Bob Lewis was rattling around the room last Monday night at the Eclipse Awards Dinner when people started to notice that Beverly Lewis didn't bring a date.

LAS VEGAS - It would be nice to say that the 225 contestants in the seventh annual National Handicapping Championship, which began here Friday, are a rainbow coalition reflecting all walks of American life. If that were true, though, the Social Security system is in far greater imminent danger than anyone has imagined, and it is a miracle that the mail ever gets delivered.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It's a hard leap, but it has to be made, jumping from the breathless heights of Monday's Eclipse Award winners to the more realistic levels represented at Gulfstream and Santa Anita on Saturday in the Sunshine Millions.

In an ideal world, this highly contrived California-Florida showdown would have been topped by Florida-bred Afleet Alex, running for money that befits his station in the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic. He was headed this way, too, before he was retired.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - It was eight years ago that Youbet.com, the pioneer in online horse betting, brought racetracks' in-house television signals to the computer screen. The races were almost unwatchable because the pictures had the quality of a herky-jerky old-time movie. Often the transmission would halt abruptly in mid-race, and bettors would stare in frustration at a frozen picture of horses head-and-head in the stretch.

When viewers scoffed, Youbet.com officials said: Just wait; the necessary technology is coming. And, indeed, it has finally arrived.

ARCADIA, Calif. - When Jerry Bailey throws a leg over Silver Tree late Saturday afternoon in the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf at Gulfstream Park, he is not quite sure how he will feel.

At such moments, when a fat purse is at stake and expectations are high among owners, trainers, and horseplayers, it has been Bailey's habit to shut down the heart and go with the head. Always the thinking man's jockey, Bailey could be counted on to make the right moves at the right time, giving his horse every possible chance to convert talent into cold, hard cash.

TUCSON, Ariz. - You may not know Joe Gorajec's name unless you're from Indiana, but he is a mover and a shaker whose voice in racing administration is heard well beyond Hoosierdom.

Gorajec is the only executive director the Indiana Horse Racing Commission has ever had. He was determined, when he took the job 15 years ago, to make Indiana a leader in racing, and he has worked hard and productively toward that goal.

This week, the Indiana commission considered a proposal from Gorajec that would expand his horizons, and Indiana's.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - William Warren was headed out the door of the Beverly Wilshire ballroom late Monday night, long after he had accepted the golden trophy for Horse of the Year, when he spotted Chuck Zacney walking his way, wearing his wild Arkansas Derby tie and carrying an armload of Eclipse dinner programs.

Could this be it? At long last, the throwdown between the camps of Saint Liam and Afleet Alex, the two most celebrated horses of 2005, in a contest that never had a chance to be decided on the racetrack.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Anyone looking for a dose of suspense on their Monday night television schedule might as well stay away from the Eclipse Awards dinner on TVG. Try a "Law and Order" rerun or the Weather Channel instead.

NEW YORK - When the Eclipse Award envelopes are opened in Beverly Hills Monday night, Afleet Alex will be named America's champion 3-year-old, Saint Liam will be honored as the nation's best older horse, and one of them (probably Saint Liam) will be named the Horse of the Year. Yet according to the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities, these two dominant American racehorses of 2005 were no better than the fifth- and ninth-best horses in the Northern Hemisphere, and neither was even among the top three internationally in his own division.