SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - New York legislators have their priorities upside-down as usual when it comes to racing. They have failed to enact legislation addressing such trifling matters as the regulatory structure of the sport, the future of the New York Racing Association franchise, or the costly delay in bringing video-lottery terminals to Aqueduct. Thank goodness they have addressed the burning issue of the day: giving free admission passes to the families of owners, trainers, and jockeys.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - You could spend all day looking at the past performances for the 135th Travers Stakes and two bad things would happen: First, you'd end up spending less time than you should on the other 11 races on the best card of the Saratoga meet. Second, you'd end up with a headache and no closer to anything resembling confidence in your selection.

DEL MAR, Calif. - If you need something roped, Sam Semkin is your man. He has the trophies, the belt buckles, and the cash prizes to prove it.

Pro roping, though, can only take you so far. Training Thoroughbreds, on the other hand, opens all kinds of doors. Semkin has done both for so long he can choose either without regret, which makes his "overnight" success at the racetrack that much more enjoyable.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Handicapping horse racing, as students of these pages learn early on, is not a precise science.

Neither, it turns out, is handicapping the economics of horse racing.

DEL MAR, Calif. - At half past six on Sunday evening, as the breeze from the Pacific freshened and the sun disappeared behind the Del Mar grandstand, Richard Mandella stood at one end of his barn while a massive figure filled the opening at the other. Leading with his distinctive blaze - a snowball with a trickling tail - Pleasantly Perfect loomed like a great bay semi, glided smoothly into his stall, then dove into his hay rack before his groom, Umberto Correa, could hoist it into place. Mandella wore a look of blessed relief.

DEL MAR, Calif. - By five o'clock Sunday afternoon, the identity of the 2004 Pacific Classic winner will be known far and wide. There he will stand, basking in the postrace glow of the Del Mar winner's circle, as the descending sun begins to tint the clouds clinging fast to the Pacific horizon.

Will it be Pleasantly Perfect, the favorite and reigning Breeders' Cup champ? His loss in the San Diego Handicap was hard to swallow but easy to forgive, especially with weight, pace, and distance squarely in his favor this time around.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The more that Funny Cide races, the more that some people are disappointed. He hasn't been winning very often, and he's clearly not the superhorse that the usual shills and cheerleaders tried to make him for five weeks last year. When Smarty Jones came along this spring, racing abandoned Funny Cide like he was last year's hairdo, while failing to learn the lessons of pronouncing horses immortals off two televised victories.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A funny thing happened at Saratoga Thursday: There was a 2-year-old race on the card and Todd Pletcher did not saddle the winner. Granted, he didn't have a horse in the race. This year, though, that has been about as rare as a day without rain in the forecast.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Kent Desormeaux would not mind a weekend with a little less drama, just for a change of pace. He would like to keep it simple, back to the basics. A win on Ticker Tape in the Del Mar Oaks on Saturday would be nice, and so would a good showing by longshot El Elogiado in Sunday's Pacific Classic, followed by hot shower, a meal, and a quiet evening at home.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Alex Solis was last seen at Del Mar on the afternoon of July 23, being loaded into the back door of an ambulance and heading off down Interstate 5 to the emergency room of Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. As exits go it was a definite bummer, especially for a headliner like Solis.