TUCSON, Ariz. - Despite the Smartyfication of American racing, the most fascinating race for me so far this summer was not the Derby, the Preakness, or the Belmont.
It was the $100,000 Lone Star Oaks on the Fourth of July, and not just because it was won so appropriately by a 3-year-old filly named America America.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It is unreasonable to ask that a Thoroughbred racehorse possess the perfect mixture of ability, good health, and manners. It happens, but rarely, and when it does it usually has a name like Affirmed, Paseana, or Smarty Jones.
Ask any owner or trainer, however, and the answer always comes back the same. They'll take the ability every time. The rest can be negotiated.
NEW YORK - While states such as Delaware, West Virginia, and now Pennsylvania have been able to authorize slot machines at racetracks to generate substantial revenue for both government and the racing industry, the nation's three biggest racing centers have been unable to do the same. What's the problem with California, Kentucky, and New York?
In a word, politics, politics, and politics.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In a dramatic departure from Dogwood Farm tradition, the 2004 Dominion Award bestowed upon one of racing's unsung heroes is not going to someone with an "Our Gang" kind of name.
In the past, there have been very deserving Dominion winners who answer to Salty, Gelo, Peanut Butter, Junior, Sprinkles and Buck Wheat. This year, however, the award will be inscribed with a very proper "Pamela," as in Pam Berg.
NEW YORK - Horse racing and Pennsylvania appeared to hit the jackpot this week when legislators in that state voted to authorize 61,000 slot machines and cut racetracks and horsemen in on the profits. Jackpots, however, often end up paying out a lot less than their winners expect.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The plot has been as thick as a Tom Clancy thriller, complete with false leads and clever distractions. At one time or another, we have been asked to believe that Continental Red was a professional maiden, a marathon turf horse, or a Cal-bred dirt horse, cloaked all the while in the guise of a hard-luck second banana. And we believed it.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It is useless to lament the Hollywood Gold Cup that might have been. But let's do it anyway.
As the 2004 season dawned, it was reasonable to expect that Saturday's Gold Cup, offering $750,000 at 1 1/4 miles on a mild summer day, might have included at least a sprinkling of names from a list that included Pleasantly Perfect, Medaglia d'Oro, Candy Ride, Funny Cide, Dynever, Perfect Drift, Peace Rules, and perhaps even the defending champ, Congaree.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Jim Ford spent last Friday afternoon chasing a golf ball around Los Angeles Country Club in the company of Hollywood Park president Rick Baedeker and racing secretary Martin Panza. For Ford, it was a way to keep his mind off what might happen the following day, only it didn't work out quite that way.
"It was brutal," Ford said. "I totally embarrassed myself. I parred the first two, then the wheels came off. I told Martin I was saving all my luck for tomorrow."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Racing fans bang their heads in frustration when young stars are retired at the peak of their fame, or when injury cuts short a career on the rise. Still, despite the chronic turnover, one silver lining remains, a constant upon which horseplayers around the world can rely:
There will always be a Sarafan.