TUCSON, Ariz. - They officially buried the Salix-Lasix-furosemide issue last week in New Orleans, but the body will howl from the grave and its ghosts will continue to haunt American racing.

Part science fiction from the start, furosemide will remain a problem, even though the official line now is that everyone can use it, on bleeders and non-bleeders alike, "in the best interests of the horse."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Late last Saturday afternoon, Amy Mullins finally made it back to her husband's barn, soaking wet from a sudden downpour and still giddy from a combination of Castledale's victory in the Santa Anita Derby and the contact high from the postrace crowd that was rocking in the paddock to reggae star Ziggy Marley.

"Man," said Mullins, shaking out her streaked blond locks, "there's a lot of weed over there!"

No, really? And I thought that smell was cleaning solvent.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The all-star Racing Festival of the South is underway at Oaklawn Park, with the four biggest races of the meet packed into an eight-day feast, which means this final week of the track's centennial season will be drawing thousands of visitors from well beyond the friendly confines of surrounding Garland County.

For those unfamiliar with the Oaklawn phenomenon, here is a partial list of modern racetrack amenities that those visitors will not find at the Central Avenue landmark:

NEW YORK - While many people in racing properly bemoan the fragility, abbreviated careers, and premature retirements of so many of the sport's shooting stars, there are two magnificent exceptions to that trend: Pleasantly Perfect and Medaglia d'Oro, whose duel in the desert in the Dubai World Cup last weekend received scant attention outside the racing press and who may well be underappreciated even within the game.

NEW YORK - The race is clearly accursed. The horse who ends up in the winner's circle is an automatic throwout in the Kentucky Derby. It has worked 11 times in a row, so it must be true. You could look it up.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A victory in the Santa Anita Derby gets people all worked up. Just like that, they think they've got the second coming of Swaps or Majestic Prince. Next stop, Kentucky Derby, and get ready to sniff those roses.

Without a doubt, the Santa Anita Derby is a race worth winning. If nothing else, the $450,000 first prize spends well, and the trophy makes for a cool conversation piece.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Forty years ago, on March 26, 1964, the Arkansas House of Representatives told the good folks of Hot Springs that their days were done as a wide-open, illegal gambling mecca. The town that once rivaled Las Vegas would have to make do with its natural attractions, its steaming mineral baths, and its one, lonely source of legal gambling revenue, its racetrack.

WASHINGTON - Since the company Betfair began its operations in 2000, it has altered the world of gambling as profoundly as eBay altered the world of commerce.

WASHINGTON - The debate over slot machines in Maryland has been filled with hyperbole, but it is no exaggeration to say that the future of the state's Thoroughbred industry is at stake.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Richard Mandella was leading a triumphant Pleasantly Perfect in the giddy aftermath of the Dubai World Cup last Saturday night when his son, Gary, called from California with congratulations . . . and bad news. Lefty was gone.

Just like that, some of the sweetness leaked out of the moment. The lights of Nad Al Sheba blurred. Mandella plowed ahead, dizzy now from the brew of joy and sadness, and did the only thing he could do. He dedicated Pleasantly Perfect's race to the memory of Lefty Nickerson.