TUCSON, Ariz. - Horse racing is discovering, once again and painfully, that the state giveth and the state taketh away.

Track management may make decisions, horsemen may make the racing, commissions may make the rules, but it is politicians who make or break the game.

This is hardly news, but it became agonizingly apparent in recent weeks and months in the major racing states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

In Maryland and Pennsylvania, it has been a battle between the executive branch and the legislature, with racing as a pawn.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Charlie Whittingham steered clear of New Year's Eve. He called it "amateur night," and he was right. Heavy drinking, like plutonium, should only be handled by experts.

Still, Whittingham would hardly endorse the actions of the Saudi Arabian Authority for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. Better known as the "morality police" for their strict enforcement of conservative Muslim law, the APVPV will be throwing cold water on any New Year's Eve celebrations by raiding shops that sell such subversive items as flowers and candles.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Like most horseplayers, I am a chronic jockey-hater, one who believes that the little people rarely make a positive contribution to the horses they ride and frequently screw up their chances. But this year, as I followed a particular jockey's fortunes, I felt an unfamiliar emotion: compassion.

I was playing the races at Tampa Bay Downs last winter, and I observed that this was an undistinguished jockey colony, even for a minor-league track. One rider in the bunch was utterly hapless - a veteran named Craig Faine.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Trevor Denman needed little prompting to recall his first day on the job as the voice of Santa Anita Park. It was a Wednesday, Dec. 26, 1984.

"I can honestly say it was one of the most memorable days of my career," Denman said. "I don't think I slept much the night before. There was apprehension, but there was also tremendous excitement. It was like, 'Wow, I'm actually going to do this.' "

ARCADIA, Calif. - Once again, California has survived another of its periodic attempts to discourage westward migration. Easterners awoke Tuesday morning to a freezing December day, took note of the earthquake news from California's central coast, and decided they would rather roll the dice with tornados, hurricanes, and killer frosts.

Good decision. At least you can see those coming. Earthquakes are nature's way of jumping out of a closet and saying, "Boo!" They claim their victims with indiscriminate disregard.

WASHINGTON - Who were the outstanding human performers in Thoroughbred racing during 2003?

When Eclipse Award voters confront that question, they usually consult the lists of the leading money-winning owners, trainers, and jockeys and cast their ballots accordingly. Owner Michael Gill, trainer Bobby Frankel, and jockey Jerry Bailey top the lists this year; Frankel and Bailey are shoo-ins to add to their collection of Eclipses.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Chris McCarron stepped carefully over a heavy-duty power cable and turned his head to avoid the thick dust spewing from a concrete saw. All around him, a beehive of last-minute remodeling had turned Santa Anita's grandstand mezzanine into a construction site. For a minute, McCarron was wondering if he'd been hired as general manager, or general contractor.

"Fortunately," McCarron said, "I've been asked for very little input on the project - except for how it might impact the horses."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It is hard to understand all the hand-wringing over this year's Eclipse Award ballot. The categories, for the most part, are cut and dried. The ballot could be filled out between Christmas parties without missing a beat. It's not like trying to figure out the difference between Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman, so stop agonizing.

NEW YORK - Tis the season for vexing choices, and not just whether to get Grandma the Miracle Moustache Remover or another Chia Pet. The remaining shopping days until Christmas look like an eternity compared to the eight days left for voters to make what may well be the toughest collection of Eclipse Award choices ever.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Believe it or not, the Hollywood Futurity used to be a million-dollar race. That was way back when, during the wild and booming Eighties, an age of rampant excess and flagrant wealth that sometimes even trickled down to such Futurity winning owners as John C. Mabee, W.T. Young, Robert French, and Henryk de Kwiatkowski.