NEW YORK - This past week was shortened by the Independence Day holiday, but it turns out there was still plenty of time for some elected officials and public figures to commit several acts of extraordinary stupidity and venality in the world of horse racing.

It's truly difficult to pick a winner among them, but let's give second runner-up honors to New York's offtrack betting corporations and the State Racing and Wagering Board, for circumventing the intention and spirit of a new law meant to allow tracks to experiment with takeout rates.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Phil Johnson has been blessed throughout his career with good vision.

He gave $8,000 for a New York-bred yearling filly named Prom Knight at a time when New York-breds weren't nearly as popular as they are now. Her pedigree further limited her general appeal. Her sire was the Irish Derby winner Sir Harry Lewis, a source of stamina in a market that much prefers speed.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The American Oaks wasn't invented for the pleasure of a guy like Klaus Hofmann. It only looks that way.

Hofmann is a retired computer company turnaround whiz from Wiesbaden, Germany, who has parlayed a small portion of his fortune into a Thoroughbred racing enterprise that has grown to 28 horses over a period of three years.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - This being an odd-numbered year, and Friday being the Fourth of July, it seemed reasonable to expect Beau Greely to have that reliable old Irish horse Takarian primed and ready for another run at the American Handicap at Hollywood Park. After all, he did win the race in 1999, at odds of 31-1, and again in 2001, at 14-1.

Horseplayers are subjected to so many indignities that they usually accept ill treatment stoically. But even the most passive bettors were surely incensed by the policy that went into effect at Maryland's racetracks Tuesday.

The state began withholding taxes from certain gambling winnings, forcing both residents and nonresidents to contend with a potential mountain of paperwork. The rationale is to generate more revenue for Maryland's coffers, but the effect will be to deter sensible gamblers from putting their money through the windows at Laurel, Pimlico, and Rosecroft.

TUCSON, Ariz. - Racing's Medication and Testing Consortium meets again in two weeks, this time in Dallas. The group will continue its vital work of unifying medication rules and advancing research on currently undetectable illegal medication, the scourge of American racing.

While its 30 or so members from across the full spectrum of Thoroughbred, harness, and Quarter Horse racing work on that aspect of racing welfare, a young man in south Florida has, through foresight, persuasion, and inspiring cooperation, forged new boundaries in the battle for racing integrity.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Bobby Frankel is sailing in smooth waters these days. When the newest addition to his stable, Spoken Fur, upset Saturday's $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, it was Frankel's 30th graded stakes victory of the year and his 12th in the Grade 1 category, with half the season still to come. The stable earnings have passed the $8.7 mark.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kent Desormeaux began his work day last Sunday at Hanshin Racecourse, a casino-horse racing megaplex in the town of Hyogo, located on the east coast of the main island of Japan, halfway between the major cities of Osaka and Kobe, and about 5,700 miles from the paddock at Hollywood Park

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Mark the day - June 14 - the day a cattle prod was discovered in the tack room of a Thoroughbred trainer at a state-licensed racetrack. Henceforth and forevermore, no piece of news emanating from the weird world of horse racing will have the power to shock the senses. The pun is unapologetically intended.

NEW YORK - The Thoroughbred racing industry is often accused of moving at the speed of a sleepy turtle on major issues. Takeout reduction takes years, national licensing required a decade, and the quest for a uniform national medication policy remains unfulfilled after a quarter century.

Occasionally, however, racing responds with relatively blinding speed when a truly momentous issue surfaces - an issue such as Jerry Bailey's pants.