INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kathy Kusner was playfully alarmed to hear that Barclay Tagg, a good friend from their steeplechase riding days back in the 1960's, was being identified as the "65-year-old" trainer of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide. So she gave him a call, just to make sure she heard right.

"Sixty-five!" exclaimed Kusner, who is 63. "We were screaming with laughter, wondering what happened to us."

BALTIMORE, Md. - Impressive.

In almost 50 years of Preakness coverage, we can't recall a Kentucky Derby winner who showed as much forcefulness from Churchill Downs to Pimlico as Funny Cide did Saturday, winning the Preakness by 9 3/4 lengths.

Hansel and Point Given appeared considerably stronger here in their respective Preakness performances than in Louisville, but neither was a Derby winner.

BALTIMORE - It has been a rough week for journalists, who already ranked only slightly lower than heroin salesmen and slightly higher than brokerage analysts in the court of public esteem.

First came the revelation that The New York Times has printed dozens of made-up stories by a reporter named Jayson Blair. Then came the national frenzy over a Miami Herald article that raised questions about whether Jose Santos might have carried something more electrifying than a whip while winning the Kentucky Derby.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - There appears to be no limit to the human appetite for scandal. From the impeachment of a President for lying about a sexual dalliance, to the suggestion that a respected jockey cheated his way to victory in the Kentucky Derby, the menu of sensational possibilities is endless.

In fact, most scandals lose their juice before sunset. Nothing ruins a good story like the tedious introduction of actual fact. And even though, as T.S. Eliot wrote, "Human kind cannot bear very much reality," that is possibly true only because reality can be so drab.

BALTIMORE - After Funny Cide won the Kentucky Derby by nearly two lengths, he was showered with the acclaim that almost all Derby winners receive. But serious fans and bettors were not convinced that he had been the best horse in the race.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - To hear Barclay Tagg tell it, Funny Cide's journey to Kentucky Derby glory was an absolute diamond-lane delight. From training to shipping to the mile and one-quarter itself, everything went right.

Except for one minor detail. Funny Cide nearly went to pieces on the way from his Churchill Downs barn to the Derby saddling paddock.

WASHINGTON - Casual viewers of the Kentucky Derby, who expect a trainer named Baffert or Lukas to win every year, may never have heard the name of Barclay Tagg before his victory with Funny Cide.

But Marylanders who have observed Tagg's work over the years know it was no fluke that he made his mark at the highest level of the game. It was fluky that he had to toil more than three decades and reach the age of 65 before he did it.

BALTIMORE, Md. - There was a time, and not so long ago, when Preakness Day crowds averaged 35,000 to 40,000. Skillful marketing and management techniques were instrumental in building the average to its present level of more than 100,000.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - It is May of 1996, Preakness week, and suddenly Bob and Barbara Walter are the toast of the Triple Crown scene as the owners and breeders of Cavonnier, runner-up in the Kentucky Derby.

WASHINGTON - When entries were to be taken Wednesday for the 128th Preakness, the expected field of 11 or 12 horses was not going to be deep in talent. Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide will have only one formidable challenger, Peace Rules, who finished third at Churchill Downs.