ARCADIA, Calif. - A race with a history as rich as the 65 runnings of the Santa Anita Handicap deserves more than just the usual heroes.

True, the Handicap is synonymous with names such as Seabiscuit, Shoemaker, Whittingham, and Pincay. But there is room for Richard Mandella, who put his name in lights forever by saddling the one-two-three finishers in 1997, and for Quicken Tree, the 1970 winner who is buried at the top of the stretch, as well as Terry Lipham, the only man to ride the winners of a Santa Anita Handicap and an All-American Futurity.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The cream rose to the top.

It was hardly a surprise to see Harlan's Holiday take charge of Saturday's $500,000 Donn Handicap after straightening into the stretch. The 4-year-old colt by Harlan who has always run well at Gulfstream was a 2-1 favorite, despite drawing the outside post in a field of 11.

NEW YORK - The season's first Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed last weekend with the so-called mutuel field of 425 horses - everyone except the 23 top-ranked prospects that could be bet individually - the solid 2.20-1 favorite and Badge of Silver the second choice at 11.30-1. Players set these odds despite strong advice from several quarters, including at least two major daily newspapers and one television network, that playing the Futures field is a knuckleheaded bet.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - When the Breeders' Cup Pick Six scandal erupted last fall, the racing industry knew it had a problem to fix. Not only did it have to repair weaknesses in the nation's betting systems, but it had to address the public's perception that the game wasn't on the level.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Harlan's Holiday, with earnings of almost $2 million and a determined seasonal debut here several weeks ago, is a legitimate favorite for Saturday's $500,000 Donn Handicap at nine furlongs. But favorites have won only two of the past 10 runnings and Harlan's Holiday drew the outside post in a field of 11.

There are times when an outside post has been helpful, but given a choice, most horsemen would go in another direction, for luck is usually involved.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - One tough guy admired another.

"Johnny Longden never changed," Bill Hartack said the other day, reminiscing. "I went out to California to ride about the time Longden was ready to retire. He hadn't changed. He was violently opposed to anyone getting through on the inside. I like to get through on the rail and we clashed several times. He was in his mid-50's but he was as mean as ever. I was as mean as John but we kept it on the track. We played cards together between races."

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - When Gulfstream Park stages its weekend concerts, most of the performers are largely oblivious to the presence of Thoroughbreds nearby. But for the rocker who sang here last week, coming back to a racetrack had special significance.

Long before she won a Grammy Award, before she recorded hits such as "True Colors" and "Girls Just Wanna to Have Fun," before she even envisioned a career in music, Cyndi Lauper worked at racing's lowest-caste job - as a hotwalker on the backstretch at Belmont Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Two for the Show.

We saw at least two solid Kentucky Derby prospects at Gulfstream Park Saturday on an attractive card largely devoted to the 3-year-old division. These are still preliminary days on the road to the Big Show, but Einar Robsham's Trust N Luck, who won the Fountain of Youth Stakes by more than five lengths, and Michael Tabor's Lion Tamer, who won the Hutcheson Stakes by six lengths, passed important tests with flying colors.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Normally, if his vantage point on the grandstand steps near the top of the Santa Anita stretch is vacant for more than a couple of days, that means Ron McAnally is in France, or Ireland, or roaming somewhere around South America looking for the next good horse.

Except this week.

This week McAnally has been going toe to toe with what was diagnosed as a case of old fashioned pneumonia. You know, the kind that comes with a raging fever, noodle-weak arms and legs, labored breathing, and a sobering glimpse of one's own frail mortality.

NEW YORK - Imagine if the next time you went to the gas station, some of the pumps were marked $2.20 a gallon and some carried a price of $1.10, but either way 10 gallons of gas would cost you $22. Why, you might ask, are some of the pumps advertising what clearly is the price for only half a gallon?

Welcome to the current state of American simulcasting.

Among the 22 tracks that have conducted racing so far this year, there are no fewer than seven different schemes being employed as to whether to post probables, will-pays, and mutuel payoffs in $1 or $2 increments: