NEW YORK - For better or worse, there is no section of the United States Constitution that addresses the inalienable right to wager on every parimutuel pool in existence or to do so during the millisecond before the starting gate opens. Nor does racing have any organization with the authority to impose consistent national rules on these matters.

So instead, in the light of the pick six scandal, individual states and tracks are scrambling to impose new policies, creating a regulatory crazy-quilt:

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Chris Clement is concerned.

An outstanding trainer of turf horses, he holds a strong hand for Saturday's $150,000 Long Island Handicap for fillies and mares on the grass at 1 1/2 miles. He plans to run Moon Queen, a stakes winner in France and in America, and Mot Juste, an impressive third in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl. But the forecast is for rain on Saturday in the New York area, and this frequently means a switch to the main track.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A filly can be Horse of the Year. Of course she can, if her name is All Along, Lady's Secret, or perhaps Azeri.

Look to the past and there are more. In 1944, Twilight Tear went hard from February to November and polished off the year beating Devil Diver in the Pimlico Special. In 1945 it was Busher, smacking around the 3-year-old colts on several occasions and handling older mares as well. Fillies back-to-back, Horse of the Year.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The undefeated Sky Mesa, with a clean bill of health after the setback that forced him to miss the Breeders' Cup, leaves in about three weeks for Florida and a campaign designed to prepare him for the spring classics.

Winner of the Hopeful at Saratoga and the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, Sky Mesa was the probable favorite for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile when he sprained an ankle on a sloppy track two days before the race.

Fortunately, there was no bone damage, and in retrospect his people seem to feel that the incident has two sides.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - News item: Comedian Elayne Boosler has canceled her appearance at the Dec. 12 banquet of the 29th annual Symposium on Racing, presented by the Race Track Industry Program of the University of Arizona. Boosler, an avowed animal rights activist, cited the presence of greyhound racing representatives at the symposium as the reason for her cancellation.

And good for her. Comedians should always be careful about who they might accidentally entertain. Wouldn't want to make the enemy laugh.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Reba's Gold awoke in his Hollywood Park stall Tuesday morning, innocently unaware of the events about to transpire.

Over the next week and a half, the humdrum routine of his Thoroughbred world would be shaken. He would experience sights, sounds, and smells far removed from his familiar Southern California surroundings.

The Pomona Handicap winner was heading for Japan.

WASHINGTON - Shortly after the Breeders' Cup pick six scandal erupted, Santa Anita was offering a special pick six of its own, with a guaranteed pool of $1 million. Sherwood Chillingworth, executive vice president of the Oak Tree Racing Association, sought to reassure bettors that the wager would not be corrupted, and he announced, "We are doing everything possible to make sure there are no abnormalities. We are changing locks on all the doors in the tote room. We are putting a guard on the central doors so no one gets in who is not authorized."

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - She's dependable.

Babae's class is evidenced by her consistency.

She can't win them all, but the Chilean import Babae can usually run a good race no matter the competition.

WASHINGTON - When Allen "Woody" Zais comes home from an afternoon at Laurel Park, his wife usually greets him by asking, good-naturedly, "How much did you lose today?" Zais is a small-scale bettor, and the answer is typically in the vicinity of 50 bucks.

But after he returned from the track two weeks ago, Zais did not yet know the correct answer to the question. His reply should have been: "I didn't lose - I was cheated out of nearly $40,000."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Let's pretend for a moment that the stewards did not rule against Futural in the 2001 Hollywood Gold Cup. He won the race with authority, despite his contact with the tiring Skimming, and he was never in danger of being caught by the steadily closing Aptitude.

Had Futural's number stayed up, he would have ranked at the top of California's older horses. With victories in the San Bernardino Handicap and the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap leading up to the Gold Cup, he was already well on his way.