DEL MAR, Calif. - "Sweet 16" screamed the headline in Newsday, six years ago this summer, after Cigar equaled Citation's modern record of consecutive wins.

The date was July 13, 1996. The place was Arlington Park. And the sight of more than 34,000 demanding Chicago fans jammed into the handsome, cantilevered grandstand was inspiring to behold, especially from the passenger seat of an ascending helicopter piloted by Allen Paulson, the man who bred and owned Cigar.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Saratoga is synonymous with quality racing. Always has been and always will be, in part because the people who own the good horses enjoy their visits to this pleasant spa.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Don't bother looking for Bob Baffert in the paddock late Saturday afternoon to saddle the maidens Golden Band and Mezzanine Money in the seventh. He'll be otherwise occupied.

"The wedding's at six, but I've been told to report to the receiving barn at four," Baffert said Thursday at his Del Mar barn. "Then I'll be led over."

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Affirmed was the last Triple Crown winner, 24 years ago. That should probably read "Spectacular Bid, 23 years ago" but judge for yourself as Bud Delp recalls "the greatest horse ever to look through a bridle."

Delp, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame here Monday morning, had saddled Spectacular Bid to relatively decisive victories in the 1979 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. On the morning of the Belmont he arrived at the barn at 6 o'clock and the groom spoke only two words: "He's lame."

DEL MAR, Calif. - The sporting public has a right to be confused. Racing is a game they would love to love, but the signals in return can be thoroughly mixed. Sometimes they are downright disheartening.

Consider these current events:

When Youbet.com was born, allowing horseplayers to watch races and wager by computer, its technology seemed to offer exciting and limitless possibilities. Optimists thought that this could be the medium that would bring racing into the homes of a mass audience.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A classic.

There are close competitive races every day at every track. But every once in a while, when good horses get together, they seem touched by a spirit that is unique to the Thoroughbred race-horse. With glorious generosity they give everything they've got ... and then a little bit more.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Farm life being what it is, oriented primarily toward plants and animals, Janis Whitham figured she'd better stay home and tend to the welfare of the beasts rather than fly to California for last Saturday's $400,000 Ramona Handicap. Affluent was in good hands, with Ron McAnally and Eddie Delahoussaye in her corner. She would just have to win without her.

So she did.

WASHINGTON - When the Magna Entertainment Corp. announced its intention to buy Laurel Park and Pimlico racetracks, company leaders might have expected to be hailed as the saviors of Maryland racing. They were promising an infusion of money and new ideas into an industry that has been stagnating for years.

But Magna has been greeted with considerable skepticism by horsemen, racing commissioners, and others, largely because of one stigma that has altered the company's image: the 2002 racing season at Gulfstream Park.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It's hard to find much to complain about during opening week at Saratoga. The racing's strong, the mutuel pools are fat and soft, the living is easy, fish are jumping, and the cotton is high. There's just this little matter of three pounds to quibble about.