HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The outlook for the Kentucky Derby was supposed to be clearer after the weekend's major stakes races. After Booklet and Harlan's Holiday faced each other in the Florida Derby, and the top-ranked 3-year-old Siphonic ran in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, at least one seemed likely to emerge as a leader of his generation.

But nothing of the sort happened. The Florida race was inconclusive at best, the California race a shocker. Not a single horse in the country (nor in Europe or Dubai, for that matter) possesses unshakable credentials for the Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. - David Hofmans, an otherwise rational individual, will embark on Sunday along a road destined to bring him nothing but grief, stress and sleepless nights. He knows all this, because he has traveled this way before, and yet he goes willingly, secure in the knowledge that the ultimate rewards tower over such petty inconveniences as grief, stress, and sleepless nights.

At least, that's what he's been told.

NEW YORK - The Kentucky Derby Future Wager is exactly the kind of bet the racing industry should devise more often. It is an intriguing wager on its own and drives customer interest not only in the Derby but in dozens of prep races throughout the spring.

It has the potential for spectacular growth beyond the current pools, but only if two fundamental changes are made: Rescheduling when the pools are open, and adding more betting interests than the current 24.

ARCADIA, Calif. - As the field parades to the post for the San Luis Rey Handicap here on Saturday afternoon, it would be great if Trevor Denman would call for a moment of silence in tribute to the big red horse who owned a large piece of the Santa Anita grass course in 1993 and 1994.

Bien Bien's heart betrayed him the first time in his life last week in England, where he was busy trying to sire another Bienamado. The attack was fatal, but he died with his boots on, shortly after completing his duties.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Affirmed and Alydar: Thoroughbred racing's greatest rivalry. These outstanding colts met 10 times at age 2 and 3 during the 1970's, and in most of these confrontations were no more than an inch apart at the finish and yards ahead of the others.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jack Westrope was America's leading rider in 1933, at the age of 15. Twenty-five years later, he was killed while trying to win the Hollywood Oaks, on June 19, 1958. Westrope's inclusion among the trio of nominees for this year's election to the Hall of Fame, 44 years after his death, can only mean one of three things:

1. A renewed appreciation of his record.

2. A lack of qualified candidates among more contemporary riders.

3. Stubborn old farts on the nominating committee.

HALLANDALE, Fla. - When jockeys refused to ride on the Gulfstream Park turf course in Sunday's 11th race, forcing its transfer to the dirt, just about everybody at the track was angry and upset.

The jockeys said that clods of dirt had been flying at them during the ninth race, and insisted that the turf course was unsafe.

Trainers already had brought their horses to the paddock for the race and had shod them for the grass. None of the trainers was eager to run on dirt.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Last Dec. 29, while riding at night at Los Alamitos after two mounts at Santa Anita during the day, jockey Iggy Puglisi fractured three vertebrae and his right knee in a two-horse crash.

On Feb. 21 at Santa Anita Park, leading local apprentice Elvis Trujillo sustained a fractured left wrist when his mount in the eighth race, Richillini, spooked at something and threw him in the walking ring.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Kentucky legislature is considering a measure that could have a seismic impact on the Thoroughbred industry. If the General Assembly approves the introduction of slot machines at the state's tracks, it will radically alter the economics of the business.

Slot machines and video-lottery terminals have been principally used until now as a life-support mechanism for ailing tracks, revitalizing operations such as Charles Town in West Virginia and Delaware Park. But they have not yet been installed into a major-league U.S. track.

NEW YORK - Anyone who has been betting on Frank Stronach to go bust and get out of the racing game had better hedge, extend, or cancel his wager. The depth of Stronach's pockets and acquisitive urges was revealed anew this week with his purchase of Lone Star Park.

His newest $100 million addition to the Magna Entertainment portfolio gives him 11 American racetracks, and he's probably not done yet. Deals in Massachusetts and Maryland remain possibilities, and he would go for $300 million or more for New York City OTB in a heartbeat if Mayor Mike Bloomberg were willing to sell.