SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – So, in the wake of Arrogate’s devastating, track-record, runaway score in Saturday’s Travers Stakes, who is the best 3-year-old male in the land?

It might well be Arrogate. What he did in the Travers was amazing stuff, setting a fast pace under pressure and running away through the stretch like he went the first half in 50.84 seconds instead of the 46.84 he did post. And as if racking up a 13 1/2-length victory wasn’t enough, Arrogate ran the fastest 1 1/4 miles in the history of Saratoga at 1:59.36, smashing General Assembly’s 37-year-old track record.

Let’s concede for a moment that some people will cheat to win. I know, it’s hard to swallow. But human nature, being driven by human beings, sometimes veers toward the dark side, and it is up to those who prefer to play the game on the square to make cheating a no-win option.

Data from The Jockey Club reveal that the population of the 2011 North American Thoroughbred foal crop was 24,930. At the time, the number was the smallest since 1971, when the nose count was 24,301.

Size doesn’t always matter. From the crop of 1971 came good ones like Cannonade, Little Current, Chris Evert, Miss Musket, and Holding Pattern.

From the crop of 2011 came California Chrome, Tepin, Honor Code, Tonalist, Untapable ... and Shared Belief.

You could hear it throughout the stands Saturday at Del Mar. Gasps of “Oh!” as California Chrome took command of the Pacific Classic right from the start and dared anyone to run with him. “Gee” as he bounded along, oblivious to those in pursuit. “Wow” when he burst clear once and for all at the head of the stretch.

Oh-gee-wow moments in horse racing are few and far between. They require a race of importance, preferably of some length, with a best-case scenario for unforgettable drama. When it happens, the grandchildren will be told the tale.

Remember how much concern there was late last year when American Pharoah, Honor Code, Liam’s Map, and Tonalist were all leaving the track for the breeding shed? Remember how some wondered how the giant void those retirements created could ever be filled?

Now, doesn’t it seem silly that any of us wasted even one second on such worry?

Eddie Delahoussaye spent five years combing the terrain in the region around Lafayette, Louisiana’s fourth-largest city, looking for just the right parcel of ground on which to build his retirement home upon returning to his native soil.

Looks like he picked the right place.

There is a chance that the season could peak too soon on Saturday afternoon, when the darlings of the American turf – Songbird, California Chrome, and Beholder – will be competing coast to coast.

Songbird is laying her unbeaten record on the line in the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, a 10-furlong race that has been won by so many fabulous fillies that it saves time to note only those who made it all the way to the Hall of Fame. There have been a cool dozen.

On Saturday at Del Mar, racing fans will be treated to the best event offered in Southern California since the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park when California Chrome, Dortmund, and defending champion Beholder take the field for the 26th running of the $1 million Pacific Classic.

You know how some old photos make you cringe? Like, what were we thinking wearing clothes like that? Well, some anachronistic handicapping tenets are cringe-worthy, too.

My favorite is, “Time only matters in jail.” Yeah. Right. It’s almost as if people who espoused this thinking just didn’t want to put the effort into understanding the meaning of time, specifically, adjusted time. But most of us know now that a horse who runs meaningfully faster adjusted times than another horse will beat that other horse every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

A highlight of any Hall of Fame ceremony, like the one Friday at the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is the introduction of past Hall of Famers who have managed to unearth their dark blue Hall of Fame blazers and show up for a deserving round of applause.