It has been a decade since the end of the Philadelphia Triple Crown domination when Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, and Barbaro, all with Philly connections, won an incredible five of seven Triple Crown races and lost the other two by a combined two lengths.

Truth be told, many horseplayers are not necessarily true fans of Thoroughbred racing as a sport, and many fans of the sport are not horseplayers. But many of us are both, and sometimes that creates conflict. Saturday’s events at Fair Grounds were a good example of how sometimes what is good for one group is not good for the other.

They said it then.

“I just love her. She’s been training better than she ever has in her life. But I just want her to come back okay.”

That was Steve Willard, Zenyatta’s exercise rider, as he prepared to join the big mare on the walk from the John Shirreffs barn to the Hollywood Park saddling paddock for her 2009 debut in the Milady Handicap. His tone was that of a mother watching a child go off to war, confident that the young soldier was fully trained at the job but still worried about stray bullets.

In a column earlier this week, I referred to jockey Danny Sorenson as “retired.” This will come as a shock to the two horses he is named on at Sam Houston on Friday night and the four he rides there Saturday.

There are years when voting for racing’s Hall of Fame is an excruciating exercise involving close calls among horses, jockeys, and trainers from different eras to come up with the maximum of four inductees.

This is not one of those years.

It’s that time of year again. The little ones are dropping like snowflakes. Every day, the social-media sites are filled with photos of freshly minted foals, most of them from regal lineage and all of them so cute you want to reach out and tweak their little digital noses.

Reporter and author Marianna Haun died quietly a few days ago at the age of 70. In life, she was anything but quiet. Marianna was full of energy and ideas, talking to anyone and everyone about her passions, whether they were interested or not, and she was unafraid to pursue any theories, no matter how far-fetched the ideas seemed. Once focused on something, it consumed her at the expense of everything else. That’s why I had to fire her. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

It’s always good for the game when a champion returns to the races, and it’s even better when a champion returns the way Tepin did Saturday.

Tepin, the Eclipse Award-winning female turf horse of 2015, made her 5-year-old bow in the Endeavour Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

(Right here, as an aside, let’s pause for a second and extend thanks to owner Robert Masterson for bringing Tepin back for another campaign when it would have been easy for him to retire or sell his mare on the heels of a championship season.)

It is okay for the good people at Churchill Downs to tell their Kentucky Derby patrons where to sit, where to stand, what to drink, and what to sing. I’ve got no problem with Derby Day restrictions on umbrellas, coolers, laptops, Bowie knives, hibachis, fireworks, and selfie sticks. Or any kind of stick, for that matter.

What is dead wrong about the Kentucky Derby is the way the keepers of the flame are telling horse owners and trainers how to own and train their horses.

A filly in the Kentucky Derby is an exciting proposition. It gets every fan’s blood pumping, even when fans are divided on the prospect – it’s either a great idea or a terrible idea.

Fillies bring extra spice and a new dimension to the Derby, and they have done well historically, much better than their total number of winners suggests. So, when looking at the racing scene today, one naturally wonders how a filly like Songbird would fare in the Derby against the best of the opposite sex.