There is a presumption among the more aggressive promoters of American racing that international competition is a good thing that should be encouraged without question. That the pitchmen from foreign racing interests should be welcomed with open arms to hawk their wears. That America’s racing stars, both human and equine, should be fair game for plunder, as long as the price is right.

Over the next six weeks, we’ll learn if racing can have its first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. During that same time, horseplayers and the industry have an opportunity to help rectify an even longer drought: the lack of change in antiquated and unfair rules from the early 1970s regarding the taxation of pari-mutuel proceeds at the track.

There is no way to know what might have happened if Shared Belief had not gotten hurt in last Saturday’s Charles Town Classic. To win, he would have had to beat a track record that Moreno set, so it was not going to be easy under any circumstance. The amazing Moreno got a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, not far from his career-best 109 for his Whitney win last year. You’ve got to love a horse with four wins and $3 million in earnings.

Shortly before going to work last Sunday at Emerald Downs, Joe Steiner was on the phone with his brother Jack, who trains horses at Golden Gate Fields.

“How’s Dennis Carr?” Joe asked. “I heard he had a head-on collision during workouts.”

“Yeah, I heard it was bad,” Jack replied. “But he’s OK.”

“There isn’t anything the matter with going to West Virginia.”

So sayeth John Nerud, the man of two centuries, who was not the least bit surprised to hear that Shared Belief, America’s best racehorse, was going for the big money at the bullring Saturday in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic. Eight will run against him going three turns to get 1 1/8 miles.

The end of the Kentucky Derby prep season last week marked the third year where Derby berths have been secured under the new points system announced in 2012. On the whole, it has worked well, providing a clearer and more cohesive path to Louisville than the graded-stakes-earnings plan it replaced.

American Pharoah was everything we thought he was and more. Once you put a line through his disastrous debut, the almost-certain Kentucky Derby favorite is all triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, culminating with a career-best 105 in his Arkansas Derby romp April 11.

Just when Shared Belief had gotten used to the culture shock of regular travel from his home in sophisticated San Francisco to the garish candyland of fantastic L.A., now he finds himself waking up in a stall on the backstretch of the Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, getting ready for Saturday’s Charles Town Classic. In West Virginia, no less.

There has been plenty of uninformed speculation about California Chrome’s English adventure and whether it will turn out to be excellent or not. Just for a change of pace, how about a little informed speculation on the subject?

John Gosden knows the American racehorse better than any top British trainer working today. After all, he had to deal with them for the first decade of his career, during which time he trained champions Royal Heroine, a European transplant, and Bates Motel, who was American through and through.

With Shared Belief heading for the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic on April 18, the $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap this Saturday suddenly looked like it was there for the taking. So, why not take a shot, especially if you’ve got the hottest owner-trainer-jockey combo in the left half of the country?

Fresh off a mind-blowing weekend at Santa Anita, John Sadler will be running Louisiana Handicap winner Hard Aces in the Oaklawn event for owners Pete and Kosta Hronis, with Victor Espinoza firmly attached. It’s a band you wouldn’t want to break up.