August 2009 Archives

The $300,000 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet, which already figured to include Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, might have gotten another big-name horse Sunday when trainer Todd Pletcher told the Daily Racing Form that Quality Road, a disappointing third in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, will prep for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic in either the Goodwood or the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on Oct. 3.

It appears that Summer Bird, who won the Travers by 3 1/2 lengths while earning a career-best 110 Beyer Speed Figure, will prep for the Breeders' Cup in the Jockey Club Gold Cup because of the availability of jockey Kent Desormeaux, who would have to choose between Mr. Sidney or Summer Bird if the Belmont winner runs in the Goodwood because it's the same day as the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland, in which the Bill Mott-trained Mr. Sidney is expected to be a major player.

Summer Bird also already has shown a fondness for Belmont's main track, having turned in a powerful victory in the Belmont Stakes in June. Trainer Tim Ice said that would also have to be a major factor in the decision.

"He loves Belmont," Ice told the Racing Form. "Why not take a chance in the Gold Cup, and we'll see how he fares on the Poly (Santa Anita) once we get him out there and train him."

The Goodwood, a 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 race on Oct. 10 that will be run over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride synthetic surface, may also include such Southland-based horses as Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip, Santa Anita Handicap winner Einstein, 2008 Santa Anita Derby and Travers winner Colonel John and perhaps Tiago, who did not take to the grass in his turf debut last Wednesday at Del Mar.

Rail Trip, Einstein and Colonel John are all scheduled to race in Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar, a 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 event on Del Mar's Polytrack surface.

* The Daily Racing Form also reported that Santa Anita president Ron Charles expects to announce major changes to the Sunshine Millions format sometime in September.

The Sunshine Millions, a series of eight stakes races restricted to California and Florida-breds worth $3.6 million that is annually held in January at both Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, figures to be hit by a drastic cut to its purse sizes because of an economy that racing officials contend is the major reason for a decline in handle. Because of that decline, purses in California have been slashed during the past two years.

There's also a chance some of the Sunshine Millions races could be shelved for a year until the economic climate improves.

The Charitable Man camp was ultra high on their 3-year-old colt following his 3 3/4-length victory in the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park on May 9, but he's since run mediocre races in both the Belmont and Jim Dandy and the enthusiasm has been tempered heading into today's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

"The Peter Pan was very impressive, but the Belmont was not and the Jim Dandy, he had a few little excuses and finished third, but he just might not be up to the top 10 (3-year-olds) in America," trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. "We were pretty high on him after the Peter Pan, but we've toned it down a little bit. He's trained well, developed well, but he's probably in tough Saturday."

The Travers drew a field of seven, including 8-5 favorite Quality Road, Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird and Kensei, who was impressive while winning the Jim Dandy Stakes.

McLaughlin said even though he believes Charitable Man may be overmatched by some of today's runners, it's tough to pass up a chance to start a horse in the Mid-Summer Derby.

"There's only one Travers, and it's one of the most important races for 3-year-olds, so we decided to stay home and give it a try," he said.

I'm interested to see how Quality Road runs today, to see if he can duplicate his marvelous form that carried him to a dominating victory in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park before he was taken off the Derby trail because of injury.

I think he's going to be tough to beat, particularly if he can lay second or third behind the pacesetter(s) and then make his move around the far turn. Summer Bird needs a quick pace to get up, and Kensei might not have the class some of these other 3-year-old have shown.

There were many who believed Mine That Bird's Kentucky Derby victory this year at 50-1 odds was a fluke, a product of the sloppy track at Churchill Downs. But the gelding has gone on to run competitively in the Preakness, Belmont and West Virginia Derby to show he wasn't just a one-trick pony.

As many of you know and made me painfully aware immediately after the race, I gave Mine That Bird zero chance to win the Run for the Roses. In my column that morning, he was the first horse I said had no chance. I drew a line through him. I thought he'd have a better chance of winning one of the claiming races that afternoon.

Trainer Chip Woolley himself admitted he was surprised Mine That Bird won the Derby, but he did think he had a better horse than the betting public believed.

"In my mind, there was no question that the horse had anted up every time, but to some people I guess there was," Woolley said. "Then when you see the horse just continue to show up every time you lead him up there and put up his best effort ... I mean, we've come up short and we can blame it on whoever we blame it on, but the horse everytime has laid it on the line and given us everything he had to give.

"You've got to respect him for that. I guess it's some vindication that the horse, my program, the whole thing has worked very well together and we've showed up every time we've gone somewhere."

Now that the Mine That Bird camp has decided to skip Saturday's Travers Stakes, giving the gelding more time to recover from last week's minor throat surgery, plans call for him to run in the Goodwood Stakes during Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet on Oct. 10 as a prep for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7

Seems like Del Mar is not the only venue with Polytrack that is having problems with its synthetic surface. Here's an item from today's Daily Racing Form:

Meanwhile, the start of the Thursday card at Arlington was delayed by 30 minutes after a meeting between jockeys, horsemen, and Arlington management went long. According to one anonymous source who was in attendance, among the numerous issues discussed were conditions of the Polytrack surface, which has not met to the satisfaction of some trainers or jockeys.

Hmmm. Quite a surprise, huh?

There's a $700,000-plus pick six carryover at Del Mar today, and some of the races appear wide open. I'm going to bypass playing the pick six, but here are a few horses I'd have on my ticket if I played one:

THIRD -- Both of Steve Knapp's horses, Let'spickupthepace and Only Be Cause, have big shots in this spot.
FOURTH -- Give Winky a look here.
SIXTH -- The combination of Rosario and Hollendorfer is tough to overlook with Schill.
SEVENTH -- Dextera figures to be right there in a wide-open race. She doesn't like to win, but she's dangerous.
EIGHTH -- If you're going to single someone on today's card, the entry of Brilliant Response and With Respect is the spot to do it.

Good luck today!

Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird's connections decided not to enter the 3-year-old gelding in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga, preferring to be cautious and wait to make sure he's recovered from the throat surgery he underwent 11 days ago to repair an entrapped epiglottis.

Trainer Chip Woolley said Mine That Bird will be sent to Santa Anita to prepare for the $350,000 Grade 1 Goodwood Handicap during Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet on Oct. 10 as a prep for the main objective -- the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 7.

"That gives us six more weeks for it to be for sure, positively completely healed," trainer Chip Woolley told the Daily Racing Form. "We just want to go down the road and make sure the horse is 100 percent before we start."

The Travers drew a field of seven Wednesday morning, including Florida Derby winner Quality Road, Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird, Peter Pan Stakes champion Charitable Man, and Jim Dandy winner Kensei.

Quality Road, thought by some to be the best 3-year-old in America, was installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite. Summer Bird is the 3-1 second choice. Quality Road, trained by Todd Pletcher, will be ridden by John Velazquez.

Two jockeys were injured and one horse was euthanized during Del Mar training hours Monday morning, San Diego Union-Tribune racing writer Hank Wesch reported on his blog.
Zetta's Corridor, a 3-year-old filly trained by Kathy Walsh, broke a front leg and fell at about 8:15 a.m., tossing exercise rider David Rodriguez to the ground. Zetta's Corridor, who finished third in her career debut at Del Mar on July 31, had to be euthanized and became the 11th fatality at the track since July 19.
There has been no word on the condition of Rodriguez, who was taken to Scripps La Jolla Hospital.
Wesch also reports that at about 6:15 a.m., exercise rider Rachael Escamilla was unseated from her mount near the chute at the west end of the stretch from which 1 1/4 mile races are started.
Escamilla was reportedly unconscious for a short period and was also taken to Scripps La Jolla for treatment of undetermined injuries.

She's already beaten 3-year-old boys twice, winning both the Preakness Stakes and Haskell Invitational. Now she's going to try to become the first female ever to win the Woodward when she takes on older males in the $750,000 Grade 1 race at Saratoga Race Course on Sept. 5.

The filly's connections announced their plans following a workout Monday morning at Saratoga. If Rachel, who already has a huge lead in the Horse of the Year race, adds a victory over older males to her already impressive resume, well, the only way Zenyatta can win Horse of the Year is to beat Rachel in a head-to-head matchup, which could occur after the Breeders' Cup.

Here's a link to the Daily Racing Form's story about Rachel Alexandra running in the Woodward. Just copy and paste in your browser:

http://www.drf.com/news/article/106635.html

Tyler Baze, second in the Del Mar rider standings behind Joel Rosario, is expected to be sidelined at least a week after fracturing the pinky finger on his left hand when dumped during the post parade for Saturday's 10th race.

R. Bee Ess, trained by Carla Gaines, unseated Baze as the horses walked to the gate for the maiden special weight on grass, ran off and had to be scratched after it took several minutes for outriders to catch the horse.

Baze went into Saturday's action with 29 victories -- six fewer than Rosario. Both riders blanked Saturday, but Rosario won the Solana Beach Handicap on Sunday aboard You Lift Me Up to open a 36-29 edge in the standings.

The injury comes at a bad time for the 26-year-old Baze, who was scheduled to ride Monterey Jazz in next Saturday's $300,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Mile and also will lose his mount in the $250,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap on Sunday.

Baze's agent, Ron Ebanks, hopes his client can return in time to ride the Jeff Mullins-trained Battle of Hastings in the $350,000 Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 6, Pacific Classic day.

Garrett Gomez, who got off to a slow start at Del Mar, rode four winners Sunday to move into fifth place in the jockey standings with 20 victories.

Einstein, winner of the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7 and fifth in the recent Arlington Million on turf, will be shipped to California to run in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sept. 6.

The richest North American horse currently in training with more than $2.7 million in earnings, Einstein is scheduled to be flown to California on Aug. 31. If he fares well in the 1 1/4-mile race on the track's Polytrack surface, he'll likely remain in Southern California for the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6-7 at Santa Anita.

Einstein, a 7-year-old Brazilian-bred son of Spend a Buck, has won on dirt, turf and synthetic surfaces and will join a large field that is expected to include Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip, 2008 Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes champion Colonel John, San Diego Handicap winner Informed and Eddie Read Stakes winner Global Hunter.

Julien Leparoux, who rode Einstein in the Santa Anita Handicap, has the call again on the Helen Pitts-trained horse in the Pacific Classic.

Rafael Bejarano, sidelined since opening day at Del Mar after suffering several facial fractures in a spill during the third race, worked two horses Saturday morning as he returned to action a day earlier than expected.

Bejarano, who won six consecutive Southland meets before Joel Rosario ended the string at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meet, has been fitted with a special protective mask he will wear during the races. He does now wear the mask during workouts.

"I feel good and it was good to be back up on horses," said Bejarano, who expects to begin riding in the afternoons this coming Friday.

Bejarano, who said he'll wear the mask during live racing because there is more of a danger of being hit by debris in the afternoons, underwent surgery at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla after the accident and remained hospitalized for several days.

* Tiago, idle since a third-place finish in the Grade 2 San Antonio Handicap on Feb. 8 at Santa Anita, will make his grass debut in Wednesday's $85,000 Harry F. Brubaker Stakes at 1 1/16 miles over Del Mar's Jimmy Durante Turf Course..

The 5-year-old son of Pleasant Tap, who won the 2007 Santa Anita Derby, will face a field of nine, headed by Becrux, who has more than $1 million in earnings on the turf. Also entered is Wordly, who has earned $308,363 in turf races and won the 2007 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar via DQ and finished third in the Del Mar Derby that year. He's winless in his past eight starts.

* Tres Borrachos, a 4-year-old gelded son of Ecton Park who was second to Rail Trip in the Hollywood Gold Cup, is still on track for the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sept. 6, according to trainer Beau Greely.

Greely, who saddled 11-1 long shot Borrego for a victory in the 2005 Pacific Classic, plans to work Tres Borrachos on Sunday at Santa Anita and then drill him a week from Monday at Del Mar.

Three other Pacific Classic hopefuls -- Rail Trip, Mast Track and Song of Navarone -- are scheduled to drill Sunday morning.

On a day when TVG and Betfair Ltd. committed an extra $400,000 to the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 3 if both Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra enter the starting gate, Rachel Alexandra co-owner Jess Jackson issued a statement of his own regarding the proposed meeting of the country's two most popular race horses in training.

If Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra both run in the Beldame, an unlikely scenario at this point, the purse for the race would now be $1 million. The Daily Racing Form quoted Zenyatta's trainer, John Shirreffs, as saying they would consider the race. It's my opinion that they'll consider it for about five seconds and then turn their thoughts back to the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6-7, meaning Zenyatta's next start most likely will come in the Lady's Secret Stakes at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting on Oct. 10.

Jackson's statement:

"Our strategy has not changed in scheduling Rachel Alexandra's campaign this year. We will always take it one race at a time. Right now, we are focused on her next start. I hope to have a decision on that early next week. After that race, we will need to see how she recovers and then determine her next start.

"I understand the growing excitement around a race that involves these two magnificent athletes competing but both camps need to do what is in the best interest of the horse. And for us, that means waiting until she completes and soundly recovers from her next race before any decisions are made about the Beldame Stakes or any other venue."

I still maintain the only way these two female equine stars hook up is in a race after the Breeders' Cup, perhaps at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

News item: Two more horses broke down during morning workouts over Del Mar's main track on Thursday morning and had to be euthanized, meaning there have been nine fatalities during the first 22 days of this 37-day summer meet. A 10th broke down during a turf race earlier in the meet and was euthanized. The total number of fatalities surpasses the death totals at Del Mar from last year (eight) and 2007 (six).

Reaction: Del Mar and every race track in the state needs to take a hard look at their surfaces and strongly consider the installation of safer, gentlier tracks. Oh wait, we already went down that road, didn't we?

Del Mar, on the heels of a terrible 2006 meet in terms of fatalities and the Barbaro tragedy in the Preakness, installed Polytrack before the 2007 season because -- we were told -- it would reduce deaths and injuries. We were told they were maintenance free. We were told they would attract horsemen from all over the country. We were told they would lead to larger fields. We were told they would cure world hunger ... well, the synthetic proponents didn't go that far, but you get the point.

So far, everything we have been told has turned out to be false. Correct me if I'm wrong, but has Saratoga and its dirt track been beseiged by so many fatal breakdowns during its current meet? And the state of New York didn't just waste $40-plus million on the installation of these "safer and kinder" surfaces.

Oh yeah, and want more good news? If you're a horse player, tread lightly next week at Del Mar. On Monday and Tuesday, the track may be power harrowed, meaning we don't know if a parade of come-from-behind long shots will pop up or if the speed bias that has existed for much of the summer will continue to hold true.

As respected trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said on an NTRA teleconference recently: "If I knew what horses preferred (synthetics) I might quit training to become a gambler, because I never know who's going to run well on it or how they're going to run."

To be fair, McLaughlin likes his horses to train on the artificial tracks, but abhors running them over synthetics. He believes the fake tracks won't be around much longer.

"I think that before we see more synthetics tracks, we'll see synthetics going back to dirt," he said.

Meanwhile, Richard Shapiro, the man who led the California Horse Racing Board during the time synthetics were mandated, pleaded no contest Tuesday to misdemeanor charges of vandalizing an owner's car with a key. Shapiro was ordered by the court to pay $6,800 in damages to Jerry Jamgotchian, a frequent critic of Shapiro and the horse racing board who obviously got under Shapiro's skin.

Yes, Jamgotchian sometimes goes overboard in his criticism of the CHRB and the California racing industry as a whole, vilifying his targets with such rancor that his messages that are often valid most times get lost in the ugliness of his attacks. But one thing is clear -- his rants against artificial tracks have been right on. They never should have been installed before being tested as training tracks first.

* Heading into the fifth week of its 37-day summer meet, Del Mar officials announced huge double-digit gains in both on-track attendance and handle for the first 20 days of the meet.

Average daily on-track attendance was up 11.8 percent and daily handle showed an increase of 12.8 percent heading into Wednesday's nine-race card. Per-day attendance, 16,645 through the first four weeks last summer, stood at 18,607, with the inaugural Free and Easy Wednesday programs keying that increase. With no Monday racing at Del Mar for the first time since 1946, average on-track attendance on Wednesdays was up 42 percent and handle had shown a 30 percent increase with the lure of free general admission, programs and seats and half-price on hot dogs and drinks. The free general admission and lower concession prices were not in effect on the track's opening day, Wednesday, July 22.

"We'e tickled with the response our fans have given us so far at the meet," Del Mar president Joe Harper said in a statement. "We put several new things in place ahead of our opening -- dropping our Mondays and shifting to five days a week, our Free & Easy Wednesdays, extra races on other cards -- and the response has been excellent. Besides, we have much of our best racing to come, including a blockbuster Pacific Classic Racing Festival on Labor Day weekend, so we're hoping to keep riding the wave all the way home."

* Einstein, winner of the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap in March and one of the top older male horses in training, is still listed as possible for the Pacific Classic on Sept. 6. Einstein, third in the Stephen Foster Handicap in June and fifth in the Arlington Million over a yielding turf course in his most recent start, reportedly has been training well over Arlington Park's Polytrack surface. If Einstein does come west for the Pacific Classic, he'll likely remain in Southern California for the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6-7 if all goes well. Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip, the talented Colonel John, San Diego Handicap winner Informed, Eddie Read Stakes winner Global Hunter, and Awesome Gem, second in last Sunday's Longacres Mile, are all likely Pacific Classic starters.

* Jockey Alex Solis is enjoying a strong Del Mar meet, sitting in a fourth-place tie in the jockey standings with Joe Talamo at 14 wins apiece heading into Wednesday's card. Solis won both graded stakes last weekend, pulling into a tie for fourth on Del Mar's list of all-time stakes winners with Bill Shoemaker and Eddie Delahoussaye at 94 wins. Laffit Pincay Jr., Solis' idol, is third with 95 stakes victories.

Getting all excited about that possible matchup between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta in a souped-up Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park on Oct. 3? Don't get too revved up, because it's unlikely to happen.

The Daily Racing Form in Tuesday's editions reported the New York Racing Association was seeking a sponsor to help raise the Beldame's purse from $600,000 to $1 million and was hoping to lure Rachel and Zenyatta in a race that would include between two and five more fillies and mares.

This is the problem -- the Zenyatta camp is focused on the Breeders' Cup at this point in time. Why would they travel 3,000 miles to New York and then hop back on a plane and fly another 3,000 miles back home in time for the Breeders' Cup in five weeks when they can prep in the Lady's Secret on Oct. 10 in their own backyard?

Trainer John Shirreffs is one of the best in the business, but he's also one of the most conservative in the business. Zenyatta's owner, Jerry Moss, is a smart man and he listens to and trusts Shirreffs' judgment. If Shirreffs thinks it's not a good idea to travel all that distance and have to put up with the detention barn and all, well, they're not going.

"Does it work into the Breeders' Cup schedule? That is the thing we are focusing on," Shirreffs told the Racing Form. "We'll have to see the calendar and how it works out. It's something to consider."

But only 30 minutes after Zenyatta ran her lifetime record to 12-0 with a head victory in the Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 9, Shirreffs didn't sound like a man who was ready to jump on a plane and head to the Big Apple anytime soon when asked if the big mare would maybe travel east before the Breeders' Cup.

"For what? What would be the purpose at this particular time, especially with the Breeders' Cup?" Shirreffs said. "That's what the thoroughbred industry did, they created a venue for the best horses in the country and the world now to come and race against one another."

It's my feeling that if these two great distaffers meet, it will be after the Breeders' Cup, not before. The Zenyatta folks are focused on the weekend of Nov. 6-7 at Santa Anita and most likely the Ladies Classic.

There figures to be a distinctive Southern California flavor to Breeders' Cup XXVI on Nov. 6-7, and not just because the event will be held at Santa Anita for a record second consecutive year.

A trio of talented horses based in the Southland, led by the undefeated Zenyatta and also including the speedster Zensational and the come-from-behinder Magical Fantasy, figure to have a huge say in this Breeders' Cup.

It's beginning to look like Zenyatta's owners and trainer value an unbeaten record over any Horse of the Year laurels, so it now appears the 5-year-old Street Cry mare will conclude her career with starts in the Lady's Secret Stakes during the Oak Tree meet on Oct. 10 and the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic on Nov. 6.

A win in the Lady's Secret would match Personal Ensign's 13-0 career record, and a follow-up score in the Ladies Classic would enable Zenyatta to retire with a 14-0 mark. How she would go down in history, seeing as though she would never beaten the boys like Personal Ensign and Lady's Secret, is for historians to decide.

Jerry Moss, who owns Zenyatta along with his wife Ann, is still hopeful their reigning 2008 Eclipse Award winner for top older female can win Horse of the Year even if she doesn't race against the boys.

"This year, in the (Vanity), she ran with 129 pounds and beat older people," Moss said.
"Last year, we beat Ginger Punch at Oaklawn, we faced her in the Breeders' Cup. Now this is a formidable filly, there's no doubt about it, and we beat her twice. And yet (Ginger Punch) got two votes for the older filly of the year. So I can't say what writers will do. They'll make their own choices based on their own feelings in their own time. I'm not going to tell anybody how to vote, I couldn't do that.

"Last year, Curlin supposedly got special consideration because he came back as a champion to continue running for another year and allow the public a chance to see him, and I applaud that decision. And that's what we're doing this year -- we're coming back from a championship, so I think we would get some reasonable consideration for doing that when it came to Horse of the Year honors.

"We happen to live in California so that's what we build around, and we do plan a lot around where the Breeders' Cup is. If the Breeders' Cup were in New York or Churchill Downs, we'd be all over the country. But that's not the case."

Of course, Zensational has been sensational so far. He just sped gate to wire to win the Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 8 and is being pointed toward the Pat O'Brien Stakes at the seaside oval on Sept. 6. The Ancient Title at Santa Anita on Oct. 11 could follow, or perhaps trainer Bob Baffert, fresh off induction into racing's Hall of Fame, might elect to run just once more before the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Remember, Baffert is the guy who, mainly because of health issues, ran Midnight Lute just once before last year's Breeders' Cup, where the talented son of Real Quiet, said by Baffert to be the best horse he ever trained, became the first back-to-back winner of the Sprint.

Magical Fantasy, winner of Sunday's Grade 1 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar, earned an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf by winning the $350,000 race and trainer Patrick Gallagher said the 4-year-old filly will be pointed toward the Yellow Ribbon at Santa Anita on Oct. 10 and the Breeders' Cup if she remains healthy.

Three horses with Pacific Classic aspirations -- Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip, 2008 Gold Cup winner Mast Track and Song of Navarone -- all worked Sunday morning at Del Mar in preparation for the Grade 1 race on Sept. 6.

Rail Trip drilled six furlongs on Polytrack in 1:14.40, and trainer Ron Ellis was pleased with the work under exercise rider Jose Dominguez.

"He was just cruising out there," Ellis said. "He'll have two more works, probably seven furlongs or a mile next time."

Mast Track worked a half-mile in 50.20 seconds, prompting longtime Bobby Frankel assistant Humberto Ascanio to say, "He went really good. We wanted him to go easy in this first workout since he ran (second, beaten a nose in the San Diego Handicap) and that's what he did." Dominguez was also in the saddle for Mast Track's work.

Meanwhile, Song of Navarone drilled five furlongs in 1:00.80 for trainer Walther Solis under David Flores, subbing for regular rider Joel Rosario.

"He worked really good," Solis said. "He went nice and easy, just the way we wanted it. It was his first work back from his race (third in the San Diego)."

This will be the 19th running of the $1 million Pacific Classic, won in its inaugural year (1991) by the popular Cal-bred Best Pal. It's run at a mile and one quarter over the track's Polytrack surface.

Here are a few horses entered today at Del Mar that you might want to take a look at in exotics, pick sixes and pick fours:

5th -- EPIC POWER is a tough old sonofagun who gets the services of Garrett Gomez, who's beginning to gather some steam after a slow start at the meet. CARMAN is a live long shot who should be closing in the stretch.

7th -- Joel Rosario stays aboard SPIRIT OF COCHISE for trainer Jack Carava. The 4-year-old gelding has enough tactical speed where he won't be coming from the clouds, which has been a bad formula on this track lately.

9th -- I love the jock switch on CAMISADO, a 6-year-old gelding who won for this price at Santa Anita on April 17. Rosario climbs aboard this guy, who has won six of 18 on synthetics.

10th -- INCA'S FLIGHT is my best bet of the day. The 3-year-old Fusaichi Pegasus filly, trained by Craig Dollase, stretches out to a mile on the turf after a six-furlong grass sprint at Hollywood Park on July 12 in his second career start. Corey Nakatani stays aboard, and he should be forwardly placed in the nightcap.

Good luck today!

Rafael Bejarano, who won a record-tying six consecutive riding titles when he moved to the Southland at the tailend of 2007, hopes to make his return Friday, Aug. 28 at Del Mar after missing most of the meet following an opening-day spill.

Bejarano, the defending Del Mar riding champion who suffred major facial fractures in the spill when his mount, the 8-year-old gelding Mi Rey, broke down at the top of the stretch, will wear a protective mask when he returns, according to agent Joe Ferrer. Mi Rey had to be euthanized because of a compound fracture of the right front fetlock.

"He can't wait to get back to riding," Ferrer said. "He's looking forward to his return."

Bejarano, who had his string of riding titles snapped by Joel Rosario during the Hollywood Park spring-summer meet, will wear the protective mask for quite a while when he returns.

Bejarano and Chris McCarron are the only jockeys to win six consecutive SoCal riding titles since the Hollywood Park autumn meet began in 1981.

Bruce Headley, who's trained a top-flight sprinter or two in his day, might have the next good thing in his barn after M One Rifle went gate to wire to win the $100,000 Real Good Deal Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths at Del Mar on Friday.

M One Rifle, a 3-year-old gelding by One Man Army, set fractions of 22.72 and 45.64 en route to a final clocking of 1:22.32 in the seven-furlong event for California-breds that drew a field of nine. It was M One Rifle's second win in three starts. He went gate to wire to win a special maiden allowance at Hollywood Park by 4 1/4 lengths on July 5 after finishing third in his debut at Hollywood on April 25.

Headley, who won the 2000 Breeders' Cup Sprint when Kona Gold ran a sizzling 1:07 3/5 at Churchill Downs, says M One Rifle most likely will appear next in the Cal Cup Sprint on Oct. 3 during the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita.

"When I get them in one gear, I like to keep them there," Headley said.

Jockey Mike Smith was impressed.

"He's quick out of there," he said. "He gets his feet underneath himself real quick and can really go, but he's relaxed when he's doing it. He's just naturally fast. Coming away from there I got a flyer, so I just went on with him. That other speed horse (Royal Punisher) was outside, so I had to go. But he was going easy. Turning for home, he ducked in on me. He wants to do that and it helps him change leads, so I'm OK with some of it. He wants to stay on his left (lead), but that duck gets him over to his right. But he's going to have to learn how to do that himself. He can't be doing that all the time."

Trainer Bob Baffert and owner Mike Pegram's great filly Silverbulletday won't be the only Hall of Fame inductees on Friday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. with Southland ties.

Tiznow, the only two-time winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic also will be inducted. Off the board only once in 15 lifetime starts, Tiznow won eight times with four seconds and two thirds for career earnings of $6,427,830.

Unfortunately, trainer Jay Robbins had to cancel his trip to attend the ceremony because he came down with laryngitis and was advised by his doctor not to travel.

"He's the best horse I ever had," Robbins said. "And I've had some nice ones. I had Flying Continental and Nostalgia's Star. But as good as they were, none can touch Tiznow."

Tiznow's two Breeders' Cup wins came in 2000 by a neck over Giant's Causeway and the following year when he scored by a nose over Sakhee.

"The two Classics are the pinnacle of my career, especially the second one," Robbins said. "I thought Sakhee went by him and he wouldn't come back, but he did."

The Breeders' Cup did a good thing this week. Officials announced Monday that, in addition to the ban on steroids that was adopted last year, all trainers of Class 1 and Class 2 drug violations will face a one-year suspension from the 2010 Breeders' Cup and those that violate the policy three times will face a lifetime ban from the event.

Great, but I suggest going even further:

(1) Let's also suspend the owners of these horses. Why are owners given a free pass when the trainers are in essence working for them? Any penalty handed down to trainers should also be imposed on the owners, who then might start taking a second look at conditioners who continue to bend the rules.

(2) How about a two- or three-year ban for a first offense, and a lifetime ban after a second violation? Why do they get a second chance when they know the rules going in? This is an industry that has coddled its cheaters for too long, and it's time the drug rules were similar to the ones in Europe. I applaud the Breeders' Cup for its actions this week, but we can take it a step further.

According to a press release distributed to the media on Monday, the ranking of drugs is based on their pharmacology, their ability to influence the outcome of a race, whether or not they have legitimate therapeutic uses in the racing horse, or other evidence that they may be used improperly.

Here is how the Class 1 and Class 2 drugs are defined in the Breeders' Cup release:

Class 1 -- Stimulants and depressant drugs that have the highest potential to affect performance and have no generally accepted medical use in a racing horse. Many of these agents are Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) schedule II substances. These include the following drugs and their metabolites: Opiates, opium derivatives, synthetic opioids, psychoactive drugs, amphetamines and amphetamine-like drugs. There are at least 51 drugs in this class.

Class 2 - Drugs that have a high potential to affect performance, but have less of a potential than Class 1. These drugs are not generally accepted as therapeutic agents in racing horses or they are therapeutic agents that have a high potential for abuse. Among the nearly 350 drugs in this class are Lidocaine, Epogen, Caffeine and snake venoms.

"The establishment of these new regulations strengthens our number one priority of preserving the integrity of our competition and protecting the welfare of our athletes at the World Championships," Breeders' Cup president and CEO Greg Avioli said in a statement.

In addition to the crackdown on steroids and Class 1 and Class 2 drugs, this year's Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita (Nov. 6-7) will include out of competition testing for EPO (blood doping) 10 days before the Breeders' Cup and TCO2 (milk shaking) testing in the detention barn before all 14 Breeders' Cup races. A failed EPO test would render the horse eneligible for the race and the trainer open to suspensions. Failed tests for TCO2 will mean purse redistributions and suspensions. The latter two testing policies were introduced at the 2007 Breeders' Cup at Monmouth Park.

Again, let's make the owners as liable as the trainers in all this.

Shortly after Zenyatta had run her unbeaten streak to 12 on Sunday with a dramatic victory by a head in the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar, trainer John Shirreffs was asked if the Pacific Classic on Sept. 6 against males was a possibility for the brilliant mare's next start.

"I don't think so," he succinctly said.

It now looks like Zenyatta will use the Lady's Secret Stakes during Santa Anita's Oak Tree meet as her final prep race for the Breeders' Cup and what could be a start against the males in the $5 million Classic. If she won, she'd become the first female horse to win the Classic.

Whatever, Shirreffs made it clear Zenyatta will not be on a plane heading east anytime soon.

"For what? What would be the purpose at this particular time, especially with the Breeders' Cup (coming up)?" Shirreffs said. "That's what the thoroughbred industry did, they created a venue for the best horses in the country and the world now to come and race against one another. I think we need to support that."

Of course, Jess Jackson, who happens to own a filly named Rachel Alexandra, has said he will not come to the Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6-7 at Santa Anita because of the track's synthetic Pro-Ride surface.

Zenyatta's owner, Jerry Moss, said he's not about to lobby Jackson for a change of heart.

"I don't think we're the people to talk him out of anything," he said. "It's really his horse and he can do what he wants to do."

So it appears the stalemate continues and these two fabulous distaffers will have to wait until after the Breeders' Cup if they're going to meet before Zenyatta heads to the breeding shed in 2010.

After Zenyatta won by only a head Sunday, the slimmest margin of her career, the cries from Rachel Alexandra's camp about superiority are sure to be heard.

Shirreffs, for one, can't understand how anybody can be critical of a mare who carried a career-high 129 pounds in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 27 in only her second start of 2009, when horses perhaps are their most vulnerable.

"I thought she had an amazing year last year," Shirreffs said. "I mean, every race she had to step up, from maiden to allowance, to graded, to graded ones, and the competition was against the best fillies in the country -- Ginger Punch, Cocoa Beach, Tough Tiz's Sis.

"Then she's asked to carry the most weight (in the Vanity) in 25 years. If somebody wants to be critical of that, I just don't know how they do it."

Especially the way Zenyatta won Sunday, overcoming terribly slow fractions -- 23.86, 48.84 and 1:13.64 -- and displaying a great will to win by overtaking 22-1 long shot Anabaa's Creation by a head in the last couple of jumps.

"She exerted herself today in a big way," Moss said. "She used a gear she maybe hasn't used before."

Said jockey Mike Smith: "There are more gears there."

Somehow, we don't doubt him.

Zenyatta is a great champion, and I wish her connections would be a little more bold and take on the boys before the Classic in either the Pacific Classic or Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita. She's good enough to beat the males.

But hey, it's their horse, they want to see her retire undefeated, and why should they take any more heat than Jackson, who won't come west because he doesn't like synthetic tracks?

Moss and Shirreffs have a point. The Breeders' Cup, no matter what the surface, was set up to decide championships. Jackson's refusal to come is comparable to the Dodgers refusing to play in the World Series because they don't like the short right-field porch at Yankee Stadium.

And the debate rages on.

Lost in the aftermath of Zenyatta's dramatic victory in the Clement Hirsch Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar was the fact another breakdown occurred shortly after the start of the 10th race -- a maiden claiming event for colts and geldings.

Endless Moon, with Alex Solis aboard, broke down and fell leaving the chute, and Captain Cash struck the fallen horse and threw jockey Aaron Gryder. Endless Moon fractured both his left front and left hind legs and had to be euthanized -- the seventh casualty of the meet over these supposedly safer surfaces. There have been three fatal breakdowns in the mornings and four during live racing. A seventh horse broke down on the turf and had to be euthanized.

Captain Cash appeared to have injured his right foreleg, according to Del Mar publicity, and was apparently taken back to his barn. No immediate word on whether he was going to be OK.

Luckily, both jockeys escaped serious injury. Both were back in the jocks' room shortly after the race. Solis left the track under his own power, while Gryder was taken off on an ambulance. He was complaining of a sore left hand afterward.

I'm not blaming these breakdowns on Del Mar's Polytrack, but I am wondering why we were all told these tracks were going to be safer when they clearly are not. Breakdowns keep happening, like they will over any surface because these magnificent animals are so fragile, and the long-term effect of all the soft-tissue injuries that are now popping up on synthetics is unknown.

Please, whoever ends up owning Santa Anita, let's go back to dirt so we're not the brunt of jokes from other parts of the country. What should have been an experiment with horses using artificial surfaces as training tracks has cost the state's race tracks more than $40 million. And you can't put a cost on all the bad publicitiy and sour reviews from around the country.

Sitting here in the Del Mar press box, waiting for Zenyatta and the Clement Hirsch, and ...

* I'm shaking my head over this gentleman who truly believes Secretariat was not a great race horse. I mean, you can question his standing in history because he didn't race as a 4-year-old, but actually say he was not a great horse?

The man's name is Rich Aller. He's big into horse racing, has more data than you'd believe. You might have even seen him at Dodger Stadium, selling peanuts and such. He is a big fan of Dr. Fager and he says Spectacular Bid was one of the all-time greats, much better than Secretariat.

He said the true test of a champion is when a horse is hooked by another, actually looks him in the eye, and then how he responds to the challenge. He says it happened once to Secretariat, when he lost to Prove Out by 4 1/2 lengths in the 1973 Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park.

My question to him -- what if you're so much better than your competition that you're seldom hooked, seldom have the opportunity to look another horse in the eye because you're in front by one, two, three ....... or in one historic instance, 31 lengths?

I never saw Dr. Fager, but Spectacular Bid is higher on my list of all-time great thoroughbreds than Secretariat -- who still makes my top five -- because he raced as a 4-year-old, carrying more weight and still winning graded stakes.

But to say Secretariat was not a great race horse. I mean, well, there are all sorts of wacky opinions floating around out there.

* Not that it's a wacky opinion, but I also heard that Bob Baffert believes that Jess Jackson will relent and bring Rachel Alexandra to the Breeders' Cup. I don't agree. Bob knows a heck of a lot more than me when it comes to training thoroughbreds, but if he heard the conviction in Jackson's voice when he says he's not coming west this year, well, I think he'd believe differently.

* Talk about an unconventional schedule -- Global Hunter, who won the Eddie Read Stakes on the turf the first weekend of the Del Mar meet and finished third in Saturday's Bing Crosby Stakes on Polytrack, is now being pointed toward the Pacific Classic on Sept. 6. Trainer A.C. Avila doesn't think it's all that unconventional. "When you get a horse right, you might as well run him," said Avila, who said the Crosby served as a good six-furlong workout for the 1 1/4-mile Pacific Classic.

* Trainer Ron Ellis is pleased by the progress of Hollywood Gold Cup winner Rail Trip, who is on target for the Pacific Classic. The 4-year-old gelding worked five furlongs in 1:02 Sunday morning at Del Mar. "He worked great, nice and easy, nice and comfortable," Ellis said. "He has at least three more works before the Pacific Classic. He'll work six furlongs next, probably Saturday or Sunday."

* Fabulous Strike proved he'll be a formidable foe for Zensational if he comes to the Breeders' Cup, winning the $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga on Sunday. Ridden by Ramon Dominguez, the 6-year-old Smart Strike gelding won by a length and ran the six furlongs in 1:08.69 on dirt. Zensational ran six furlongs over Del Mar's Polytrack in 1:08.57 while winning Saturday's Bing Crosby Stakes.

We might have seen two future Breeders' Cup winners in action Saturday during the Arlington Million at Arlington Park and the Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar.

Except for Rachel Alexandra, is there a sharper race horse in America than Gio Ponti? A 1 1/4-length winner of the 27th running of the Million, Gio Ponti has turned into a monster, winning four consecutive Grade 1 turf races at three different venues.

Gio Ponti started his streak with a victory in the Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita in March, won the Manhattan Handicap and Man o' War at Belmont Park this summer and then capped the streak with his impressive win Saturday.

Any idea who might go postward as the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 7? He's already shown his fondness for the course, and anyone betting against him can do so at their own risk.

Meanwhile, Zensational continued to stamp himself as the top sprinter on the West Coast by zipping to a 2 1/2-length win in the Crosby, overcoming his own inexperience at the start to comfortably win his second consecutive Grade 1 sprint.

Trainer Bob Baffert is not sure what's next, but it might be the Pat O'Brien Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 6 as the soon to be Hall of Famer eyes his third consecutive Breeders' Cup Sprint win and fourth overall. He won the past two years with Midnight Lute and with Thirty Slews in 1992.

"I want to have him really right for the Breeders' Cup," Baffert said after Zensational scored his fourth victory in six lifetime starts.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's already displayed his love for synthetics, winning twice over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface, once on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track and Saturday on the Polytrack at Del Mar.

Remember, it was Baffert who turned in one of the all-time great training jobs last year when he won the Breeders' Cup Sprint for the second consecutive year with Midnight Lute off one prep race -- a dismal 10th-place finish in the Pat O'Brien two months earlier.

Yep, Gio Ponti and Zensational. Right now they look to have the right stuff for that big weekend in November.

Some leftover notes from the Del Mar meet while waiting for the start of the Bing Crosby Stakes:

* Trainer Eric Guillot was obviously quite pleased with Mi Sueno's resounding victory in Friday's Sorrento Stakes, setting the 2-year-old filly up for a start in the Grade 1 Darley Dubutante on Sept. 5. Mi Sueno beat runner-up Necessary Evil, the Hollywood Juvenile winner against the boys, by 6 1/2 lengths. "There's no reason for me to be scared if I get the same cast back and we're going farther, which is what my filly wants," Guillot said of the Debutante, which was won last year by Stardom Bound, who went on to win an Eclipse Award as top juvenile filly.

* Joel Rosario opened up some distance on runner-up Tyler Baze in the jockey race with a riding double Friday, but Baze won three of the first four races Saturday while Rosario was blanking, leaving the two tied atop the standings with 19 victories apiece. Victor Espinoza is running a strong third with 13 wins.

* Awesome Gem, a potential starter in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Sept. 6 who is trained by Craig Dollase, is scheduled to ship north for the Longacres Mile next Saturday at Emerald Downs in Auburn, Wash.

* Trainer Doug O'Neill, who'll try to upset the unbeaten Zenyatta with Champagne Eyes in Sunday's $300,000 Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes, summed up his chances this way: "We'll have a good chance if Zenyatta has a headache."

* Favorites got off to a terrible start at the meet, but they've rebounded since. Heading into Saturday's 10-race card, favorites had won 33 of 119 races (27.73 percent), including 25 of 92 on Polytrack (27.17 percent). Favorites normally win at about a 32-percent clip. Turf favorites were winning at a 29.63 percent rate (8 of 27) and odds-on favorites were 9 of 19 (47.3 percent).

As Chevy Chase was heard saying before he jumped into the pool with Christie Brinkley in "Vacation" -- "This is crazy, this is crazy."

Yes, it is a little bit crazy that nine fillies and mares have been entered to test the unbeaten Zenyatta in Sunday's $300,000 Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar -- the most rivals she'll have faced since her maiden victory at Hollywood Park on Nov. 22, 2007.

Well, second place is worth $60,000, which in any economy is hardly chicken feed. Heck, I'd have jumped into a pool with Phyllis Diller for that much money. Remember, us starving journalists are always looking to make a big splash.

On paper, you'd have to think that Zenyatta's stablemate, Life Is Sweet, is a good bet to take home that big consolation prize, if not the whole ball of wax if she likes Del Mar's synthetic Polytrack surface as much as she enjoyed Santa Anita's Pro-Ride. She won three graded stakes last winter in Arcadia, including the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap by 2 1/2 lengths. She comes in off a third-place finish against the boys in the Hollywood Gold Cup on July 11, so she's hardly here to play the role of the Washington Generals against the Globetrotters.

Then there's Lethal Heat, who you'd eliminate at first glance until you notice she's won two of three over Polytrack and found the winner's circle in her lone outing at Sunday's 1 1/16-mile distance. Hey, stranger things have happened. Just ask Bill Mott, who came here in the summer of 1996 with what everyone thought was an unbeatable Horse of the Year candidate -- Cigar -- and discovered everyone was just blowing smoke when they told him he couldn't lose.

Whatever, jockey Mike Smith is not afraid of all the competition. Hey, if I rode Zenyatta, I'd feel on top of the world, too.

"She breaks and falls back and just kind of takes her time, gets into stride, so the size of the field doesn't really matter a whole lot to her," the Hall of Fame rider said. "I mean, you always do worry whenever you're coming from off the pace about getting stuck or having to go too wide or whatever, but she just always seems to find a way so I just kind of leave it up to her."

Wise strategy, Mike.

Owner Jerry Moss, who's taken enough grief these past few weeks for not undertaking a more aggressive campaign with his starlet than he'd care to remember, embraces the large turnout if not all the negative remarks.

"I'm comfortable with a bigger field because then we know there'll be some sort of pace to the race and something that she can come after," Moss said. "I like a bigger field than a smaller one, to tell you the truth."

Well, here's the truth -- Zenyatta comes running with that huge stride of hers whether there's a swift pace or not. Doesn't seem to bother the girl when they dawdle up front in hopes of stealing a big payday and being the one to spoil an unblemished record.

All that does is seem to rile up a champion. And believe me, you don't wanna rile up Zenyatta, not when she's within reach of finishing her career with an unblemished record and still has a shot at Horse of the Year.

I mean, that would be just plain crazy.

Here's what six inches of rain in about an hour's time will do to a race track. A torrential rainstorm in the Louisville, Ky. area early Tuesday morning left huge portions of the dirt and turf courses at Churchill Downs under water, along with other areas of the track. About 30 to 35 horses had to be evaculated from two barns when water rose in the two structures. Luckily, no injuries to either humans or horses were reported:

Reader Alysse advised on 8/06 that the Woodward is at Saratoga.

Zenyatta's connections have taken a lot of heat both from the media and bloggers for keeping their unbeaten 5-year-old mare home in California for the most part and continuing to run her within her own division when she's already proved she's head and shoulders above the other fillies and mares in California.

Whereas Rachel Alexandra's camp has taken two huge leaps outside the lines by tackling boys in both the Preakness Stakes and Haskell Invitational, Zenyatta has not raced against males once in 11 lifetime races and has raced outside of California only one time in arguably her most powerful score -- last year's Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park when she easily beat reigning older female champion Ginger Punch on dirt.

But if you listened carefully to owner Jerry Moss on a teleconference earlier this week, you came away with the feeling that after Sunday's Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar when Zenyatta will be heavily favored to run her perfect record to 12-0, the 5-year-old daughter of Street Cry's camp is ready to shake it up a little bit.

"I think last year we went from the Clement Hirsch to the Lady's Secret," Moss said. "I'm not sure we'll do that this year. Again, it depends on her, but we'll talk about it. We have time for another race between (the Clement Hirsch and Breeders' Cup), and we'll just have to figure it out."

Perhaps the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sept. 6?

"At this stage of the game, everything is a possibility," Moss said. "But it really depends on how John (trainer John Shirreffs) is also feeling about that track down there. It's very troublesome because it's not the same track every year. So we're just hoping everything works out OK."

If Zenyatta runs well and appears to like Del Mar's Polytrack surface, I think there's a better than 50-50 chance she'll run in the Pacific Classic. If not, perhaps the Woodward at Saratoga on Sept. 5, a destination that could bring her face to face with Rachel Alexandra.

Although neither Moss nor Shirreffs is a big fan of the NYRA's holding barns, where horses must spend hours before their races, it is a possibility, however remote.

"We don't think it's fair to a horse that's traveled 3,000 miles to have to move twice," Moss said. "That's really putting a lot of stress on a horse, and I know John feels very strongly about it and I do too. I just don't think it's fair."

Does that mean Zenyatta will not be racing in New York anytime soon?

"It's not a welcoming mat, if you know what I'm saying," Moss said.

Of course, if not the Pacific Classic or Woodward, how about the Goodwood Handicap against the males during the Oak Tree meet? It would be a perfect tune-up for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic. The only way Zenyatta can win Horse of the Year now is if she beats the boys at least once and defeats Rachel Alexandra head to head, or defeats the males twice without squaring off against the fabulous 3-year-old filly.

Whatever, I believe Zenyatta's folks realize they've got to get bold if they want Horse of the Year, which they do. They rightfully believe they should have won it last year, but this year they're behind and have a lot of catching up to do.

I think we're about to discover just how special Zenyatta is in these next couple of months. It's just a gut feeling, but stay tuned. This Horse of the Year chase could get a lot more interesting in the coming weeks.

Just when it appeared the plot for the Travers Stakes on Aug. 29 at Saratoga couldn't get any more delicious, along comes Quality Road to add more frosting to the cake. The race dubbed "The Mid-Summer Derby" could now include the three winners of this year's Triple Crown series -- Mine That Bird (Kentucky Derby), Rachel Alexandra (Preakness) and Summer Bird (Belmont) -- and Quality Road, the colt many thought was the best 3-year-old in the nation before he was sidelined with hoof problems.

Rachel Alexandra's connections have not announced yet when their brilliant filly will make her next start, but the Travers or the Woodward Stakes on Sept. 5 -- also at Saratoga -- would seem to make the most sense, and both offer much drama. A win in the Travers would make Rachel the first filly to sweep that prestigious stake and the Haskell. She'd be taking on older horses -- and males at that -- if she starts in the Woodward. No distaffer has ever won the Woodward.

Quality Road's victory in the Florida Derby on March 28 at Gulfstream Park, accomplished in track record time, prompted many observers to stamp him as the favorite for the Run for the Roses before he was sidelined. He returned to the races Monday the way he left them -- winning the $150,000 Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes at Saratoga by 2 1/4 lengths and running the 6 1/2 furlongs in a track record 1:13.53.

Making his first start for trainer Todd Pletcher after being transferred from the Jimmy Jerkens barn, Quality Road, a son of Elusive Quality who has won four of his five lifetime races, is expected to make his next start in the Travers.

"He didn't leave the gate very well," winning jockey John Velazquez said. "I had to put him in the race a little bit, and once I got him going and got him where I was happy with him, I didn't want to move too soon or wait too long."

Pletcher has no qualms about facing Rachel Alexandra again. He sent out Munnings for a third-place finish behind Rachel in the Haskell and knows a thing or two about beating the boys with fillies. He trained Rags to Riches, who beat Curlin in the 2007 Belmont Stakes.

"With a stable our size, wherever she runs, we're going to probably wind up facing her," Pletcher said. "We might as well do it with one of our best horses."

Sorry, Zenyatta fans. But if Horse of the Year voting was held today, the 5-year-old daughter of Street Cry would have to settle for a second consecutive Eclipse Award for top older female. After Rachel Alexandra's scintillating performance in Sunday's Haskell Invitational, she's put so much distance between herself and Zenyatta that it's going to be tough for the latter to catch her.

Now don't get me wrong, there are few bigger Zenyatta fans in the industry than myself. I thought she deserved Horse of the Year last season when she ran the table and Curlin lost twice but still took home the sport's biggest prize. It was a great example of the East Coast bias that still exists to this day. If Zenyatta had been stabled in New York in 2008 instead of Southern California, she'd have won Horse of the Year.

But it's a different story so far in 2009. Yes, there's still five months to go and a lot can happen between now and Dec. 31, but it's getting to the point that even a victory by Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita might not be enough to trump what Rachel Alexandra has accomplished so far this season.

I mean, let's compare what the two brilliant distaffers have done on the track in 2009:

RACHEL ALEXANDRA
* Seven victories in seven starts.
* A record 20 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks.
* A 19 1/4-length romp in the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park, breaking the great Ruffian's record for largest victory margin in the race and coming within a few ticks of Secretariat's track record by running the 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.33.
* A one-length victory in the Preakness Stakes, making her the first filly to win the second leg of the Triple Crown in 85 years.
* A six-length victory in the Haskell Invitational, enabling her to join Serena's Song (1995) as the only fillies to win the Haskell in its 42 runnings. Serena's Song, who also won the Jim Beam Stakes that year, was the last filly to beat the boys in two major stakes in one year before Rachel joined her Sunday.

And Rachel's not done yet. If she runs in the Travers Stakes and beats the boys again at Saratoga on Aug. 29, she'll become the first filly in history to sweep the Haskell and Travers. It will take some research to find the last time a filly beat the males in three major stakes in one year.

ZENYATTA
* Won the Grade 2 Milady Handicap on May 23 at Hollywood Park in her first start of 2009, beating her stablemate Life Is Sweet without much of a sweat. The victory ran her lifetime record to 10-0.
* Came back to win the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap on June 27 at Hollywood Park while carrying a career-high 129 pounds -- third most ever in the race.

Let me set the record straight -- I'm a fan of both gals, but I'm also a neutral observer who doesn't look at this the same way an ardent Rachel Alexandra fan or a rabid Zenyatta booster would. I go by the facts, and when you factor in that Rachel Alexandra has won at six different race tracks this year and Zenyatta has won both of her races at Hollywood Park, well, that's another factor that doesn't play well in the latter's favor.

Zenyatta will race next in Sunday's Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar, a race she won last summer. After turning in a strong five-furlong workout in one minute flat Sunday morning at Del Mar, she looks poised to continue her dominance of the West Coast's distaff division.

What will be next for Zenyatta? Perhaps the Pacific Classic against the males on Sept. 6, or maybe her connections will wait and race her against fillies and mares again in the Lady's Secret Stakes during the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita on Oct. 10. Then maybe a run against the males in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Rachel? Well, she could go next in the Travers if she comes out of the Haskell in good shape, or maybe her connections will decide to raise the bar even further and try to beat older males in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 5. The only certainty with Rachel is that she won't run in the Breeders' Cup because co-owner Jess Jackson does not like synthetic surfaces.

But please, don't give me any of that baloney that Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen are ducking Zenyatta. The only statement as absurd would be that the Zenyatta folks are ducking Rachel Alexandra. Neither scenario is even remotely close to the truth, and to suggest otherwise takes away from the greatness both of these equine heroines have displayed throughout their careers.

What the sport truly needs is a Rachel Alexandra-Zenyatta matchup. Doesn't matter where, when or how, but it needs to get done. Somewhere, somehow, these two great female race horses need to settle things on the track. Whether it's before or after the Breeders' Cup, it doesn't matter. It just needs to happen, and the horses' connections and industry officials need to make sure it does.

But if it doesn't, it looks from here like Rachel Alexandra has spurted so far in front in this Horse of the Year chase, even the great Zenyatta, who's run down everything in front of her thus far thanks to that giant stride of hers, might have too much work to do in the stretch to win this race.

On June 8, I asked readers to choose, up to that point, who they felt should be Horse of the Year. Rachel Alexandra received 42 of 79 votes, or 53 percent. Zenyatta was next with 19 votes (24 percent) and Einstein checked in third with nine votes (11 percent).

Interestingly, on May 19 I asked who would win if the two female stars raced against each other. Of the 65 who responded, 36 chose Zenyatta (55 percent) and 29 opted for Rachel Alexandra.

Time to try again:

In 2007, when Monmouth Park got its big chance to shine by hosting its first Breeders' Cup, a huge storm made the track a soupy mess and really ruined a weekend that is annually billed as the Super Bowl of horse racing.

Well, today, Monmouth officials were expecting a record crowd when the super filly Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to face six male rivals in the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational Handicap. But again, it's pouring rain and the track is officially listed as sloppy. Scratches have been the order of the day, but so far no horses have been declared from the Haskell.

Sometimes, Monmouth Park management must wonder what it did to deserve such terrible luck twice in three years.

I know a lot of handicappers I respect a great deal who think Rachel Alexandra is going to get beat today in the Haskell at Monmouth Park. Others say she's been beating up on ordinary fields. They claim she beat ordinary 3-year-old males in the Preakness and that her Mother Goose win was virtually a walkover because all she did was beat two overmatched fillies.

Well, a horse can only beat the others that show up to race. It's not so much who they beat, but how they do it. Yes, Rachel Alexandra didn't beat much in the Mother Goose, but then, how many other 3-year-old fillies you've seen race recently would have won by 19 1/4 lengths and come within a few ticks of Secretariat's track record for a mile and an eighth at Belmont Park?

The field she's facing today in the Haskell is a good one. But I wonder -- even if she wins the race, what will her skeptics bring up to try to knock down her victory, try to diminish it in any way they can? You know they will come up with something.

Is she as good as Ruffian? You can't say that -- yet. Buf if she beats the boys again for a second time today, she'll continue to etch her name in the record books and inch closer to a Horse of the Year title that is hers alone right now.

I'm anxious to watch the Haskell, to see what this brilliant daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has in store for us today. A filly who has already graced the pages of Vogue magazine, given her fans enough thrills to last a lifetime, takes center stage again -- this time in Oceanport, N.J., where they are expecting a record crowd to see her run.

Will she win? I like her chances, but even if she doesn't extend her win streak to eight consecutive, I'm sure she'll give us all something to talk about. She's a very special filly, one that won't have her true standing among the all-time great distaffers determined until her career is over.

So much for that blog on Wednesday morning, the one talking about how speed no longer was a bad five-letter word at Del Mar. Whereas playing speed horses the first two years of the track's new Polytrack synthetic surface would have led bettors to the poor house, the first week of the 2009 meet was kind to frontrunners. Sort of like the good old days when handicapping was an art rather than a guessing game.

Well, guess what? I'm not saying it's time to get out the darts, but so far this week, heading into today's 10-race card, speed is no longer a handicapper's friend, at least in sprint races. Yes, two horses went gate-to-wire to win mile races on Wednesday and Friday this week, but after frontrunners won eight of the first 25 sprint races ranging from 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 furlongs during the first five days of the meet, only one has gone gate-to-wire in the past 13 sprints -- Towser in Thursday's finale.

And, after 12 of the 25 sprint winners were no worse than second after the first quarter mile, Towser was the only winner who didn't come from third or farther back after the first two furlongs.

So what's up with the change? Did they do something to the track, add more water, after the rash of fatalities these first two weeks? I mean, last Sunday a horse player could bet frontrunning speed in Del Mar sprints with confidence. Now, heading into today's card, it's no longer so safe.

Watch Magic Yodeler in today's third race -- a maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs. Unless one of the first-time starters turns out to be a speed ball, Magic Yodeler should be in front and prove tough to catch. We'll see if this sudden change in the way the track is playing continues, or if it's just a three-day aberration.