HORSE RACING: WIN, PLACE, SHOW AND EVEN WEIRDNESS IN 2005.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI Horse Racing 

Have a seat next to me here on the finish line as 2005 sprints to the wire. It's time to take a last look at horse racing's best, worst and weirdest stories of the year.

--Hollywood Park is sold by Churchill Downs Inc. to a Northern California company that plans to close it by 2008 unless the state gives economic relief to the racing industry.

With state help a long shot, it's time to start wondering if they'll still call it the Hollywood Gold Cup when it's held at Los Alamitos.

--Saint Liam wins the Breeders' Cup Classic to complete a year in which he won Grade I stakes in the winter, spring, summer and fall.

Fans should have been more excited about a 5-year-old who'll join Affirmed and Cigar as the only Horses of the Year in the past 27 years to stretch their dominance from winter to fall like that.

--Giacomo leads a stronger Southern California showing in the Kentucky Derby.

If it was stronger than expected, East Coast bias is not to blame. None of us West Coasters gave the locals a chance, either.

--Patrick Valenzuela's umpteenth suspension is overturned on grounds he didn't violate ''hair follicle'' drug-testing agreement by shaving his entire body.

Seems that anyone with a good lawyer, or an uncle who watched an episode of ``L.A. Law,'' can outwit the California Horse Racing Board.

--Garrett Gomez caps a comeback from drug problems with popular victories aboard Borrego in the Pacific Classic and Stevie Wonderboy and Artie Schiller at the Breeders' Cup.

Fans will always get behind someone who is honest about his problems and pays the price.

--Hall of Fame jockeys Gary Stevens and Pat Day announce their retirements, and Jerry Bailey continues to consider quitting.

Ask your non-racing friends to name the nation's top three jockeys right now. Or just ask them to name three jockeys.

--A Kentucky owner is turned down by the Jockey Club when he tries to name a filly ''Sally Hemmings'' after the slave reputed to have been Thomas Jefferson's mistress. Officials rule the name offensive to people of African descent, but the owner argues that naming a horse after someone is ``an honor - I have a horse here named after my wife.''

What's the horse's name, ``Poor Woman''?

--Russell Baze rides winner No. 8,834, passing Bill Shoemaker for second all-time behind Laffit Pincay (9,530), although most of Baze's wins came on the lesser Bay Area racing circuit.

It becomes a reminder of Pincay's class. He takes nothing away from Baze, saying he'll probably get the record and it will be deserved ``no matter where you get it.''

--A handful of big-name trainers are nailed for fueling horses with so-called ``milkshakes'' on the Southern California circuit early in the year, then none in recent months.

So that's the end of that problem. No more cheating at the track. Right?

--Owner Martin Wygod says Sweet Catomine had physical problems and was 50-50 to be scratched from the Santa Anita Derby, but he doesn't say this until after she runs fifth as the favorite.

And so racing's basic problem is magnified - it's considered an insider's game by the man on the street.

--A Sacramento-area car dealer named Bob Bone leads horse owners in victories at all six Southern California meets in 2005, becoming the first owner to sweep the circuit.

He deserves to receive Eclipse Award votes just like the big-name owners who win Derbies and Breeders' Cup races.

--California stewards are under fire after a series of controversial rulings at the Southern California tracks.

Next year, let's have baseball umpires officiate the races, and racing stewards umpire the playoffs, and see if it makes a difference.

--The New York Racing Association's plan to sell tracks' artwork to raise money to avoid bankruptcy is stopped by state officials.

--George Steinbrenner-owned Bellamy Road finishes up the track as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby and loses in his only subsequent start.

Darn it, but George can't be defeated that easily. Bellamy Road should be one of the top 4-year-olds of 2006.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

OUT OF THE GATE

BY KEVIN MODESTI