LOST IN THE FOG TO BE A QUICK STUDY.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

ELMONT, N.Y. - A few ticks after 7 a.m. at Belmont Park, standing in a wind so frigid it made his Northern California mornings feel downright tropical, Greg Gilchrist stuffed his fists in his coat pockets and watched the dawn version of Lost in the Fog stomp through 1 1/2 miles of mud puddles.

This is the unbeatable Lost in the Fog? a visitor to the scene of Saturday's Breeders' Cup might have wondered.

``He's not the prettiest horse to watch when he's galloping,'' said Gilchrist, the horse's trainer, answering the unasked question. ``He's kind of a bucket of bolts, he's not exactly poetry in motion.

``When he's flat-out, then he's pretty to watch.''

Of all the men and women here to prepare thoroughbreds for the eight Breeders' Cup races, none deserves to speak with as much pride in his horse and himself as Gilchrist.

Not only is Lost in the Fog, in full racing stride, very pretty to watch, he's likely to be the most watched horse at this Breeders' Cup, the equine Olympics whose $14 million in guaranteed purses for eight races makes it the richest single-day sports event in North America.

Quite a feat for a horse from the Triple-A tracks of the Bay Area, for 3-year-old who skipped the Kentucky Derby and the rest of the Triple Crown, for a one-dimensional sprinter who never has tried a race longer than 7 furlongs.

For the first time in the Breeders' Cup's 22 years, the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint - not the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic or any of the other high-priced races - has a chance to steal the show.

But Gilchrist, 57, owner Harry Aleo, 85, jockey Russell Baze and Lost in the Fog haven't stopped for long since the colt's career began last November at Golden Gate Fields in the East Bay, crisscrossing the country to run in stakes races at eight different tracks in pursuit of the unofficial title of Fastest Horse in the Land.

Determined not to race Lost in the Fog beyond his natural sprint distances, even passing up the lucrative and prestigious spring classics for 3-year-olds, Gilchrist and Aleo have been rewarded with 10 victories in 10 starts by an average of 6 1/2 lengths.

Some handicappers have belittled Lost in the Fog's schedule as lightweight, noting that Saturday's race will pit him against top-class older horses for the first time. They've brushed off the burgeoning campaign to elect Lost in the Fog as Horse of the Year, an award never given to a pure sprinter before.

Gilchrist shrugs.

``It just seems to me that a lot of (trainers) are more interested in finding out what a horse can't do than being happy with what he can do.''

Lost in the Fog's popularity depends in part on his people's stories. Gilchrist is a one-time hell-raising kid who served in Vietnam before a racetrack career in which he has won respect but few big races. (Gilchrist had one previous Breeders' Cup starter, Soviet Problem finishing second in a photo finish in the 1994 Sprint.) Aleo is a one-time Brooklyn Dodgers pitching prospect who fought in the Battle of the Bulge before making his money in real estate and insurance. (This will be Aleo's first Breeders' Cup.)

Even the white-blazed horse has a nice back story - he got his name after his Florida breeder on a foggy morning when he wandered away from the rest of a pack of colts in a paddock.

But mostly this is about a horse, and horse handlers, who have made all the right moves.

``I think he's a special horse who's managed very, very well,'' said D. Wayne Lukas, who has trained three Horses of the Year and thinks Lost in the Fog deserves consideration for the championship. ``I don't know if Wayne Lukas, (Bob) Baffert or any of us could have resisted the temptation (to run in longer races as Gilchrist has).''

``He's run at some small tracks, and that leads to some skepticism,'' said Gary Mandella, trainer of Sprint rival Taste of Paradise, referring to Lost in the Fog's victories at Golden Gate, Bay Meadows in San Mateo, and Turf Paradise in Phoenix. ``We're talking about potential, rather than what he's proved already. He's never faced the best older horses, so he's got that to prove. But that's all he's got to prove.

``(Gilchrist) has avoided a lot of temptation, stuck to his guns and said, 'Let's just let him be fast.' That's so admirable.''

The process has been pretty to watch.

So is the product that goes on display to the world on Saturday.

Just don't blink.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Lost in the Fog works out at Belmont Park. The fast horse is an entrant to watch in the Breeders' Cup Sprint race on Saturday.

Ed Betz/Associated Press

Box:

BREEDERS' CUP ODDS