RICHEST EVENT MAINTAINS LOW PROFILE.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

ELMONT, N.Y. - Did I really write that?

Even I couldn't quite believe it the other day when my fingers tapped out a side comment about the Breeders' Cup being an ``equine Olympics whose $14 million in guaranteed purses for eight races makes it the richest single-day sports event in North America.''

A horse racing event? Little old horse racing? Boasting the biggest prize money for one day's competition on the entire continent?

It's true. Only one piece of clarification is necessary. After some late entry fees are piled onto the guaranteed purses, the actual total pot up for grabs for today at Belmont Park for the owners, trainers and jockeys of the fastest thoroughbreds in the world is $15.695 million.

``Obviously, somebody's interested. That money's coming from somewhere,'' said Greg Gilchrist, trainer of Breeders' Cup Sprint favorite Lost in the Fog, referring to the general perception of the Breeders' Cup as an event without mass appeal.

Fifteen point six nine five million bucks, of which $4.68 million is to be spread among the winner ($2,676,960) and the rest of the top five finishers in the Breeders' Cup Classic. That's about $3.6 million per hour this afternoon, or $60,000 per minute.

Fifteen point six nine five million rocks. That's more than any American car race or football game. (Fights don't count, because the purses are assigned in advance, and things like golf and tennis tournaments wouldn't count because they're week- or fortnight-long events.)

Fifteen point six nine five million smackers. That's a year on the basketball court for Kobe Bryant or a night at Spearmint Rhino for the Minnesota Vikings.

In an era when everything in sports is judged by its dollar value, isn't it weird that top dollar belongs to an event that struggles to crack the front pages in Octobers (unlike this one) when the World Series stretches to six or seven games?

``Racing's kept it a pretty good secret,'' joked Richard Mandella, the trainer of Rock Hard Ten, who was one of the favorites for the Classic before a foot injury knocked the Santa Anita Handicap winner out of the race. ``The world doesn't know a lot about the Breeders' Cup. I'm not blaming anybody, I'm just saying the world's going on and forgetting we're alive here.''

Belmont Park officials expect at least 45,000 fans at the Long Island track today. Recent Triple Crown bids in the Belmont Stakes drew more than twice that.

The Breeders' Cup isn't part of the culture the way the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont are. The Breeders' Cup wasn't born until 1984, too late to associate with the likes of Secretariat, way too late for Seabiscuit and Citation.

``This is a day for the devoted horse-racing fan,'' said Cliff Goodrich, the former Santa Anita boss now at Arlington Park near Chicago. ``It just hasn't lured the general sports fan. For a horseplayer, this is heaven.''

Know this about the Breeders' Cup: To people inside the sport, it's the real highlight of the season, no matter that the man on the street doesn't understand why there are eight races and the average sportswriter wouldn't know where to put the apostrophe.

``The Triple Crown has held up. It's been repetitively drilled into people's minds,'' Mandella said. ``I've heard stories about soldiers stopping during World War II to hear who won the Derby. I don't think anybody in Iraq is wondering who'll win the Breeders' Cup Classic.''

Next year, the Breeders' Cup drops off network television, switching to ESPN after two decades on NBC. Another sign of its niche stature.

And yet, there's that 15 mil to explain. As Greg Gilchrist said, somebody's interested.

All that cash comes from the nomination fees that breeders and owners pay to get their horses eligible. It comes out of the gloriously sinful sums bet around the world on these races - $120 million on the 2004 Breeders' Cup at Lone Star Park near Dallas.

And it should be noted: $15 million really is only a slice of what's at stake today, when winners will make additional fortunes for the owners of their sires and dams, and jockeys and trainers will make careers.

Somebody's interested. A lot of people are interested big-time.

Maybe you should be, too.