Ghostzapper earned my Horse of the Year vote Saturday. He beat the best field of horses assembled this year and did so with some style. He was dominant and established a new stakes record.

But after a quick and unscientific polling among turf writing colleagues, my guess is that Smarty Jones will hold on for Horse of the Year in a tight race. Those who are not going to vote for Ghostzapper mainly have the same complaint, that he ran just four times this year. (Never mind that Native Dancer was Horse of the Year in 1954 when making just three starts)

Can a horse race just four times and be the Horse of the Year? Owner Frank Stronach and trainer Bobby Frankel can make that a moot point with what would be a gutsy and admirable move. Certainly, Ghostzapper doesn't need a rest after such a short campaign. Run him in the Nov. 27 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, where he'd be right at home in a one-turn mile and would face a worthy competitor in Pico Central. A win would give him a 5-for-5 record, three Grade I wins (one more than Smarty Jones) and end any argument that he didn't accomplish enough.

Horse of the Year is their's. Just go for it.

At least we'll have Ghostzapper around for one more year. Stronach said following the Classic win that the son of Awesome Again will be back in 2004. He'll be 5 years old and worth a ton as a stallion. What a refreshing change–an owner who actually wants to race instead of skipping off to the breeding shed.

Do you think if owner Kenneth Ramsey had to do it over again he still would have given the mount on Kitten's Joy in the Turf to John Velazquez instead of Jerry Bailey? Velazquez is a fine rider, but he's no Bailey. No one is. Velazquez rode an indecisive race, never sure whether to go inside or outside and seemed too intent on running down leader Star Over the Bay, who was never going to steal this race. With Bailey aboard, Kitten's Joy would have won.

Then again, and this is not to exonerate Velazquez, Kitten's Joy should have been placed first through disqualification. Better Talk Now banged around Kitten's Joy and Magistretti in a roughly run race. It was just a bad call, possibly from a trio of stewards who were afraid to take a horse down with $2 million on the line.

Though Pico Central has had a fabulous year, winning the Met Mile, Vosburgh and Carter, Speightstown absolutely wrapped up a championship when winning the Sprint. The Pico Central people had a chance to take him on and passed. Though they would have had to supplement the Brazilian-bred, those are the sort of things you have to do if you want to win a championship.

Azeri certaintly didn't embarrass herself when running fifth in the Classic. She finished ahead of some pretty tough horses in Birdstone, Dynever and Funny Cide. Nonetheless, it was a wasted effort. She earned just $120,000 and cost herself in the battle with Sightseek for the older filly championship.

Would she have won the Distaff? Who knows, but it's hard to believe that she couldn't have beaten Ashado, a very good 3-year-old filly, but no superstar. There's something to be said for going for the glory, but running her in the Classic was a mistake.

Edgar Prado is 0-for-41 in the Breeders' Cup. Ouch.

Well, it certainly looks like the Juvenile Jinx isn't going to fall come next May. This Wilko isn't exactly a bum and he probably moved up on the dirt, but this is the same horse who was 2-for-10 in England and had never won a group race. Add in the fact that the Juvenile Fillies went faster (by two-fifths of a second) and you can be pretty sure that Wilko is not the one to end the jinx.

With two English horses winning on the card, including Wilko, the Europeans need to get over this silly notion that they can't come unless the Breeders' Cup is run in a place where's it's going to be 40 degrees.

Is the business of buying horses at the sales an inexact science or what? Breeders' Cup Mile winner Singletary cost $3,200 at Keeneland in 2001.

How exactly does someone get to the Classic live in the Pick Six after nailing Better Talk Now ($57.80), Wilko ($56.80) and Singletary ($35) and then not come up with the favorite in Ghostzapper in the Classic. One very unlucky handicapper, had only Roses in May and Pleasantly Perfect on a ticket that was live going into the Classic.