By RACHEL BLOUNT, Minneapolis Star Tribune

With yet another horse on the brink of winning the Triple Crown, the connections of the last thoroughbred to do it -- the magnificent Affirmed, in 1978 -- reminisced about his memorable duel with Alydar. John Veitch, Alydar's trainer, suggested that the Crown that year was enhanced by the sportsmanship of the people involved.

In recent months, the horse racing industry has been fretting about the distaste for Polytrack among some horseplayers. The synthetic racing surface, designed to be easier on horses' legs, has turned out to be a handicapping puzzle that frustrates and annoys some of the folks betting at the mutuel windows.