One man’s view of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup:

FAVORITES -- Countess Diana, Vivid Angel. Countess Diana is the "now" horse nationally, even though her lone setback came at the hands of Love Lock, who was beaten twice by Vivid Angel. Despite winning the Alcibiades, Countess Diana was so tired she hit the fence at the quarter pole and is unlikely to get an easy lead in a race that will not be lacking for pace. It presents elements for a closer, such as Diamond on the Run or Carrielle. The rest of the field: Balisian Beauty, Bay Harbor, Beautiful Pleasure, Career Collection, Kirby’s Song, Lily O’Gold, Marie J, Nancy’s Glitter and Primaly. Silver Maiden, a $120,000 supplement and unbeaten in five starts, was a late scratch due to an infection. Picks: Diamond on the Run, Love Lock, Vivid Angel.

FAVORITES -- Tale of the Cat, Richter Scale. Both 3-year-olds have been working holes in the wind and have won at distances up to a mile, so tracking a pace against older rivals should be no problem. Northern Afleet, who has drawn the unfavorable No. 1 or 2 posts sprinting in six of his last seven starts (he drew the extreme outside post the only time he went a distance in those seven starts), will be closing. Stretch threat Elmhurst and pace factor Track Gal are horses for courses. Exotic Wood, winner of nine of 12 starts and two of three at Hollywood, must draw into the race, and her connections are puzzled and unhappy that she didn’t make the first 14. The rest of the field: Carmine Lake, Confide, Crafty Friend, Hesabull, Kelly Kip, Men’s Exclusive (supplement, $200,000), Pas de Reponse, Royal Applause and Trafalgar. Picks: Crafty Friend, Elmhurst, Pas de Reponse.

FAVORITES -- Hidden Lake, Sharp Cat, Twice the Vice. Hidden Lake was better than an empty stall before going to New York where she’s become a tigress under the care of John Kimmel, who has directed her to four straight stakes wins, the last three Grade I’s. Sharp Cat, matured and primed for this race, is 2-for-3 at Hollywood and is the speed of the speed. The rest of the field: Ajina, Clear Mandate, Dance Design (first preference for Turf), Escena, Jewel Princess, Minister’s Melody and Radu Cool. Sharp Cat and Jewel Princess will run as an entry, as will Ajina and Escina. Picks: Sharp Cat, Hidden Lake, Twice the Vice.

FAVORITES -- Geri, Magellan, Spinning World, El Angelo. Wide open event will offer excellent value. The rest of the field: Anet, Decorated Hero, Fantastic Fellow, Helmsman, Honor Glide, Lucky Coin (supplement, $120,000), Pinfloron, Soviet Line, Taiki Blizzard and Wild Event. Picks: Helmsman, Magellan, Geri.

FAVORITES -- Favorite Trick, Souvenir Copy, Grand Slam. The most appealing race on the card. Bob Baffert’s Souvenir Copy and outsider Johnbill are certain to draw heavy action thanks to bias from California bettors. That should make undefeated Favorite Trick, odds-on in his last four starts, somewhat of an overlay. Despite detractors saying Favorite Trick is not bred to route, has beaten only sprinters and won’t handle a California surface, trainer Pat Byrne has the utmost confidence in the son of Phone Trick. The rest of the field: Black Cash, Dawson’s Legacy, Double Honor, Nationalore and Time Limit. Picks: Favorite Trick, Souvenir Copy, Johnbill.

TURF

FAVORITE -- Singspiel. World-class performer has nine wins and eight seconds in 20 starts, with earnings near $6 million. A single. The rest of the field: Awad, Big Sky Chester, Borgia, Buck’s Boy, Chief Bearhart, Dance Design, Down the Aisle, Flag Down, Majorien, Ops Smile, Rajpoute and Val’s Prince. Desert King will miss the race due to a fever. Picks: Singspiel, Flag Down, Awad.

CLASSIC

FAVORITES -- Skip Away, Touch Gold. Marquee battle with Horse of the Year implications has ample pace, even with the late defection of Formal Gold, who Thursday morning suffered a condylar fracture of his right hind leg. Behrens, Deputy Commander, Dowty and Skip Away (supplement at $480,000, of which $400,000 will be added to the $4 million purse, and at $4.4 million, makes the Classic the world’s richest race) and Whiskey Wisdom still offer enough speed to set things up perfectly for Touch Gold, who should return to his Belmont and Haskell form after Meadowlands debacle. The rest of the field: Big Sky Chester (first preference is for the Turf), Down the Aisle, Honor Glide (first preference for the Mile), Savinio and Taiki Blizzard (first preference for the Mile). With Skip Away’s supplement, the Classic winner will earn $2,288,000. Picks: Touch Gold, Deputy Commander, Skip Away.

Pat Byrne isn’t buying the spin that critics are putting on his unbeaten colt, Favorite Trick, and his chances of winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Hollywood Park on Saturday.

Not bred for a distance, beat only sprinters, won’t handle the west coast racing surface, allege Favorite Trick’s knockers. Not so, says Byrne, a 41-year-old native of London who has been living in the United States since 1978 and is now an American citizen. He makes his home in Louisville.

"Favorite Trick showcased his talent in Kentucky and New York," says Byrne, a fifth-generation horseman who is participating in his first Breeders’ Cup with three likely favorites. "He’s beaten every horse that’s come his way. He’s a very good 2-year-old, 7-for-7, and that’s very impressive. Pat Day has never gotten to the bottom of him. He’s trained well since he’s come out west.

"This colt just looks for competition when he puts the other horses away. His ears prick up and he says, ‘OK, what’s next, Pat Day?’ He does everything very easy." And that includes Saturday’s five-furlong workout in :58 4/5, third-best of 51 drills at that distance.

"It was a straight-forward breeze, no big deal," said Byrne. "I think the horse is definitely sharper than he was for the Futurity at Belmont. I think he needs to be sharp for a quick-type scenario in the Juvenile. Based on what I see -- the way he is doing and acting -- he’s ready to peak on Nov. 8."

What about Souvenir Copy, considered the best in the west?

"I wouldn’t trade my colt for anybody," Byrne said with conviction. "And with only nine horses running, post position (the draw is Wednesday) doesn’t bother me. Inside, outside, sloppy track, dry track, this colt doesn’t care."

THE HOMESTRETCH: Neither party would address specifically the reason(s) for Kent Desormeaux’s completely unexpected dismissal of his agent, Brian Beach. The most popular speculation is that Beach would not reduce his fee from the standard 25 percent, nor provide the jockey with VIP treatment, such as rides to and from the airport. But the more logical theory is that Beach had initially hooked up with Desormeaux at less than 25 percent, and after resurrecting the three-time Eclipse Award-winning rider’s floundering career to the extent that Desormeaux won the Del Mar title and was in the thick of the battle for the Oak Tree championship, sought an increase, and the jockey balked. Why would Desormeaux seek to reduce his agent’s fee after he put him back on top? But that’s just a theory. Neither offered details. "It was strictly personal," Desormeaux said. "He’s a great agent and does a great job with horses, he definitely knows where every one is going (in a race in the condition book), and he handles the racing end of things very well. It was a situation between him and I, and I’ll leave it at that." Said Beach: "I appreciated the opportunity he gave me to come to Southern California and prove that I can handle the job here. These things happen in racing. It’s a tough game and when two people don’t see eye-to-eye, they can’t co-exist. That’s the way I see it." And will Bob Baffert continue to give Desormeaux a high percentage of mounts from his red-hot barn despite the change in agents? "An agent does not make a rider," Baffert said. Veteran agent Tony Matos now has Desormeaux’s book, while Beach still represents Brice Blanc . . . Legendary Bill Shoemaker, who rode more winners than any jockey in history with 8,833 before retiring on Feb. 3, 1990, to become a trainer, retired from that profession at the end of the Oak Tree meet on Monday. "I just decided I couldn’t devote as much time to the business as I would like," said Shoe, 66. "I’m not going anywhere. I plan to be around, but I’ll be out here from now on as a fan." Shoemaker, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a single-car accident on April 8, 1991, plans to turn over most of his 25 horses to assistant Paddy Gallagher . . . Byrne on Richter Scale and Countess Diana: "Both are training super. They’re doing great. I couldn’t be happier with them. This is a great racetrack. The horses just bounce off it. It’s not a slow track." And on his first Breeders’ Cup: "This is definitely the highlight of my career." Richter Scale worked five furlongs Saturday in a bullet :57 1/5 . . . Trainer David Hofmans, on Touch Gold’s chances of winning the Classic: "I’m sorry Gentlemen is out, because it hurts the race, but not having to run against him is pretty damn good. There’s a lot of speed in the race and it sets up for us the same way it did in the Belmont and the Haskell. I don’t know if we have a better chance to win than Alphabet Soup had against Cigar last year. I really liked Alphabet Soup. I don’t pay too much attention to the odds, but if you’re a handicapper, sure, you have to think Touch Gold has a better shot than Alphabet Soup. Personally, I don’t. I think they had the same chance. But Touch Gold is like Alphabet Soup in that if he’s close at the eighth pole, he won’t get beat." . . . Richard Mandella won two Breeders’ Cup races in 1993, but will come up empty this year with the late defection of the ailing Gentlemen, and Sprint hopeful Advancing Star missing the cut. "It is a disappointment, because I had such a strong year," the trainer said. "But going into the year, I knew I had South American horses (like Gentlemen, Siphon and Sandpit) that weren’t eligible. It surprised me that I had any owners who were interested in putting up $800,000 to supplement Gentlemen. So that was a late surprise to begin with. But when Gentlemen got so close and everything was going so well, and he got sick, that was one of the greater disappointments of my career." . . . Wayne Lukas, who had eight pre-entries this year, has the following Breeders’ Cup records: most wins, 13; most money earned, $12,456,000, and most starters, 104 . . . Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time scoring leader, is back in the thoroughbred business, having purchased 25 percent of the Wally Dollase-trained Titus Livius. Gretzky, 36, a member of the New York Rangers, once owned several horses with former Kings’ owner Bruce McNall. Dollase hopes to run Titus Livius in the Dec. 14 Sprinters, a $1.4 million race at six furlongs in Tokyo . . . Desormeaux on Larry The Legend’s first victory since the 1995 Santa Anita Derby, in last Wednesday’s Skywalker: "He’s just a gutsy little performer. It’s hard to get a line on him because he’s so smart, he won’t do much more than he needs to . . . He’s got a place right here in my heart, and it’s a great feeling of accomplishment to get him home for (owner/trainer) Craig (Lewis) and to have Larry back in the winners’ circle. He’s got such a great fan base. He’s the kind of horse people love to follow. He was purchased for $2,500, so it shows dreams do come true in racing and Larry The Legend is one of them."