Trevor Denman and Kurt Hoover know how Elvis felt when he made his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

For the last several weeks, Denman and Hoover have appeared on camera only from the waist up.

Difference is, Trevor and Kurt haven�t been doin� a whole lot o� shakin� from the waist down. And for sure, they ain�t lettin� no one step on their blue suede shoes.

Denman, the voice of Santa Anita, Del Mar and Fairplex Park, and Hoover, host of Santa Anita and Hollywood Park�s television venues, both suffered serious foot injuries, but have managed to carry on like troupers.

Call this "Their Left Feet."

"I�ve been on crutches since the last four weeks of Del Mar," said Denman, the world�s greatest race commentator. "I was out one night shooting pool, went to move around the corner of the table and my ankle slipped underneath me. I suffered a badly sprained left ankle and it was the worst tear of a tendon you can suffer. The doctors called it a ripped vein, I believe. It wasn�t healing properly and it certainly wasn�t healing quickly enough.

"Del Mar was a nightmare, and Pomona was just a hassle getting up and down the stairs. Other than that, I was all right. It�s 95 percent better now. I just can�t walk properly yet, and it�s been six weeks."

If Denman�s debilitation came about in bizarre fashion, Hoover�s was right out of Stephen King novel. Call it "Wet Cemetary."

"I was on a Caribbean cruise with my girl friend," related Hoover, who was 35 on Sunday. "Our first stop was the island of Haiti. We went out on a little man-made jetty to take some pictures of the ocean and the beach.

"We were walking back from the jetty when a wave literally came out of nowhere, hit us and knocked us over. It kind of destroyed us. I turned around and tried to grab her arm, and I had it for a second, but the force of the water made it slip from my grasp. She went backwards and hit her head against the rock, and I was thrown into the rock. It just tore up my body and I was pretty well wrecked. My (left) foot and ankle looked real bad, so we were taken to the ship for X-rays. There were no broken bones, just severe sprains.

"But they didn�t X-ray my knee, and it didn�t look right when we returned to the states, so I had it X-rayed then. Turned out I had a fractured knee cap, which I hadn�t realized the last five days on the cruise. That was my worst injury, although I sprained my ankle pretty severely and had stitches in my knee and my hand, and a cracked rib, too. My foot had a very bad gash, but the skin was too thin to stitch it. That still looks pretty nasty, sort of like the stitches on Frankenstein�s face."

Since their experiences, both Denman and Hoover have affirmed that a perfect race call, an ideal pre-race commentary, or nailing a hefty Pick Three no longer are priorities.

"Something like this puts life in perspective," said Hoover, who has been on crutches for a month and still has two weeks to go.

"It makes you realize all the things you take for granted. In fact, I told my girl friend, �If you ever hear me complain about something trivial or insignificant, you can remind me of this. I know I�ll appreciate life a lot more now."

ALLEN�S OOP -- Made up gobs of ground after losing several lengths from No. 1 post at start, rallied determinedly for third. Better post, start should make difference.

AVAILABILITY -- Closed huge gap in green debut at 19-1. Shouldn�t tarry among maidens, especially beyond six furlongs.

PLENISH -- Mike Mitchell dropper won with much in reserve, should handle slight rise in class from $16,000 sprint level.

RIVER SHANNON -- Growthy gelding was green as grass in debut, but made up much ground despite losing by 19 lengths. Should fancy stretch out.

SAPONARIA -- Irish-bred filly made bold move while wide in U.S. debut when finishing fourth. Should find turf foes she can handle soon.

THE HOMESTRETCH: Ron Anderson, agent for Gary Stevens and soon-to-be-returning Chris Antley, has Gary committed to several horses for the Breeders� Cup at Hollywood Park on Nov. 8. "Gentlemen is obvious (for the Classic)," Anderson said, and Marlin runs Sunday in the Oak Tree Turf Championship. He�s likely to come back in the Turf. We have a few options in the Sprint and the filly races. We�ll ride Anet in the Mile, and the rest of them, I�m not sure yet." On Stevens� chances of winning his first Eclipse Award: "Gary and I haven�t talked much about it. There�s not a whole lot we can do about the voting. We�ve won the right races with the Derby, the Preakness and the Arlington Million. I would say it depends on what happens between now and the Breeders� Cup. Somebody who has a really big Breeders� Cup day could possibly overshadow us." . . . The BC Classic remained go for Gentlemen. "We�ve rescoped him and he�s galloping," said trainer Richard Mandella. "But if it (throat ulcer on his epiglottis) ever goes the wrong way, then we stop." . . . Bob Baffert, squelching talk that Silver Charm will make his comeback before the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes: "I don�t know where these deals get started. Somebody said something about the Clark (at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28). That�s all bullbleep. He will not run before the Malibu." Baffert�s horses fit their races so well, it looks like he wrote the conditions for each race he enters. "It took me a while," says Baffert, "but I�ve finally gotten to the point where I have owners who let me call the shots like the horses are my own. When you have people like that behind you, it makes your job easier. I am spoiled rotten." Baffert won with six of his first 11 Oak Tree starters . . . David Hofmans scrapped plans to run Touch Gold in Saturday�s Goodwood and will go right to the Breeders� Cup Classic. "It�s not his (troubled left) foot," said the trainer. "He had a horrible trip (to the Meadowlands, where he was fourth and last, beaten 16 lengths). "The track was like cement and it really killed his foot. The horse is OK. We just need to freshen him up a bit." . . . Co-owner John Toffan, explaining Free House�s last-place finish in the Super Derby: "He displaced his palate and he bled a little bit. When you flip your palate, you can�t breathe, and when you can�t breathe, you can�t run. It was unfortunate, but other than that, he came out great. His legs are ice cold." Whatever, Free House will not compete in the Oct. 25 California Cup, instead being turned out for a few weeks at Toffan and Trudy McCaffery�s Bradbury ranch . . . Mud Route, considered California�s prime Triple Crown candidate before sidelined with a shin injury in March, is close to a race, trainer Ron McAnally says. "He�s had two three-quarter (mile) works now and he�s coming along pretty good. We�ll start looking for a race for him pretty soon." Mud Route went six furlongs in 1:13 1/5 in his latest drill . . . Two reasons for the success of trainer Barry Abrams� barn are recent add-ons Ed Garcia, formerly with Pancho Martin, and seventy-something Bob Sinne (pronounced Seen), a winner of more than 1,200 races as a trainer on the California circuit. Abrams� super claim, Famous Digger, didn�t run in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes due to a minor infection . . . Oak Tree general manager Cliff Goodrich says the switch of a stein giveaway from opening day to the first Saturday is likely to become permanent, what with Saturday�s on-track crowd of 35,998 the largest since Oak Tree hosted the Breeders� Cup in 1993. "It was positive," said Goodrich. "We made a good move and we picked up attendance because of the difference. We were ahead on handle, too, because on opening day, we handled as much as we did last year, with half as many people on-track. Saturday we were up 10 to 15 percent." . . . Pro clocker Gary Young, on who will be Horse of the Year: "With Gentlemen and Touch Gold laying eggs, the winner of the Breeders� Cup Classic will decide Horse of the Year.".