As the season wraps up for the year at Arlington, all the talk is about the 2008 schedule. The Chicago track will race a 97-day schedule from May 2 through September 21. Three Grade 1 races are run: the Arlington Million, the Beverly D. Stakes and the Secretariat Stakes. The two Grade 2 races are the American Derby and the Washington Park Handicap.

The Park runs 10 Grade 3 races which include:

• Arlington Classic Stakes
• Arlington Handicap
• Arlington Matron Handicap
• Arlington-Washington Breeders’ Cup Futurity
• Arlington-Washington Breeders’ Cup Lassie Stakes
• Chicago Breeders’ Cup Handicap
• Hanshin Cup Handicap
• Modesty Handicap
• Pucker Up Stakes
• Stars and Stripes Breeders’ Cup Turf Handicap

Those races are run on either the one and one-eighth mile synthetic oval, or the one mile turf oval. The Park has seating for 50,000 and stabling for over 2,000 horses.

Summer has already been left in the dust; horse players, like the rest of the country, are dreaming of California. That’s where the best autumn and winter racing can be found, specifically at Santa Anita Park.

We’ll get a taste of Santa Anita on Sept. 29 when the Goodwood Handicap makes the leap from Grade II to Grade I status as part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge. With the Lady’s Secret Handicap getting the same upgrade on Oct. 7, there are now 15 Grade I stakes races on the Santa Anita schedule.

The Goodwood will get extra attention this year, not just because the winner will qualify for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but also because the main one-mile dirt track at Magna-owned Santa Anita has just been replaced with a “Cushion Track.” The Goodwood will be the first Grade I race on the new $10-million course, fulfilling the state racing board’s mandated conversion to synthetic surfaces.

Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course is one of the most famous tracks in North America. So where’s the love?

The venerable track, currently owned by Magna, is not hosting any of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge races. In fact, with the decision not to run the Pimlico Special this year, there was only one Grade I stakes race on the 2007 calendar: the Preakness.

That’s still more than most tracks could ever hope for. The second leg of the Triple Crown brings millions of dollars to Pimlico, which otherwise isn’t nearly the same tourist destination as other racing communities. The facility itself can barely contain the giant crowds that show up for the weeklong Preakness festivities.

Pimlico sports a mile-long dirt track and a seven-furlong turf course. It first opened in 1870; that year’s Dinner Party Stakes (now the Dixie Stakes) was won by Preakness – therefore the Preakness Stakes, which first ran three years later.

The host venue for next month’s Breeders’ Cup isn’t as widely recognized as Belmont Park or Churchill Downs. But Monmouth Park should be well worth the price of admission.

Nestled in the tony community of Oceanport, New Jersey, Monmouth Park is a prime “getaway” for New York racing fans. The park was plunked down near the Jersey shore in 1870, but sat dormant from 1894 to 1946 due to the criminalization of pari-mutuel betting. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority bought the park in 1986.

The main track is a mile-long dirt oval, with a seven-furlong turf course and the requisite chutes to allow for longer (or shorter) races. Its feature attraction is the 1 1/2-mile Haskell Invitational Handicap; this year’s race was held on Aug. 5 with a $1-millon purse. Any Given Saturday scored a huge upset over Curlin and Hard Spun to put himself firmly in the mix for next month’s Classic.

Before next month’s Breeders’ Cup, there’s a key date for horse players at Belmont Park: Sept. 30. The venerable Long Island “Championship Track” will host four Grade I stakes races, headlined by the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup. This year, those races have added importance thanks to their inclusion in the Breeders’ Cup Challenge.

The 1 1/2-mile dirt track, which first opened in 1905, is most famous for the Belmont Stakes. The New York Racing Association has promoted the final leg of the Triple Crown heavily over the past decade, turning the June race into a “Festival” with the requisite parades and food fairs.

Big Sandy, as the track is called, also hosts the prestigious New York Handicap Triple in May. The feature event of the three is the Metropolitan Handicap, also known as the Met Mile. This year’s winner was Corinthian, who picked up a cool $450,000 and upset Lawyer Ron in the process.

Remember when all three Triple Crown races were a mile-and-a-half? Impressive memory – that was well over a century ago.

Shorter and shorter races are nothing new to horse racing, so don’t be alarmed that we’ve been graced with two “Mile” events at the Breeders’ Cup. The original Mile is now called the “Turf Mile,” in order to distinguish it from the “Dirt Mile.” The latter is one of the three new races being held at Monmouth Park next month as the Cup festivities extend to two days.

The Turf Mile remains the marquee event of the pair, with $2 million awarded to the victor. Although we associate turf with European racing, some of the best American-bred sprinters have taken first place at the Mile, both male (like two-time champion Lure) and female (like Miesque, another repeat winner). Crossing the Line has already qualified for this year’s race by winning last month’s Del Mar Mile.

There are 11 races on tap at next month’s Breeders’ Cup. The Classic is easily the main event, but there will be plenty of talent on the undercard.

The Distaff, for example, will see the world’s best fillies and mares, ages 3 and up, racing over 1 1/8 miles with a cool $2 million going to the victor. Ginger Punch has already qualified after winning the Go For Wand Handicap as part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge; the next qualifier will be named after the Beldame Stakes on Sept. 30 at Belmont.

Past winners of the Distaff include Dance Smartly, who completed the Canadian Triple Crown in 1991, and two females who would go on to take the prestigious Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year: Lady’s Secret (1986) and Azeri (2002). Belmont Stakes champion Rags to Riches could be the next; trainer Todd Pletcher has her pointed at the Distaff for now instead of the Classic.

When you think of horse racing and turf, your mind probably wanders across the pond to Europe, or perhaps even Australia. But next month, the world’s best 3-year-olds (and older) will be coming to us, specifically to Monmouth Park for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

This is the second-most important event during the weekend, behind only the Classic, and it carries the second-largest purse at $3 million. European horses are generally favored; for example, 2006 Turf winner Red Rocks is based in Ireland, and was ridden by Italian-English jockey Frankie Dettori. He also rode Daylami (1999) and Fantastic Light (2001) to victory to become the only three-time winner at the Turf.

Thanks to the new Breeders’ Cup Challenge, two horses have already qualified for next month’s 1-1/2 mile race: Shamdinan, who won the Secretariat Stakes, and Jambalaya, who took the prestigious Arlington Million at 8-1 to become that race’s first Canadian-bred winner.

Horse players across the globe are waiting eagerly for next month’s Breeders’ Cup, and its centerpiece “Classic” race. It’s the most important thoroughbred event on the calendar – yes, even bigger than the Kentucky Derby, although not as mainstream.

The Cup is considered the year-end championships for North American horse racing, and the Classic features the best of the best 3-year-olds (and older) in the sport. Whoever takes this year’s event will likely be named U.S. Horse of the Year by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. The past three Classic winners all received that distinction: Invasor, Saint Liam and Ghostzapper.

The 2007 Classic champion will also earn $5 million; even better, there’s a lucrative future on the horizon as a top stallion. 1992 Classic winner and Horse of the Year A.P. Indy earns a cool $300,000 per breeding. He’s sired 512 foals as of press time, including 24 graded stakes winners. It’s a living.

One of the new wrinkles for this year’s Breeders’ Cup weekend is the revamped selection process – the Breeders’ Cup Challenge.

Six of the sport’s top venues are playing host to a series of 24 qualifying races across several divisions; Saratoga, Arlington Park and Del Mar have already held their events. The winners of those races earned automatic entry into the Cup. For example, Lawyer Ron (Whitney Handicap) and Student Council (Pacific Classic) have already qualified for the Classic.

The remainder of the field will be filled out by a panel of select directors and secretaries. They’ll start with the top point-getters in U.S. graded stakes races before using their own discretion to complete the 14-horse field for each Cup event.

Three new races debut in 2007: Dirt Mile, Filly & Mare Sprint, and Juvenile Turf. These events will be held at Monmouth Park on Oct. 26, the first day of the two-day Breeders’ Cup.