With surprising good nature, he fielded the question, not just once or twice but a bunch of times. It will be no different tomorrow or the day after or day the day after that. It will not change, not until the moment Flute steps into the starting gate to begin what could either be a very good or very embarrassing Breeders' Cup afternoon for one Robert Frankel.

	Trainer Bobby Frankel is only $129,418 away from a record.

"Hey, Bobby, what's the deal with the 0-for-36?"

It's what everyone wants to know, how such a talented trainer could have compiled such a dreadful record in the Breeders' Cup? The stress, the constant scrutiny, the redundant questions, the past disappointments, it's enough to have anyone banging their heads against the wall and wondering why the Gods of racing have conspired against them. He needs to win a Breeders' Cup race, and he knows it. Is he worried, feeling the pressure, anxious? Absolutely not. "I'm really not uptight about it," he said. "It's been circumstances. There's nothing I can do about it. It's not like I'm the worst trainer in the world. I've won a few races in my lifetime. Maybe it's like John Elway. He kept falling short and then he won two Super Bowls in a row."

Frankel is maybe too calm. Shouldn't he be throwing water buckets, losing sleep at nights due to the pressure and cursing out meddling reporters all week? Wouldn't it be characteristic of a trainer who can be a bit prickly at times and has a temper? It's not going to happen. Things are just going too damn well. Frankel could go home winless Saturday afternoon, but it's obvious he doesn't think that's going to happen. He is holding a great hand, perhaps one with six aces.

Frankel, who is quite simply having one of the best years any trainer has ever had, will start six horses in six different Breeders' Cup races Saturday. They are Flute (Distaff); You (Juvenile Fillies); Squirtle Squirt (Sprint); Aptitude (Classic); Timboroa (Turf) and Starine (Filly & Mare Turf).

"They're all fresh horses, that's number one," he said. "None of them are overraced and they're very healthy. I've had three of the top five handicap horses in the country this year and they're all still around. I'm here at the right time with the right horses."

His best shot will be with You in the Juvenile Fillies. The daughter of You and I is coming off a powerful 6 1/4-length win in the Frizette and seems just too fast and talented for her rivals. Aptitude is another who figures to be very tough. An underachiever last year, he has finally put it together in his last three starts and was nothing short of sensational when winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup by 10 lengths. But the one that he really wants is the Distaff with Flute. Not only is she Frankel's favorite horse, but she will be his first starter of the afternoon and he figures her performance can set the stage for the others.

"I'd be happy to win one," he said. "That's the first one. If I win the first one I'm in good shape for the rest of the day. I think it will set the tone. I just think it's meant to be with Flute. We'll see what happens, but you've got to go in with confidence. She told me she's going to win it and I keep telling her, don't worry about it, you're going to win."

Of course, it could work the other way. Flute could run up the track and begin an 0-for-6 run for Frankel, which would surely be the most disappointing afternoon of his career.

"The truth of the matter is that I've only run one favorite (the 1993 Classic entry of Marquetry, Bertrando and Missionary Ridge)," he said. "I've had five seconds and some of those were with 15 or 20-1 shots. I haven't had a real strong hand. This is the strongest hand I've ever had. There hasn't been any jinx. If I don't win one this year, then you can say there's jinx."

Sure, it could happen again. Just don't count on it. Frankel isn't.

It's not that trainer Wilson Brown is intimidated by the Breeders' Cup or big, bad New York City. It's just that he's a little bit out of his element. After all, Belmont Park is a long way from Apache Downs.

Oklahoma trainer tries luck in Big Apple
Wilson, the personable trainer of Juvenile starter It'sallinthechase, began his career in the smallest of the small time. The 58-year-old native of Cement, Oklahoma raced his first horse at something called Apache Downs in Apache, Oklahoma. He got his start in the business with a quarter horse named Bar Money Speed, who he bought for $1,200 hoping to turn him into a roping horse for the local rodeo. But a friend suggested that he first race Bar Money Speed because, well, you never know. The horse went on to win 48 of 56 races at the bush tracks and Wilson was hooked on the game.

"I've got to be the first boy from Apache Downs to run one in the Breeders' Cup," he said. "It's fun place, Apache. They run every kind of horse there. There's no betting, just what the people bet between each other. After the race you collect, that is if you're tough enough."

Brown currently trains a strong of 20 horses at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, a veritable metropolis compared to Apache. But it's nothing like New York.

"I go to Remington every morning and probably see less than 10 cars on the way," he said. "Here, driving in from the hotel, it was six lanes and it was bumper to bumper. But we've had fun here. When we came in from the airport the guy drove down West Broadway. I saw all the people with the green hair and the funny outfits. What a ride the cab driver took us on. I didn't know whether to sit still or jump out of the cab."

It'sallinthechase earned his way here with a second-place finish in the Grade II Arlington-Washington Futurity. It was a decent effort, but Wilson knows it's going to take a lot more to beat the mighty Officer.

"Somebody asked me if I'd ever seen Officer run," he said. "The answer is no. I've seen him gallop, that's all he did in the Champagne. That colt hasn't pinned his ears yet."

Tiznow the same horse as last year?
Is Tiznow the same horse who won last year's Breeders' Cup Classic? He'll have a chance to prove that he is Saturday, but, in the meantime, there are a lot of doubters. Who can blame them?

While Tiznow's performances have not been awful since he came back from his back injury, they definitely have left something to be desired. He was third in the Woodward and third again in the Goodwood, neither time showing the kind of acceleration or determination he'll need to win the Classic. He runs like a horse who isn't giving 100 percent at all times.

"The Goodwood concerns me because he ran spottily," trainer Jay Robbins said. "It didn't look like he was going to run well and then he accelerated the last 50 yards and kept going after the wire. Maybe he's taking advantage of us and pushing our buttons. He knows what he wants to do and when he wants to do it?"

Robbins is just as concerned about Tiznow's antics in the morning. On Thursday at Santa Anita, he refused to work for about 30 minutes, failing to budge under Chris McCarron, who finally got him going. Robbins is hopeful that the mile and a quarter will make the difference. Tiznow is 3-for-4 at the distance.

"I was a little more confident last year," he said. "But I still have lots of confidence because I think a mile and a quarter suits him and in a larger field he'll have an advantage because of his tactical speed."