Wednesday at the Breeders' Cup is when things start to liven up considerably.
At least, I hope it is. Tuesday was fun, with James Doyle charming all concerned with tales of early teenage popcorn parties watching Tiznow win the Classic, while Roger Varian made a fair case as to why blinkers first time might help his stable star Nahrain go one better than last year under Frankie Dettori in the Filly & Mare Turf.
However, it's always nice to speculate on what is to come rather than reporting what has gone.
So let's have a crack at predicting what will happen as the rest of the European posse begins to arrive at Santa Anita on Wednesday morning.
John Gosden will roll into town wearing his Indiana Jones leather bomber and Houston Texans baseball cap before telling us how Santa Anita is "like racing round the inside of a barrel" and of great days with Charlie "Bald Eagle" Whittingham.
Freddie Head will ooze gallic charm as he plots a possible sixth BC Mile winner with Moonlight Cloud, while Richard Hannon jnr will use the diplomacy lessons learned from last year's row about accessing the Churchill Downs track to outline how his entire family have always loved all things American.
The elusive pimpernel that is Aidan O'Brien may well keep the media waiting in vain again, while Frankie Dettori will be the one everyone wants to talk to both about a handful of strong rides and the fallout from his recent split with Godolphin.
But forgive me if I pass on Frankie briefly to focus on the belated arrival of my ante-post Classic fancy Mucho Macho Man.
Kathy Ritvo's giant colt has been unable to leave New York due to the calamitous effects of Hurricane Sandy but is due to fly west and arrive in California on Wednesday afternoon.
Part owner Dean Reeves said: "Kathy has been spending 20 out of 24 hours a day with him and all the information I'm receiving suggests he's doing fine.
"You have to pinch yourself now and then to know you're in a race like this with a chance - now we're just waiting on the horse to get here."
Dude - where's my easy lead?
Speaking of the Classic, it looks like the canny Californian handler Doug O'Neill is intent on making life as hard as possible for the freewheeling favourite Game On Dude.
O'Neill, who dominated racing headlines stateside for the first half of 2012 thanks to the exploits of his Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner I'll Have Another, has two runners with very different running styles in the Classic.
Veteran Richard's Kid is a habitual late closer who would benefit greatly from a fierce pace in the Classic.
And the fact that stablemate Handsome Mike blasted three furlongs in a rapid 34.4 as part of his final preparations dropped a broad hint that there is absolutely no chance of the Dude being able to abide with an unhurried time in front on Saturday night.
Europe can rule in the Filly And Mare
Time to get back on the tipping trail - and today I shall be mostly looking at the Filly & Mare Turf and the Juvenile Fillies' Turf.
The first point to make about the F&MT is that it's a terrifically deep race, but The Fugue and I'm A Dreamer top my short-list.
Granted, Nahrain and Ridasiyna also carry Euro confidence, but I'm not sure last year's runner-up Nahrain is quite good enough and fast turf poses a very different question to the one Ridasiyna answered when landing the Prix de l'Opera in the Longchamp mud.
By contrast, The Fugue's stalk and pounce style has long looked ideal for the demands of Californian racing.
I'll be very disappointed if she doesn't play a leading role here, but I'm A Dreamer is another filly capable of producing a telling turn of foot and the fact that the rampant Richard Hughes is aboard for the first time gives her clear saver potential at double figure odds.
Hughes clearly has another live chance aboard the Moyglare Stakes winner Sky Lantern in the Juvenile Fillies Turf, but several fair American judges were taken aback to hear that Spring Venture is trading at 6-1 with British bookies.
And when you take a look at the acceleration this filly showed to land Woodbine's Natalma Stakes I suspect you might well agree with them.
Sky Lantern deserves to be favourite, but Spring Venture is more than twice the price.
Trainer Mark Casse describes Spring Venture as "so mean she will take your head off." But she's also more than twice the price of Sky Lantern. And that makes her the value option.
Trailblazer works with a bullet - but Casino gamble was well off target
The international angle is crucial to the continued success of the BC and the presence of the high class Japanese raider Trailblazer in Saturday's Turf has rather crept under the radar.
Last year's Japan Cup fourth, who limbered up for his big day with a strong-finishing second behind the trailblazing Obviously over a mile here recently, was the fastest of 40 horses clocked working over five furlongs in the fog at Hollywood Park on Tuesday morning and has been quietly backed down to 7-1 in the last few days.
And his presence on BC Saturday evokes memories of fellow Japanese star Casino Drive, who made a fruitless trip to to Santa Anita for the Classic back in 2008.
The big chestnut created quite an impression in the mornings and so did his work rider by way of a spectacularly colourful monogrammed silk bomber jacket which outlined Casino Drive's many achievements in both Japanese and in English.
Sadly, whoever embroidered the flash garment had a nightmare when it came to the English version with the result that "World Dirt Champion" came out as "World Dart Champion."
Epic Fail, as I believe the kids tend to say.
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