The gathering of horseplayers on this day — 8,553 — a shadow of Wood-day crowds of old but the largest of the year at Aqueduct, is somewhat subdued in the face of a chilly wind off Jamaica Bay and a frigid outlook for racing in the weeks and months at hand. Eskendereya* is the overwhelming favorite to win the Wood but the conversation among bettors, owners, trainers and others whose livelihoods are derived from the proceeds of betting pools inevitably turns to the political morass that threatens to engulf racing in New York and with it American racing as we have come to know it.