2 Horses, 2 Different Routes to a Rematch : Horse race: Tooter Scooter basked in Florida sun while Die Laughing worked out up north.

Tooter Scooter and Die Laughing have taken different paths to their rematch Friday in the Breeders Crown.

When the two colts last met, Tooter Scooter tailed Die Laughing from start to finish in a stakes pace at the Red Mile in Lexington, Ky.

While Tooter Scooter has been basking in the warmth of South Florida since that loss in October, Die Laughing has been put through a rigorous prep program in the cooler North. The different schedules could weigh in Tooter Scooter’s favor, Joe Holloway, the colt’s trainer, said.

“My horse has been down here lying on the beach and sending out post cards,” Holloway said. “Die Laughing has been up North running in four or five tough races.”

Nonetheless, Die Laughing has been made the 9-5 morning-line favorite to win the $605,870 Colt and Gelding Pace, one of four Breeders Crown races Friday night at Pompano Harness Track. The card for 2-year-olds is the last of 12 Breeders Crown events for 1990.

Artsplace, who has won 10 of 14 starts this year, was made the second choice at 5-2. Tooter Scooter is the track handicapper’s 6-1 third pick.

“I think the track handicapper is about right,” Holloway said.

Die Laughing, after all, has earned more than $1.1 million while winning eight of 11 starts this year. He won the Presidential at Maryland’s Rosecroft in early November and was second by half a length to Artsplace in the Nov. 17 Governors Cup at New Jersey’s Garden State Park.

By comparison, Tooter Scooter has earned just $388,000 while winning six of 16 starts. But he has finished no worse than second in any of his last eight starts, including a victory in the Kentucky Pace Derby at Louisville Downs in September.