Rowdy Angel, dam of Pine Bluff and Demons Begone and the second dam of Fusaichi Pegasus, died March 22 of natural causes. The mare was 25 and had been pensioned since 1995. She died at Dr. and Mrs. Gary Lavin's Longfield Farm in Goshen, Ky.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When Friends Lake scooted across the finish line to win the Grade 1 Florida Derby, he became the best homebred runner for Mary and Chester Broman. A chestnut son of A.P. Indy and Antespend bred at the Bromans' Chestertown Farm near Babylon, N.Y., Friends Lake is the second serious challenger (Read the Footnotes is the other) for the classics this year bred in New York.

Last weekend was a spectacular one for horses bred in the Empire State. Friends Lake became the first New York-bred to win a Grade 1 stakes this year in the $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, and stamped himself a legitimate contender on the Triple Crown trail. Closer to home, Well Fancied continued his winning ways in the Grade 3 Toboggan Handicap at Aqueduct.

A thriving Thoroughbred operation doesn't spring up overnight, but it sometimes seems that way at Joe and Kate Painter's Blue Spruce Farm in Kearneysville, W.Va.

Fifty broodmares and three stallions roam the pastures at the Painters' 130-acre establishment, where until two years ago there were no fences, or barns, or even blueprints.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales March sale of 2-year-olds in training last Tuesday and Wednesday was the third and final selected sale of the 2004 Florida 2-year-old sales season, and, like its predecessors at Calder Race Course last month, it was a record-smashing auction.

A colt from the first crop of Tiger Ridge sold for $650,000 on Wednesday at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-year-olds in training sale, topping the two-day sale of 245 juveniles.

The colt, named Notable Tiger, was purchased by John Ferguson, an agent for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. Notable Tiger was consigned by Dean DeRenzo and Randy Hartley, who purchased the colt last August at an OBS yearling sale for $21,000.

LAS VEGAS - The Kentucky Derby is six weeks from Saturday, and with the 3-year-old picture in total disarray, it looks like a Gato del Sol- or Charismatic-type year.

As usual, the four final 1 1/8-mile Derby preps - Santa Anita Derby, Arkansas Derby, Blue Grass, and Wood Memorial Stakes - will separate the contenders from the pretenders. But it has been shown that in a wide-open year, races such as the Lexington Stakes or Illinois Derby could also be a stepping-stone to Derby success.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's two-day March select 2-year-old auction got off to a strong start Tuesday, with sharp gains in gross and average and several horses that brought $300,000 or more.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bob and Beverly Lewis, who raced Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Charismatic, will sell a 10-percent interest in their 2004 juveniles to a specially selected group of new owners in an effort to recruit new investors for the sport.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - In a sales season in which record prices for 2-year-olds in training have been shattered at one sale after another, perhaps the result of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap will only fan the flames higher.

Why? Because the winner, Southern Image, brought the second-highest price two years ago at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March sale of 2-year-olds in training. And with the 2004 OBS March sale set for next week, Southern Image's second Grade 1 victory could not have come at a more opportune time.