LAS VEGAS - I always suspected that Lion Heart, a son of high-speed influence Tale of the Cat, was a miler and never a Kentucky Derby contender, but after last weekend's San Rafael Stakes, it is now official.
Away since his Hollywood Futurity score on Dec. 20, Lion Heart was rank and never rated down the backstretch, pushing the fast fractions of Hosco (by Honour and Glory) all the way. While game in defeat, he hardly looks like a colt who will be a factor beyond 1 1/8 miles.
Tabasco Cat, winner of the 1994 Preakness and Belmont Stakes, has died at age 13 in Japan, where he was at stud, according to a published report.
The Thoroughbred Times reported that Tabasco Cat, a Storm Cat stallion, died of heart failure March 6 while covering a mare. The Japanese Bloodhorse Breeders' Association purchased Tabasco Cat in 2000 for $7 million and stood him at its Shizunai Stallion Station on Hokkaido.
POMONA, Calif. - Audrey and Richard Haisfield made a splashy debut at the 2-year-old sales on March 2. They bought two fillies out of The Thoroughbred Corp.'s racing-age dispersal, $700,000 Atlantic Ocean and $510,000 Honest Answer, and they were partners with John Sikura in buying the dispersal's top seller, $1.35 million Cat Fighter.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The final phase of The Thoroughbred Corporation's dispersal of racing stock was held Tuesday at Barretts, with 52 horses selling for $6,453,200. The highlights included the sale of this year's La Canada winner, the 4-year-old filly Cat Fighter, and the emergence of NeverTell Farm, a new buyer of high-end mares and racing prospects.
First-crop sire Booklet, the winner of the 2002 Fountain of Youth Stakes, was euthanized on Thursday after abruptly contracting a severe case of colic, officials at Glencrest said.
Booklet, a 5-year-old son of Notebook out of the Bob's Dusty mare Crafty Bobbie, was transported to Hagyard Davidson McGee Veterinary Clinic on Wednesday night after farm personnel diagnosed the colic, according to Allen Greathouse, an owner of the farm with the Greathouse family. Booklet was euthanized early the next morning.
"It all happened pretty fast," Greathouse said.
On the heels of the Ocala Breeders' Sale Company and the Fasig Tipton selected 2-year-old in training sales at Calder Race course - two of the more successful such sales on record - comes the Ocala-based OBS selected sale of 2 year-olds in training on March 16-17. Just after that, the Adena Springs auction of homebred 2-year-olds will be held on the Adena grounds on March 18 at 6 p.m.
The OBS has cataloged 484 horses for its sale. Adena Springs has cataloged 76.
New York-bred Private Emblem is well on his way to becoming the first millionaire produced by Merion Miss, a 13-year-old broodmare owned by Dr. Doug Koch and Tom Tatham.
Private Emblem, who won the Grade 3 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 21, has earnings of $769,103 and will go over $1 million if he wins his next start, expected to come in the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 3.
Hard-knocking and workmanlike aptly describes the family of Water Cannon. And the 3-year-old gray gelding exhibited his work ethic in the Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park on Feb. 28. Water Cannon won by a hand-ridden half-length while defeating, among others, the overwhelming favorite Capac, who had already appeared on lists of top Triple Crown contenders.
The California-bred 3-year-old filly division has such depth this year that three of them are considered candidates for the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on April 30.
House of Fortune, Silent Sighs, and Yearly Report have proven themselves on the national level - unlike the California-bred colts, a group that lacks a well-regarded candidate for the Kentucky Derby.
"This year is very unusual," said Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally, who trains House of Fortune.
But McAnally admits he may not have the strongest candidate.