Etc. . . .

Ian Balding, Paul Mellon's longtime trainer in England, has announced that he will retire at the end of the British season in November. Balding, 63, will forever have his name entwined with Mellon's great champion Mill Reef, whom he trained to win the Epsom Derby, the Eclipse Stakes, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. . . . The Keeneland Association has cataloged 4,367 lots to its 12-day September yearling sale, scheduled for Sept. 9-21 in Lexington, Ky. Catalogs for the auction - which has been reformatted with a dark day on Friday, Sept. 13 - will be available at www.keeneland.com the week of Aug. 5. . . . With Patience ($18.60), ridden by Mario Pino for trainer Elizabeth Hendriks, breezed to a 3 1/2-length victory in Monday's $59,700 Cordially Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Delaware Park. Her time of 1:35.12 for a mile on firm turf nearly matched the track record of 1:34.88 set by Coco's Madness in May.