Nearly all of Salman's stock to be dispersed

The Thoroughbred Corp., the racing company formed by the late Saudi Arabian Prince Ahmed Salman, will sell all but two of its remaining horses at three sales in 2004, company officials said on Tuesday.

The dispersals - at sales in January and March in Kentucky and California - will involve more than 60 horses, including stakes winners Atlantic Ocean and Orville N Wilbur's. The only horses that will be retained will be two runners who are considered stallion prospects, 2003 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Johar and Elusive City, the winner of the 2002 Prix Morny in France.

Ahmed Salman died at the age of 42 in the summer of 2002 shortly after The Thoroughbred Corp.'s War Emblem failed in his bid for the Triple Crown in a loss in the Belmont Stakes. The executor of his estate is his younger brother, Prince Faisal Salman.

Most of the company's racing stock will be sold as part of a dispersal during the 2004 March Barretts 2-year-olds in training sale, according to Richard Mulhall, the racing manager for the company. The consignment will total 58 horses, including five unraced 2-year-olds of 2004. All of the horses will be sold without reserves, Mulhall said.

In addition, several fillies that are broodmare prospects will be sold at both the Keeneland January breeding stock sale in Kentucky and the Barretts January breeding stock sale, Mulhall said.

The dispersal of The Thoroughbred Corp. horses has proceeded in fits and starts since Ahmed Salman's death. In November, The Thoroughbred Corp. dispersed nearly all of its mares and weanlings, including Windsharp, the dam of Johar, who brought $6.1 million; Spain, racing's all-time leading female earner, who brought $5.3 million; and Sharp Cat, who brought $3.1 million.

War Emblem was sold just after Ahmed Salman's death to the Yoshida family of Japan in a deal reported between $17 million and $18 million. War Emblem later proved unwilling to cover mares, and he is currently being treated by specialists to increase his libido.

Mulhall said that The Thoroughbred Corp. will continue to retain its interests in six stallions, not including Johar and Elusive City. One of those stallions is Point Given, the 2001 Horse of the Year who was a homebred of The Thoroughbred Corp. At the time of Point Given's retirement in late 2001, The Thoroughbred Corp. retained 10 shares in him.