ST. MATTHEWS, S.C. - As he drove his truck home from Fasig-Tipton's 2-year-old sale in Maryland last week, Webb Carroll got a chill just thinking about it: War Emblem had just won the Preakness Stakes and was poised to become the 12th Triple Crown winner in racing history.
And Carroll helped him get there.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Perfect Drift - winner of the Spiral Stakes, third in the Kentucky Derby, and a horse with considerable support for the Belmont Stakes - is the best racehorse yet from the breeding and racing program of Dr. William A. Reed. A heart surgeon, Reed owns the 100-acre Stonecrest Farm in the city limits of Kansas City, Mo., and there he raises his annual crop of yearlings before sending them on to trainer Murray Johnson for the finishing work that will bring them to the races.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The syndicate that owns War Emblem's sire, Our Emblem, has agreed to sell him to Taylor Made and WinStar Farms of Kentucky.
Under a partnership agreement, Our Emblem, a 11-year-old Mr. Prospector stallion, will stand at Taylor Made in Nicholasville, Ky., and both Taylor Made and WinStar will have a hand in managing his breeding career. Doug Cauthen, a WinStar official, said Wednesday that the farms would probably wait until fall to set a stud fee.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stallion Mula Gula, a multiple Grade 2 winner, is making an unusual career move. After standing his first two seasons at El Dorado Farms in Enumclaw, Wash., for a $1,000 fee, the 6-year-old horse is shipping east to Kentucky, reversing the path many stallions take.
Mula Gula's owner, Steven Gula, has sold the horse privately to Jim Plemmons's Old Frankfort Stud in Lexington in the hopes that the eastward move will help Mula Gula's stud career.
No longer a local - or even regional - marketplace, the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale has gone national. Consignors and buyers from throughout the country flocked to the sales pavilion in Timonium, Md., on May 20 and 21 and carried this year's edition of the auction to solid increases in gross receipts (9 percent) and average price (4 percent).
Carson Hollow, an undefeated 3-year-old New York-bred filly, looked like the real deal when winning the Bouwerie by five lengths at Belmont Park last Sunday in her stakes debut.
The win has prompted Carson Hollow's trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., to consider running his filly, who is 3 for 3, in the Grade 1 Prioress Stakes at Belmont on July 6.
Last week was a good one for Mike Sherman's Farnsworth Farms.
Horses bred there won three stakes. Vesta won the Miss Preakness at Pimlico on May 16. On May 18 - Preakness Day - Bold World won her fourth stakes of the year, the Little Silver Stakes at Monmouth, and Nothing Flat won the Jock LaBelle Stakes at Delaware. According to Sherman, Nothing Flat is Farnsworth's 198th stakes winner.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A lack of entries at Hollywood Park has forced the postponement of the $100,000 California Sires Stakes for colts and geldings from Sunday to Thursday.
When entries were drawn on Friday, the Sires Stakes drew only four 3-year-olds, including a maiden, according to racing secretary Martin Panza.
After discussing options with officials from the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, the decision was reached to move the race to Thursday. "We didn't want to run an uncompetitive race," Panza said.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The impact of War Emblem's victory in the Preakness is sending ripples throughout racing and breeding. Beyond the immediate concerns of the Triple Crown, national attention, and bonuses, practically every horse associated with War Emblem and his family is suddenly looking much more significant and valuable.