It's not like Gary Contessa goes around wearing a T-shirt that proclaims "I Love New York-breds" in bold letters, but the trainer sure isn't knocking statebreds.

"I've always said New York-breds are like ATM machines: Every time you run them, they bring home money," Contessa said.

New York-breds make up a quarter of Contessa's 40-horse stable at Aqueduct, where he leads the standings heading into the final day of the inner track meet on Sunday. This spring and summer, Contessa expects the arrival of more New York-breds whom he purchased earlier this year and last.

Champion sprinter Housebuster has gone the route as a sire, in more ways than one. Not only is he a proven success, with some $20 million in progeny earnings and at least 45 stakes horses to his credit, but he has made his stud career in three countries - the United States, Japan, and Australia.

In 2002, Housebuster's travels brought him to Virginia, where he ranks as the most accomplished sire ever to stand in the state.

New Jersey's stallion ranks got a major boost this season with the arrival of two heavy-hitting sires: Numerous, a regally bred Mr. Prospector son whose his first crop includes the 2001 Canadian champion turf runner Numerous Times ($676,320), and Caller I.D. (by Phone Trick), with 2001 progeny earnings approaching $2 million.

Some familiar names were atop Maryland's sire lists in 2001, giving this year's newcomers something to shoot for.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - English stallion Machiavellian, sire of champion Almutawakel and Dubai World Cup hopeful Street Cry, among others, is showing signs of reduced fertility and has had his number of daily covers reduced, a Darley spokesman confirmed Friday.

"He's got three of his first 11 mares in foal, which is beneath his standard, because he has been superbly fertile," said Darley spokesman Jocelyn Targett. "There's no panic; we're managing it by reducing the number of covers that he has on a daily basis in the hope that he will discover his former fertility."

Boosted by a stronger-than-expected sale and recent success on the track, California-breds were in demand at the Barretts 2-year-olds in training sale last week.

Despite a cautious approach to this year's sale by the sale company and consignors, the one-day sale in Pomona last Tuesday showed an increase in gross and average price.

Of the 41 Cal-breds cataloged, 32 went through the ring and 17 sold for $2,001,000. The average price for Cal-breds of $117,705 was slightly higher than the 2001 average of $105,294.

The consensus among Florida breeders is that the 2002 group of first-season stallions is as promising a group as there has been in years, representing a rich variety of sire lines.

Karl Koontz of Ocala Stud pointed to newcomer Trippi (End Sweep-Jealous Appeal, by Valid Appeal), a Grade 1 stakes winner who has attracted more than 130 mares. "He has been high on the demand list since it was announced he would stand here," Kootz said. "You'd have to say he has a full book."

When visitors from around the world came to pay homage to Nashua at Spendthrift Farm in the 1970's, the man who presented the horse to them was nearly as famous as the stallion: stud groom Clem Brooks.

Brooks would bring the horse out, tell his guests about Nashua's accomplishments, and warn them not to be offended if Nashua ignored them. "That's the way kings are," Brooks would say. "They don't talk to just anyone they don't know. Not unless they are with one of their real good friends, such as me."

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A P Valentine, the Grade 1-winning son of A. P. Indy who is standing his first season at Ashford Stud in Lexington this year, is having trouble getting his mares in foal, acccording to a number of breeders with mares booked to him.

Ashford Stud, the North American wing of Irish-based Coolmore Stud, has been contacting mare owners this week to notify them of the problems, the breeders said. A P Valentine, a 4-year-old stallion who is out of the Alydar mare Twenty Eight Carat, stands for an advertised fee of $15,000.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Already written off by many as a non-stayer, Came Home won his second graded stakes of the year in the San Rafael at Santa Anita last Saturday. A handsome bay, Came Home showed speed when needed and had the authority to dominate his field as effectively as he had in the San Vicente four weeks earlier.

Many handicappers were put off the colt because his only defeat had come in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles, but on pedigree he should be more effective racing at a mile than six furlongs.