LEXINGTON, Ky. - Topped by the $72,000 River Special filly Song of the Moment, the Barretts January mixed sale in Pomona, Calif., ended Wednesday with expected declines from last year's dispersal-laden auction.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The victory of Crash Course in the Grade 3 Mac Diarmida Handicap at Gulfstream Park last weekend was another success for the racing and breeding program developed by J. Mack Robinson. A successful international businessman based in Atlanta, Robinson became involved in racing when he was introduced to John A. Bell III, the founder of Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, and began a prosperous relationship.

LAS VEGAS - The Santa Catalina Stakes and Holy Bull Stakes last weekend signaled the start of the Triple Crown season.

The Santa Catalina was supposed to be another notch in the belt of a rising star, Siphonic. He lost all chance at the start when he stumbled badly, but he was gallant in defeat.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A portion of the famed Paul Mellon estate near Upperville, Va., is up for sale.

The Washington Post has reported that Mellon's widow, Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, has put about 2,000 acres, roughly half the property, on the market with a real estate firm in Middleburg, Va. The acreage, which includes several barns, will be sold in five parcels that vary in size from 230 to 560 acres. The asking price is about $15,000 per acre.

No two January mixed sales at Barretts are quite the same.

Unlike the two annual 2-year-olds in-training sales - which offers expensive stock in March and has a more claiming-oriented catalog in May - the quality and quantity of the January sale can vary from year to year.

Last year, the sale was boosted by two dispersals and grossed $6.02 million from the sale of 429 horses. In 2000, without a strong dispersal, the gross was $2.06 million on the sale of 367 horses.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Graded stakes winners Critical Eye, Gander, and Say Florida Sandy were among the nominees released on Wednesday by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Inc. for 2001 New York-bred divisional championships.

The NYTB's board of directors sorted through the past performances of 700 New York-breds and selected a total of 84 nominees in nine divisions.

The criteria used by the NYTB to whittle down the hundreds of New York-breds was that a horse must be a stakes winner or stakes-placed in a graded race to qualify as a nominee.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's fall mixed sale took place only a few weeks after the fateful events of Sept. 11. Business was not good when compared with recent chapters of the October auction.

"One could not be sure," said OBS general manager Tom Ventura, "if the decline was triggered by 9-11 or our catalog was less attractive than the previous ones in that we had no dispersals or other kinds of magnets to bring in the buyers. Perhaps it was a combination of both."

Confidence was guarded but optimistic concerning the winter mixed sale.

Michael Flynn's big move to Maryland will not occur until early February, but already he is having to make a policy decision: namely, the wording on his business cards.

"All those titles," said Flynn, indicating that he would much prefer to classify himself as a consensus-builder. "Do I really need to list them all?"

LEXINGTON, Ky. - After the economic and political troubles of 2001, some people were concerned that the horse markets were headed for more problems, but the results of the January sales, which showed a renewal of enthusiastic buying, and some healthy foal arrivals in the Bluegrass have encouraged breeders.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A quick study of 2001's leading general sire list reveals a familiar name near the top once again. Gainesway stallion Broad Brush, now 19, ended the year as North America's sixth-leading stallion, with progeny earnings of more than $5.5 million last year.