LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mayakovsky's track-record win in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race at Saratoga Wednesday took the colt's breeders by surprise.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug ponazuril as a treatment for the equine neurological disease EPM (equine protozoal myeloencephalitis).

The new drug, marketed by Bayer Animal Health under the trade name Marquis, is an oral paste that is available by prescription from a licensed veterinarian. The recommended dose in adult horses is five milligrams per kilogram, once a day for 28 days.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Led by a $625,000 Dehere colt, Fasig-Tipton's July selected yearling sale rang up a dramatic 26 percent increase in average price.

The average price in 2001 was $97,671, up from last year's $77,817 average price. Overall, the two-day auction at the company's Newtown Paddocks facility in Lexington sold 237 yearlings for gross receipts of $23,148,000, down 12 percent from last year. A slimmer catalog affected gross receipts, as expected. Last year, the auction sold 336 lots for $26,146,500. Buybacks rose this year from 35 percent to 38 percent.

Is Touch Love the real thing? Look for an answer to one of life's eternal questions in the Grade 2 Schuylerville Stakes on opening day at Saratoga, when trainer Tony Dutrow plans to run the undefeated Maryland-bred 2-year-old filly in her toughest race so far.

When a young horse defeats every rival, but doesn't have to run particularly fast to do so, it can be difficult to gauge the youngster's true ability. That's the situation with Touch Love.

Queen's Plate winners have been tough to defeat in the second jewel of Canada's Triple Crown, the Prince of Wales Stakes, in the last quarter of a century.

The Wales, a 65-year-old race and the gem of the Fort Erie meet, may have been more intriguing when it was a 1 1/2-mile grass race than it is now at 1 3/16 miles on dirt. The average field size since the race was moved to the dirt in 1988 is just over six horses.

DEL MAR, Calif. - It would be easy for Marty Wygod and Russell Drake to categorize Fancy Prancer and Officer as 2-year-olds who got away.

Last year, both were sold as yearlings. They have already advanced to the stakes level in their brief careers.

For Wygod, who bred the pair at River Edge Farm, which Drake manages, it would be easy to be disappointed. Except he owns both the sire and dam of both juveniles, two of the most promising California-bred 2-year-olds.

During the course of the 36-day Saratoga meet, only three of the 35 stakes on the calendar are devoted to New York-breds, but state-breds could have a say in the outcome of at least a few of the open stakes as well.

Critical Eye, Dat You Miz Blue, and Gander are each expected to start in graded races early in the Saratoga meet, which opens Wednesday.

Keeping hydrated and cool is just as important for Thoroughbreds as it is for humans on hot summer days.

Heat and humidity, coupled with the stress of racing, can lead to heat stroke in horses.

Heat stroke occurs when the brain becomes overheated and fails to function properly. Horses become disoriented and wobbly, sometimes kicking out at things that are not there. In extreme cases, a horse with severe heat stroke will fall to the ground.

The Boss, aka George M. Steinbrenner III, has his share of good days at the ballpark and the racetrack. Saturday, July 14, was one of them.

His world champion New York Yankees began the blitz at Miami's Pro Player Stadium by whipping the Marlins. Next door at Calder Race Course, his Kinsman Farm runners won a pair of stakes and just missed with a first-time starter.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A $500,000 Meadowlake colt bought by The Thoroughbred Corp. topped the second and final session at Fasig-Tipton's July selected yearling sale Thursday as the top of the yearling market remained strong.

Hill 'n' Dale Sales Agency sold the chestnut Meadowlake colt, the first foal out of the unplaced Storm Cat mare Tom's Annie.