INGLEWOOD, Calif. - An emphasis on quality has led to a drastically smaller catalog for the Del Mar Yearling Sale on Aug. 13 and 14.

The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association announced on Wednesday that this year's sale will feature 149 yearlings, a drop of more than 25 percent from the number of yearlings catalogued in 2000. The sale will be held at the Del Mar HorsePark, which is four miles inland from the Del Mar racetrack.

The announcement of the catalog ends a process that began last winter when nominations were due.

Say Florida Sandy is without a doubt the hottest New York-bred around these days.

At 7 years old he won his third stakes this year in the $150,000 True North Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, while defeating some classy rivals, including Wake at Noon, Men's Exclusive, and Hook and Ladder.

The victory earned Say Florida Sandy, a former claimer, his first inclusion on Daily Racing Form's Watchmaker Watch, with a ranking as the seventh-leading sprinter in the country. #

Florida escaped the foaling problems that plagued Kentucky this year, and this breeding season was pretty normal. Many stallions had bookings well into the hundreds while other less-popular ones were hardly monogamous.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Last weekend's classics in England proved a celebration of a great sire, Sadler's Wells. In the Oaks on Friday, June 8, the first three home were by Coolmore's grand stallion, and in the English Derby on Saturday, Galileo became his sire's first winner in the premier English classic.

Although Sadler's Wells has sired four winners of the Oaks at Epsom, he never before had succeeded with a winner in the Derby. Making this even more frustrating, five of his sons had finished second in the race.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) the mysterious ailment that has caused more than 1,000 central Kentucky mares to abort their foals, appears to be on the wane as research continues into its cause. But another problem, this one much less widespread but still of concern, has surfaced: pericarditis, fluid in the sac that surrounds a horse's heart.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Jockey Club has registered the first foal to have its parentage verified using DNA-typing instead of blood-typing, marking a change in the way Thoroughbreds are registered in North America.

LAS VEGAS - Special was aptly named. A daughter of Forli out of the blue hen producer Thong (a full sister to Horse of the Year Moccasin, as well as to stakes winners Ridan and Lt. Stevens), Special was unplaced in her only start, but her influence as a broodmare is immeasurable. Her influence is so great, her name will appear in pedigrees for generations to come. Special is the dam of Nureyev, the second dam (granddam) of Sadler's Wells, and the third dam (great grandam) of Bienamado.

Daryl Hasmatali stepped into the world of pinhooking for the first time at last week's Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's sale of 2-year-olds in training and, if his first results are any indication, he will be back again next year.

Hasmatali, one of Woodbine's more underrated trainers, made a tidy profit when he sold I Love a Parade, a Florida-bred son of Tactical Advantage, for $52,000 at the June 5 auction. He had purchased the horse eight months earlier for $10,000 at the secondary yearling sale held by Canadian Breeders' Sales.

Florida's freshmen stallions are off to a promising start. There are 31 stallions in this group, and 10 of them have already sired winners.

The leaders are Open Forum (Deputy Minster) with four and his former neighbor, Valid Expectations (Valid Appeal), with three.

Primped and polished, more than 150 Maryland-bred yearlings are undergoing final preparations for one of the biggest days of their young lives - a trip to the Maryland Horse Breeders Association's annual yearling show - to be held Sunday, June 24 at the Maryland state fairgrounds in Timonium. The show has drawn its largest entry since 1990 and will be judged this year by trainer Linda Rice.