On Friday night, Rosemary Farm, a horse-rescue operation in the Catskills region of New York, purchased an unknown Thoroughbred with a “strange leg” from a livestock auction where kill buyers were shopping and immediately drove him to Rhineback Equine Hospital for evaluation.

For almost 300 years, all Thoroughbreds have descended in male line from three stallions imported into England from the Middle East between about 1686 and 1730.

By Joe Nevills and Mark Simon

The Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. has come a long way in its four decades of existence, but some of the most visible changes will come over the next year.

The early death of Scat Daddy from the sire ranks was a huge blow to his supporters and the breed, and this weekend will bring another reminder of how much he will be missed when Lady Aurelia runs at Deauville on August 21 in the Group 1 Prix Morny, which is an open for 2-year-olds.

The undefeated daughter of Scat Daddy is trained by Wesley Ward and clearly looks like the best 2-year-old in Europe of either sex. If she does have a challenger to the title of best in Europe at this point it comes from Irish-based colt Caravaggio, who also is by Scat Daddy.

Canadian classic winner and producer Misty Mission has died, Sam-Son Farm of Ontario recently announced. The Miswaki mare was 19.

Misty Mission made just three starts, with her signature victory coming in the Wonder Where Stakes, denying her stablemare Catch the Ring a Canadian Triple Tiara in the final leg of the series.

American Lion has been relocated from Kentucky to Oklahoma, according to an announcement from River Oaks Farm in Sulphur, Okla. He will stand at River Oaks in 2017, for an introductory fee of $1,000.

American Lion is a 9-year-old son of Tiznow. He won the Illinois Derby in 2010 and proceeded to run 11th in the Kentucky Derby. American Lion also won the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue at 2.

How many Kentucky stallions who have sired eight Grade 1 winners, 41 graded stakes winners, and 8.5 percent stakes winners overall stand for less than $50,000?

The answer is one: Lemon Drop Kid.

The son of Kingmambo notched that eighth Grade 1 winner last Saturday when his 3-year-old son Beach Patrol won the Secretariat Stakes on a banner day for the 20-year-old horse at Arlington Park, where his son Da Big Hoss captured the Grade 3 American St. Leger.

Freshman sire Hansen, champion juvenile male of 2011, sired his first stakes winner when the 2-year-old colt Han Sense, making his first career start, won the $90,000 Iowa Cradle Stakes Saturday at Prairie Meadows.

Han Sense is owned by Kendall Hansen, who bred and raced Hansen, and is trained by Mike Maker, who trained Hansen. Han Sense was bred by H. Allen Poindexter and sold for $125,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale.

The Jockey Club projects a 2017 North American registered foal crop of 22,500, marking no change from the projected foal crop of 2016.

Though unchanged from year to year, the 22,500 foals projected for the 2016 and 2017 foal crops mark a 2.3 percent increase from the 22,000 projected for the 2015 and 2014 foal crops.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The 2-year-old colt Accountability won a maiden special weight race for California-breds at Del Mar on Friday, the first winner for the stallion Acclamation.

Acclamation, who stands at Old English Rancho in Sanger, Calif., was the champion older male of 2011.