Treve, who won her second consecutive edition of the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Sunday, has been retired from racing and will join the broodmare band of owner Sheikh Joaan al-Thani in 2015.

One of the annual subplots of the Keeneland September yearling sale is the market’s reception to foals by first-crop stallions.

Since the mammoth auction provides one of the first chances for buyers to inspect yearlings by multiple young sires in one location, impressions can be made there that can last for years. While a strong auction performance doesn’t guarantee success on the track, immediate commercial appeal can help propel a stallion’s book of mares in the difficult third and fourth seasons at stud, giving him a better chance to succeed in the long term.

No horse has been more heavily promoted after first-crop success in recent years than Bernardini. And if reality has not yet quite lived up to the hype, Bernardini repeatedly has proven that he is capable of siring high-class runners and producing exceptionally handsome sales horses who bring very good prices.

Multiple Grade 1 winner Alpha has been retired from racing and will make his stallion debut in 2015 at Becky Thomas’ Sequel Stallions in Hudson, N.Y., for an advertised fee of $8,500.

The 5-year-old son of Bernardini finished his career with six wins in 22 starts over four seasons of racing for earnings of $1,815,667. He was trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.

Two major prep races for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies will be contested on Saturday at Belmont Park. The Grade 1 Champagne and Frizette Stakes – each contested at a one-turn mile - have compact, but competitive fields. With a forecast that calls for a 90 percent chance of rain in the area on Saturday, handicappers will need to pay particular consideration to the variables of added distance and off-track aptitude when examining the contenders’ past performances and pedigrees.

Stakes winner Hashtag Bourbon is likely to be among the favorites in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on a star-studded Saturday afternoon at Keeneland – and with good reason. The colt’s pedigree lends itself nicely to the task of success at 1 1/16 miles.

Fashion Alert is perhaps the most-accomplished juvenile running at Keeneland on opening weekend, while Take Charge Brandi may be the best-bred. However, both are major question marks in the opening-day feature, the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes on Keeneland’s new dirt track.

Fiftyshadesofgold, who won the Grade 3 Eight Belles Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard earlier this year, has been retired by owner Doug Scharbauer’s Valor Farm due to a tear in her left fore suspensory.

Multiple Grade 1 winner and popular broodmare Strategic Maneuver was euthanized due to the infirmities of old age on Sept. 24 at Betty Moran’s Brushwood Farm in Malvern, Pa., at age 23. Her death was reported by The Blood-Horse.

German Derby winner Sea The Moon will make his stallion debut in the 2015 breeding season, standing at Lanwades Stud in Newmarket, England.

The 3-year-old colt from the first crop of sire Sea The Stars was campaigned as a homebred for German-based Gestut Gorlsdorf and trained by Markus Klug. Racing Post reports that the colt will be partially syndicated, with Gestut Gorlsdorf retaining an interest.