What is the world’s most international race meeting? For many years, the Breeders’ Cup meeting could claim that title, but that is no longer true. The Dubai World Cup meeting, which benefits from easier access to Southern Hemisphere racing countries as well as more total purse money, now serves as a showplace for horses bred and trained in more different countries than any other meeting.

In the days leading up to the Keeneland September yearling sale, the Pauls Mill shed row was a popular destination for two reasons. First, the consignment of Ben Walden Jr. included a half-brother to Grade 1 winners Mine That Bird and Dullahan. Second, he was serving pizza.

While a relentless stream of interested parties and tire-kickers examined the high-profile Giant’s Causeway colt – a tall, strapping chestnut cast from the same mold as Dullahan – Walden was on the phone under what little shade the barn’s awning offered, answering questions about another horse.

Stakes-placed winner Bind has been retired from racing and will begin his stallion career at Jay Adcock’s Red River Farm in Coushatta, La., standing the 2014 breeding season for an advertised fee of $1,500.

The 5-year-old son of Pulpit grabbed the public’s attention after winning his debut start by 9 ½ lengths as a 3-year-old at Fair Grounds. He continued to race through his 5-year-old season, winning three of eight starts for earnings of $108,335. Earlier this year, he placed third in the Sam Houston Sprint Cup Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park.

Brethren, a Grade 3-winning half brother to Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, has been retired from racing and will make his stallion debut in 2014 at Journeyman Stud in Ocala, Fla.

The 5-year-old son of Distorted Humor was a buzzed-about juvenile following Super Saver’s derby-winning campaign earlier in 2010, and Brethren finished that year undefeated in two starts. He began 2011 with a win in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes, then finished third in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.

Courtesy WinStar FarmArtie Schiller

The opening weekend at Keeneland’s fall meet produced its usual share of compelling story lines, many of them related to the upcoming Breeders’ Cup World Championships, as reigning Eclipse Award winners Wise Dan and Groupie Doll both suffered defeats in their final preps.

The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program’s 2013 Thoroughbred of the Year, Loveable Rascal, will be honored in the winner’s circle at Thistledown before the fourth race on Friday, Oct. 11.

The T.I.P Thoroughbred of the Year Award recognizes a Thoroughbred that has excelled in a non-competitive career. Loveable Rascal, an 11-year-old son of Yankee Victor, has served as a therapy horse at Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center in Chagrin Falls, Ohio for six years.

Grade 2 winner Bear’s Kid will relocate to Colebrook Farm in Uxbridge, Ontario, for the 2014 breeding season and will stand for an advertised fee of $2,410 ($2,500 Canadian).

The 10-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid previously stood at T. C. Westmeath Stud Farm in Shelburne, Ontario. His first foals are 2-year-olds of 2013, and his first winner came on Aug. 24, when Asserting Bear won a maiden special weight at Woodbine.

Peter Pryor DVM, a Lexington, Ky.-based veterinarian whose clients included Lane’s End Farm, died of esophageal cancer on Sept. 28 at the age of 58.

A native of Denver, Colo., Pryor attended Colorado State University for three years and received early admission to the School of Veterinary Medicine, receiving his graduate and undergraduate degree simultaneously in 1980.

Courtesy Claiborne FarmWar Front
Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky. has released its advertised stud fees for the 2014 breeding season.

Two of the farm’s stallions will stand for an increased rate in 2014, led by War Front, whose stud fee rises from $80,000 to $150,000.

Grade 1 winner Currency Swap has been retired from racing and will stand the 2014 breeding season at Woodford Thoroughbreds in Reddick, Fla., for an advertised fee of $3,500.

The 4-year-old son of High Cotton is best known for winning the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes in 2011 at Saratoga, defeating eventual champions I’ll Have Another and Trinniberg in the process.

He followed up in his sophomore campaign with victories in the Grade 2 Amsterdam Stakes and the listed You and I Stakes, as well as a runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes.