Not much has changed about Peppers Pride from her racing days to her current career as a broodmare.

“She’s really a classy mare to be around,” said Frank Taylor, vice president of boarding operations at his family’s Taylor Made Farm, the Nicholasville, Ky., facility where the 10-year-old daughter of Desert God resides. “She just does everything right.”

Raise the Hoof’s maiden victory on June 21 at Betfair Hollywood Park made him the first winner sired by Claiborne Farm stallion Parading.

The 2-year-old gelding bested a field of maiden claimers by 2 ½ lengths, completing the 4 ½ furlong race in :52.75 over Hollywood's synthetic Cushion Track surface. He crossed the finish as the even-money favorite in the seven-horse field.

Grade 1 winner Mr. Sidney was represented by his first winner on Friday, when Swinging Song held on to win by a short neck in a conditions race at Maisons-Laffitte.

The 2-year-old filly completed the 1,200-meter (about six-furlong) race in 1:14.50 over turf labeled as heavy. Homebred in England by Alain Louis-Dreyfus and trained by Mikel Delzangles, Swinging Song is the first foal out of the winning Rossini mare Singing Machine.

Eliza Park, one of Australia’s top breeding operations and the residence of Black Caviar’s sire Bel Esprit, has been sold to Hong Kong-based investors Sun International Group, English and Australian media outlets report.

Based in Eastern Australia with properties in Victoria and Queensland, the operation will move forward known as Eliza Park International. Former owner Lee Fleming put the business up for sale in March.

Conquest Two Step, from the first crop of Group 2 winner Two Step Salsa and a  $420,000 purchase earlier this year, became the first winner for his sire as he scored a two-length victory in his career debut Friday at Churchill Downs.

Grade 2 winner St. John’s River, who was second by a neck in the 2011 running of the Kentucky Oaks, was bred to Tapit earlier this year and is due to have her first foal in 2014, trainer Andrew Leggio Jr. said Friday.

St. John’s River, who spent some of her career based in Louisiana, was retired last season following a second-place finish in an allowance at Saratoga. Leggio said St. John’s River now resides at Heaven Trees Farm, the Lexington, Ky., operation of her owner and breeder, Dede McGehee.

Although she never competed at Royal Ascot herself, few mares have enjoyed a more successful run of influence at the famed race meeting than Rainbow Lake has in recent years.

Central Kentucky breeder and owner Scott Ricker died of cancer on June 20. He was 59.

A native of St. Charles, Ill. Ricker and his wife, Carol, owned Sunny Oak Farm near Paris, Ky., which they founded in 1979. Ricker entered the Thoroughbred industry through his father-in-law, Dr. William Harris, a horse owner for over four decades.

As an awareness and fundraising event with a humorous twist, the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation will put on the inaugural "Mr. TRF" Second Chances Stakes on June 29 at Colonial Downs, allowing fans to vote on their favorite ex-racehorse.

From the 1920s through the 1950s, the male line of Son-in-Law thrived by producing generations of winners of Europe’s two-mile-plus Cup races, while the male line descending from Gold Bridge dominated European sprint races from the 1930s into the 1960s. Both of those male lines are long dead, basically because they failed to diversify in a racing and breeding culture that moved dramatically away from specialization and toward versatility after World War II.