Freshman congressman Andy Barr (R-Lexington) of Kentucky introduced a bill on May 24 in the U.S. House of Representatives to make permanent for all racehorses the 3-year depreciation schedule, which is subject to expire at the end of the year.

The Race Horse Cost Recovery Act (HR-2212) would extend the current policy, enacted by the 2008 Farm Bill, which allows taxpayers to recover the cost of property over its approximate economic life, in this case a horse’s racing career, through tax write-offs.

Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms was honored as the leading British-based flat racing breeder by earnings this week as Britain’s Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association announced several of its annual awards.

WinStar Farm has appointed Darren Fox as stallion seasons director for its 22-stallion facility in Versailles, Ky.

Fox previously worked on the stallion nominations team at Darley at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky., for four years. He replaces Gerry Duffy at WinStar, who was recently hired as general manager of Darley’s Kildangan Stud in Ireland.

Courtesy WinStar FarmTiznow

Horse Racing Alberta, the governing body for racing in the Canadian province, named its champions for the 2012 racing year, led by a pair of standout geldings.

Toccetive was named Alberta’s 2012 Horse of the Year, having won the province’s marquee race, the Grade 3 Canadian Derby at Northlands Park. The now 4-year-old Toccet gelding, out of the Two Punch mare Punching, also secured the province’s champion sophomore honors.

Ohio’s breeding industry hit rock bottom in the spring of 2011.

Only 124 mares were bred statewide that year, a far cry from the 1,380 bred two decades ago in the halcyon days before neighboring states raised the stakes by adding casino gaming to their racetracks. To put it into perspective, 50 North American stallions bred more mares on their own in 2011 than the entire state of Ohio.

Only accredited Ohio Thoroughbreds and/or Ohio-foaled Thoroughbreds are eligible for the Ohio Thoroughbred Race Fund stakes program, which includes the Best of Ohio Series.

Following are the rules that define an accredited Ohio Thoroughbred and an Ohio-foaled Thoroughbred, according to the Ohio Racing Commission.

What is an accredited Ohio Thoroughbred?

A horse conceived in Ohio and born in the state that is both:

Widely considered the greatest European racehorse of the 20th century, the undefeated Ribot always was very much a longshot on pedigree to found an enduring male line.

His sire, Tenerani, was best at two miles, a distance well out of the mainstream even in the 1950s, and hailed from an obscure Italian branch of the St. Simon male line. And though Ribot’s dam, Romanella, by El Greco, was a champion Italian juvenile filly, her pedigree antecedents were almost equally obscure to American eyes.

Joyeuse, a half-sister to unbeaten champion Frankel as well as two other group stakes winners, impressed in her career debut Tuesday at Lingfield Racecourse in England, winning a maiden event for 2-year-old fillies by 3 1/4 lengths.

Memorial Day weekend brought a busy slate of graded stakes activity across the U.S., but the racing spotlight was focused squarely on Belmont Park's holiday card and its trio of Grade 1 events. Monday’s Metropolitan Handicap, traditionally a touchstone race for breeders, assembled several of the handicap division’s top performers and, as it turned out, produced one of the year’s most exciting finishes.