Last Saturday brought two more qualifying stakes events in the Kentucky Derby Championship Series as the Triple Crown prep season continued to unfold.

It was dead winter in Kentucky, that February afternoon I chose to visit one of the great sires of the modern era. I had planned to pay homage to Storm Cat, to acknowledge his impending 30th birthday, to gaze upon a living masterpiece of equine art before it was too late. But how badly did I want that?

It is too early in the year for Northern Hemisphere 3-year-olds to have sorted themselves out, so perhaps it should not be surprising that if one consults the most recent worldwide rankings of horses competing as 3-year-olds, the highest-rated horse would be Australia’s All Too Hard.

Freshman Congressman Andy Barr of Kentucky introduced the Equine Tax Parity Act (HR-998) in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, which would reduce the capital gains holding period on horses from 24 months to 12 months.

Off a successful first season in 2012, the Thoroughbred Horse Show Association is now accepting entries for its spring show on April 14 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

Entries close April 1, but late entries may be taken with a late fee. Class fees will be waived for horses that have been adopted since November 2012. Several horses competing in the show will be available for sale or adoption.

Grade 2 winner Adios Charlie was represented by his first foal, a filly born on March 2 at Ocala Stud Farm in Ocala, Fla.

The bay filly is out of the Notebook mare Ennuhway, dam of popular New York Racing Association circuit runner and stakes winner Lisa’s Booby Trap, by Drewman, as well as five other winners.

Rachel Alexandra was described as "bright and alert" on Thursday evening after undergoing a surgical procedure to drain an abscess earlier that day.

Veterinarians at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where the 2009 Horse of the Year underwent abdominal surgery following foaling complications on Feb. 13, discovered an abscess adjacent to the mare's reproductive tract and rectum on Thursday morning.

The abscess was successfully drained via a standing surgical procedure, with Rachel Alexandra's vital signs remaining normal throughout.

Grade 1 winner Violence has been retired from racing and will begin his stallion career in 2014 at John G. Sikura’s Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms in Lexington, Ky.

The 3-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro had emerged as one of the early favorites on this year’s Kentucky Derby trail after winning his first three career starts, including the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity and the Grade 2 Nashua Stakes.

Daily Racing Form is introducing a new weekly section dedicated to coverage of the breeding industry in each edition of the Sunday newspaper. The section will debut March 10 with coverage of the 2-year-olds in training sales season.

In addition, on Tuesday, March 12, a digital newsletter, “DRF Breeding Update,” will debut to a list of more than 20,000 owners, breeders, trainers, and engaged industry professionals within DRF’s digital database.

The European Commission has asked two agencies to assess the risks that phenylbutazone residues in horsemeat might pose to human health. The request comes as Europe is dealing with a growing scandal in which beef products have been found to contain horsemeat illegally and regulators have found bute in some horse carcasses intended for human consumption.