LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland’s January all-ages sale continued to post dramatic gains Tuesday at its second session, where $600,000 Magnificent Honour – a daughter of former Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour and full sister to champion Rags to Riches –
was the day’s most expensive horse.

Her sale to an anonymous client of Blandford Bloodstock was one of many strong prices that, along with a smaller overall catalog, allowed the 2012 sale’s first two days to gross more than last year’s entire five-day auction.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mares continued to dominate auction results Tuesday at the Keeneland January auction, a day after Star Billing’s dam, Topliner, sold for $1.4 million, contributing to strong increases at the opening session. Mares with good produce records are hot commodities, but Tuesday’s $600,000 session-leader, Magnificent Honour, was in demand mainly because of her family.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Adena Springs stallion Tiago is is expected to miss the 2012 breeding season after undergoing colic surgery on Jan. 6, the farm announced Tuesday.

The surgery took place at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington.

Tiago, a half-brother to 2005 Kentucky Derby winner and Adena stallion Giacomo, stood last year, his second season at stud, at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds. The 8-year-old Pleasant Tap horse’s first foals are yearlings in 2012.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Star Billing’s Nov. 25 win in the Matriarch Stakes translated into a $1.4 million price tag for her dam Monday at Keeneland’s January all-ages sale.

Topliner's $1.4 million led selling at the first of four sessions, which grossed $13,932,200 for 209 horses and saw increases across the board. Gross receipts grew by 30 percent, while the $66,661 average price and $32,000 median were up by 17 percent and 60 percent, respectively. In more good news, the buy-back rate also fell from last year's 35 percent to 28 percent.

Artax, the 1999 champion sprinter, died on Jan. 8 at a hospital in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, after suffering a bout of colic, according to the farm where he had stood for the past two seasons.

Artax, who was 17, had been standing at Haras Santa Tereza do Bom Retiro since the 2010 breeding season, as the property of a syndicate of Brazilian breeders. He had shuttled between the U.S. and Brazil in 2009.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Turning Top, a Grade 3 winner in 2010 and Grade 1 stakes-placed that year, has been retired and will be bred to the Irish-based stallion Galileo, trainer Simon Callaghan said. will be bred to Irish stallion Galileo

Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs ended 2011 as the year’s leading North American breeder by racetrack earnings, marking the ninth consecutive season that the large operation has topped the list.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Unusual Heat defended his title as California’s leading stallion by progeny earnings in 2011 with earnings of $4,495,713, slightly edging his 2010 total. The 2011 season was the fourth consecutive year in which Unusual Heat has led the state’s stallions.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland’s January mixed auction, which runs Jan. 9-12, already has one positive factor: a 13 percent smaller catalog. Shorter supply helped the Thoroughbred market achieve better stability last season, and it’s one of the reasons Keeneland sale director Geoffrey Russell feels optimistic about the 2012 January sale. Another reason: the autumn’s better-than-expected sale results for both yearlings and breeding stock.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ice Box, the 2010 Florida Derby winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up, will enter stud this year at Calumet Farm in the second stud deal that historic nursery secured in a week. Ice Box’s owner, Robert LaPenta, confirmed the deal Thursday afternoon.

Earlier this week, the farm announced that Cactus Ridge would become its first stallion in at least seven years.

Ice Box will stand for $7,500, and Cactus Ridge will stand for $5,000.