LEXINGTON, Ky. - Tom Simon’s Vinery, which recently opened a division at Empire Stud in Hudson, N.Y., has expanded its New York presence by taking over operations at Susan and Howard Kaskel’s Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag.

“When we took on Empire Stud, we had no idea that the opportunity to expand further with a quality facility like Sugar Maple would come along,” said Vinery president Tom Ludt.

Sugar Maple is one of the Empire State’s most prominent nurseries and has raised such horses as American champions Sky Beauty and Itsallgreektome.

Two-time Grade 1 winner Thorn Song, whose severe case of laminitis prompted his former owner to file an insurance mortality claim on him, has recovered enough to enter stud this year at John Harris’s Harris Farms in California.

The 8-year-old Thorn Song will stand for $3,500 and cover a limited book of mares, said Harris farms manager Dave McGlothlin.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Giant Moon, a five-time stakes winner and the New York-bred juvenile champion of 2007, died last week at his owner Albert Fried Jr.’s farm in upstate New York, succumbing to a bout of lamintis. He was 6 years old.

Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly, was bred to two-time Horse of the Year Curlin on Monday morning, Stonestreet Thoroughbreds announced.

It was the first mating for Rachel Alexandra, a 5-year-old Medaglia d’Oro mare. It took place at 9 a.m. at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., where Curlin stands for a $40,000 fee this year. The Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings of Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke, own both Rachel Alexandra and Curlin.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The annual California Cup program, which has undergone significant changes in purse values and races offered in recent years, may face further revisions this year and could be scaled back.

Najran, the 11-year-old sire of multiple graded winner Wasted Tears, was euthanized Feb. 9 as a result of injuries sustained in a paddock accident at Kentucky’s Hopewell Farm.

Jay Adcock, who planned to ship Najran to his Red River Farms in Louisiana for the 2011 season, said the Runaway Groom horse died at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., after falling in his paddock.

“I was really excited about getting him down here,” Adcock said. “I thought he’d do well for us.”

The 2011 breeding season is going to be a challenge for everyone, and stallion managers are aware they might be in for rougher seas than usual. Last year established a new low for new horses entering the stallion ranks in Kentucky, with only 16 advertised, and the highest entering stud fee was the lowest in years, just $25,000 for Zensational.

Bold Executive, North America’s leading sire of runners on synthetic surfaces last year, is still going strong at age 27.

A powerful, 15.3-hand son of Bold Ruckus, he has been Canada’s leading sire twice, in 2003 and 2004, and was an Ontario breeding stalwart well before there were synthetic surfaces and slot machines at Woodbine. The slots, in particular, have helped boost Bold Executive’s stock recently as racehorse breeders and owners look for lucrative places to run their horses in the struggling economy.

Sadler’s Wells was the leading broodmare sire in North America for the third straight year in 2010 and has been the leading broodmare sire in Great Britain and Ireland since 2005. His daughters have produced more than 250 stakes winners, including 30 in 2010.

In retrospect, Congrats had all the ammunition he needed to get to the top of a sire list. He is by A.P. Indy and, as a son of the Mr. Prospector mare Praise, hails from the illustrious female family that produced such runners as Sea Hero for Paul Mellon and Roar for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.