Edward P. Evans, one of the nation’s most successful owners and breeders, died on Friday night in New York City following a brief illness. He was 68.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The phone calls began more than a year ago and were the sort of thing that breeder Mark Gorman wanted to hear. It turns out his yearling colt Thirtyfirststreet was a big of a paddock rabble-rouser at Magali Farms in Santa Ynez, Calif.

“They told me that when he was in the herd he was always getting in fights,” Mark Gorman recalled on Thursday. “He was trying to show he was The Man.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Thoroughbred Charities of America will hold its 21st annual select stallion season auction on Jan. 8 at Keeneland’s entertainment center in Lexington. The event will open at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails and dinner, followed by the select season auction at 8 p.m. 

Owners and breeders of 2009 foals must submit names to The Jockey Club by Feb. 1 in order to avoid a $75 late fee. The Jockey Club’s Online Names Book is available at registry.jockeyclub.com.

War Pass, the 2007 juvenile champion, died Dec. 24 at Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., the farm announced on Monday.

According to the announcement, War Pass, 5, had arrived the evening before from Australia, where he had stood his second Southern Hemisphere season at stud, and died a few hours after being turned out in his paddock. There was no signs of illness or injury, and the preliminary necropsy reports were inconclusive.

Tizdejavu, a winner of four graded turf stakes and nearly $700,000, has been retired to stud at Crestwood Farm. A 2005 foal by Tiznow, the horse will stand for a $5,000 fee in 2011 at the Lexington, Ky., farm.

Harlan’s Holiday, an 11-year-old sire of 18 stakes winners, will stand at WinStar Farm outside Versailles, Ky., in 2011 after the farm purchased a “significant interest” in the horse, WinStar announced on Wednesday. A son of Harlan, Harlan’s Holiday had stood the 2010 season at Airdrie Stud.

Harlan’s Holiday will stand for $25,000 in 2011, WinStar said. Out of the Affirmed mare Christmas in Aiken, Harlan’s Holiday has progeny earnings of $13.9 million from four crops of racing age, and is the sire of 2010 champion sprint contender Majesticperfection.

The Pamplemousse never reached the most important part of his racing career.

Weeks after winning his third consecutive race in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes by an electrifying six lengths in February 2009, he was favored for the Santa Anita Derby when a tendon injury left him sidelined.

A comeback earlier this year did not succeed, leaving The Pamplemousse bound for stud at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, Calif., for 2011. Once again, The Pamplemousse faces an important part of his career, this time his launch as a stallion.

Mare owners need to update their address books, with four of California’s most established stallions having changed farms recently, including the state’s leading sire, Unusual Heat.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – From the start, Ted and Judy Nichols wanted to be fully involved in horse racing. When their 2-year-old filly Teddy’s Promise was foaled at Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona, Calif., in May 2008, they were on hand for the moment.

“We helped pull her out,” Ted Nichols said recently. “We get chills just watching her. She’s our first horse.”