LEXINGTON, Ky. - Four six-figure yearlings from a smaller catalog helped lift the median at Fasig-Tipton’s New York-bred preferred yearling sale this weekend in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. But numbers overall were mixed.

The two-night auction ended Sunday with a 16 percent loss in gross and a 4 percent dip in average, though the median climbed 11 percent. The buyback rate improved from last year’s figure of 46 percent to 34 percent.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Less than a week after its Saratoga select yearling sale posted losses across the board, Fasig-Tipton’s New York-bred preferred sale saw a slight gain of 2 percent in all categories at its first session.

Purses have been reduced and a stakes eliminated on the California Cup program at Santa Anita on Oct. 30, according to the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and the Oak Tree Racing Association.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Fasig-Tipton’s Saratoga select yearling sale is generally the playground of racehorse buyers rather than speculative yearling-to-juvenile resellers. This year those resellers – called pinhookers – had cautioned that they would continue to be conservative in their bidding for yearling resale prospects all season, so it was a surprise to see some prominent resellers making some splashy bids at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Fifteen members, including nine new members, were elected to the board of trustees of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association during a board meeting Wednesday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the organization said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga select yearling sale ended Tuesday with declines in gross and average and a single seven-figure yearling that reaffirmed what sales executives and sellers are now in the habit of calling "the new reality."

The first horse in the ring Tuesday night at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga select yearling sale was the auction's only million-dollar horse at a session that saw declines across the board.
Benjamin Leon's Besilu Stables, a relatively new buyer, bought the sale-topper, a $1.2 million A. P. Indy colt who is the first foal out of champion sprinter Maryfield, by Elusive Quality. Bluewater Sales agency sold the colt.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Stan Dodson, standing in the humid night air behind the Humphrey S. Finney sale pavilion, folded his yellow auction receipt, unperturbed, and said, “It was a buyback.”

Eskendereya, the Wood Memorial winner and early Kentucky Derby favorite before his retirement with an injury, will enter stud at Taylor Made Farm near Lexington, Ky.

Ahmed Zayat and Jess Jackson, who own the Giant’s Causeway colt, announced Monday that they had entered a partnership with the farm. Taylor Made stands six other stallions at the farm, including Unbridled’s Song, and stands 10 other stallions at other locations.

Zayat, Jackson, and Taylor Made have not yet announced a stud fee for Eskendereya, who will begin his stud career in 2011.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The racing career of Bold Chieftain – which lasted nearly five years, featured 17 wins, 13 stakes wins, and earnings of more than $1.5 million – ended with a last-place finish in the California Dreamin’ Handicap at Del Mar last Sunday.

It was a disappointing result for the 7-year-old, and one that led trainer and co-owner Bill Morey to announce earlier this week that Bold Chieftain was done racing and would be sent to stud in 2011, hopefully in California.