Fasig-Tipton has cataloged 405 juveniles for its May 17 Midlantic 2-year-old auction in Timonium, Md. The sale also has been trimmed from two days to one this year.
"Both buyers and sellers, particularly those from out of town, indicated they would prefer one to two days, and we are happy to be able to accommodate them," said Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sales director Paget Bennett.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m. Under-tack previews will take place May 12-13, starting daily at 10 a.m.
A fire at the Indiana Stallion Station in Anderson, Ind., has killed at least 14 horses, including four mares and foals, but none of the farm's nine stallions.
The farm's stud barn was undamaged, according to reports in the local Herald Bulletin online. A farm employee noticed the fire between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Monday. One firefighter and three employees that had tried to help evacuate horses from the barn were treated for smoke inhalation after helping to save about 20 horses from the barn.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Multiple graded winner and millionaire Master Command, a third-season sire at Taylor Made Farm, was euthanized Tuesday after an accident. The 8-year-old A.P. Indy horse reared and lost his balance before an afternoon breeding session.
According to a farm announcement, the syndicated horse's condition did not improve after he was taken to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital.
Master Command was out of Lady Lochinvar, by Lord at War. He bred 134 mares last season and 127 in 2008, his first year at stud.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Johnson County (Kentucky) Circuit Court judge has ruled that James M. Lauffer, who purchased a half-interest in Rachel Alexandra in November 2008, owes adviser Jerry Brown of Thoro-Graph Inc. only a 5 percent commission on the $500,000 price Lauffer paid for his share in the filly. That totals $25,000, plus interest and court costs, which Lauffer also must pay.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The filly stretched and strained and a lead that was a length in early stretch was down to a neck at the finish of the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland last weekend.
The wire arrived just in time for Evening Jewel, who had lost the lead in major stakes earlier this year but not on the afternoon of April 3. The prestigious victory was a milestone win for the filly, and one owners Tom and Marilyn Braly of Indian Wells, Calif., cherished more than ever.
"It's been a fairly tale," Tom Braly said Thursday.
The Inglis Easter yearling sale near Sydney, Australia, ended Thursday with another seven-figure yearling but across-the-board declines.
Thursday's session-topper was a daughter of Zabeel and Gin Player who Lakeview Resources of Victoria bought from the New Zealand-based consignor Rich Hills Thoroughbreds. The price was approximately $1,196,000. That brought That brought the number of seven-figure horses at the auction to four, including the sale-topper, a Redoute's Choice-Regrowth colt who sold for about $1,725,000, earlier in the auction.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Most people in the 40515 zip code know John Spicer as the guy who delivers their mail, but he is also a Thoroughbred owner who could be headed to the Kentucky Derby on May 1. If Spicer's Triple Crown hopeful, Noble's Promise, performs well in Saturday's Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn, Spicer will be bringing a lot of people to the Kentucky Derby.
Noble's Promise has 24 owners in his Chasing Dreams Racing syndicate, but his entourage Saturday will number about 50 people - investors and their friends and relations.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Dixieland Band, the sire of more than 100 stakes winners and an influential broodmare sire, has died at age 30.
Lane's End Farm announced Thursday morning that Dixieland Band, a son of Northern Dancer, was euthanized Wednesday due to the infirmities of old age. Dixieland Band had been pensioned at the Versailles, Ky., farm since 2008. He will be buried at the Lane's End cemetery.
The Inglis Easter yearling sale's second session did not sustain the gains it posted on opening day, but the Australian auction did produce one million-dollar horse on Wednesday.
Wednesday's session-topper was a Redoute's Choice colt out of Asian Reef that Kitchwin Hills sold to bloodstock agent James Bester for about $1,104,000. The bay colt is a three-quarter-brother to Australian Group 1 winner Bon Hoffa and to record-setting Group 2 winner Before Too Long.
