Barretts Sales in Pomona, Calif., will offer 133 horses at its March select sale of 2-year-olds in training March 22, a slight increase from a 2009 catalog that had 122 horses.

The increase can be attributed to support from Florida-based consignors, said Kim Lloyd, Barretts vice-president of sales.

"That will add some depth to the quality of the sale," he said.

In 2009, the sale saw 51 horses sell for an average of $123,280, down from the 73 horses that sold for $178,027 in 2008. The 2009 sale topper was a Tiznow colt purchased for $650,000.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has cataloged 340 horses to its March select 2-year-old sale, set for March 16-17 at 11 a.m. in Ocala, Fla. The under-tack show will take place in two sessions, with Hip Nos. 1-170 working on March 11 and Hip Nos. 171-340 working on March 12. Both previews are to begin at 9 a.m. OBS will offer live streaming video of the auction and under-tack shows at . Catalogs also are available online now.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Handicappers are making use of growing statistics on so-called "synthetic sires." But don't expect those statistics to alter Thoroughbred breeding any time soon, breeders say.

Retired trainer Hal Wiggins, who trained reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra through her 2009 Kentucky Oaks victory, has joined Legacy Bloodstock in Lexington, Ky., as an adviser.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Between them, Ernest Auerbach and Betty Mabee had some of their happiest times around Thoroughbreds and the people that care for them.

The two San Diego County breeders died earlier this month, and their families and employees remembered them on Thursday for their massive contributions to the sport.

Auerbach operated EA Ranches, while Mabee was the matriarch of Golden Eagle Farm, which at its height was the most powerful racing and breeding operation in the state.

When Kentucky State Senator Damon Thayer talks about the racing industry, he often uses the familiar "we," as in, "we need to talk with one voice." A former director of marketing for the Breeders' Cup who was first elected to the Kentucky Senate in 2002, Thayer has often held the racing industry's torch in Frankfort. But in the past several years, many people in the racing industry wish he would drop the "we," because they no longer consider him one of their own.

There's no doubt about it: Fewer stallions are breeding fewer mares in Kentucky these days.

There is no getting around the fact that the general economics of the horse business is crushing the acceptable level of stud fees to a third or a quarter of what they were in recent stallion crops.

The malaise has encouraged some owners with outstanding stallion prospects, such as champion Gio Ponti and classic winner Summer Bird, to go forth boldly and race again in 2010, because racing is at least as good a venue for earning money as breeding. Few people would have said the same just a few years ago.

Three horses brought $400,000 or more Tuesday at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's season-opening select juvenile sale, but the highly selective market also saw significant declines across the board.

The one-day auction in Ocala, Fla., had a smaller catalog than last year, and its gross fell 35 percent as 66 horses brought $6,414,000. Last year, 93 sold for $9,868,700. But the average price also lost ground, falling 8opercent from $106,115 to $97,182. The median fell 27 percent, from $90,000 to $66,000.

For a second straight year, the nation's economic downturn continues to be felt in the ranks of regional Thoroughbred breeders throughout the Midwest. The Report of Annual Mares Bred released by The Jockey Club in August confirmed that the number of mares serviced in regional breeding programs was declining. Nationally, The Jockey Club is projecting a 2010 foal crop of 30,000, the smallest foal crop produced since 1977.