LEXINGTON, Ky. - With her victory in the Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga, Intangaroo has now won three Grade 1 stakes at sprint distances this year and has established herself as a favorite in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Oct. 24.

Already having won Grade 1 stakes at Santa Anita (Santa Maria) and Churchill (Humana Distaff) at seven furlongs - the distance of the Ballerina and the BC Filly and Mare Sprint - Intangaroo appears to have found her proper distance and seems indifferent to the surfaces she races on.

Juveniles had the chance to compete for a total of $250,000 on the evening of Aug. 23 in three new races added to Charles Town's stakes schedule. And Maryland-breds came away with the bulk of the loot.

Sweeping to a 5 1/2-length score in the $100,000 Miss Shenandoah Stakes was the filly Onearmedbandit, the first stakes winner for her sire, No Armistice.

A race later, Essenceofthemoon won the $100,000 Charles Town Juvenile Stakes by 2 1/2 lengths.

The increasing popularity of Woodbine's racing program, including a particularly lucrative Ontario-sired and -bred awards program, has lured some big name horsefolk to Toronto this year.

And at least one of them may be investing in the local market at the Canadian-bred yearling sale, which begins Sept. 2 with a select session.

North America's leading trainer Steve Asmussen, who has raced a string at Woodbine this year, is planning a trip to the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society auction.

These are not the best of times for owners and breeders in Florida, and they are not yet the worst of times. That time, to paraphrase the purview of John Penn, who sits on the boards of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company and the Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, could be coming.

“Things are not good in south Florida,” he said. “Business is way off at Calder Race Course and no one seems to know how to get it back.”

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company has cataloged 1,000 horses to its Oct. 6-8 fall mixed auction in Ocala, Fla, with the opening session devoted to consignor-preferred stock, followed by two open sessions. The catalog is now available at .

Lewis Michael, winner of this past Sunday's Pat O'Brien Handicap, will stand at Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky in 2009, the farm announced Tuesday.

A 5-year-old Rahy horse, Lewis Michael won the Pat O'Brien, a Grade 2 race at Del Mar, in track-record time of 1:21.17 for the seven furlongs, beating a field that included 2007 sprint champion Midnight Lute. The race was Lewis Michael's second Grade 2 win in track-record time. In 2007, he won the 1 3/16-mile Washington Park Handicap at Arlington in 1:21.17. He also won the Grand Canyon Handicap on turf in 2005.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Halsey Minor is old enough to remember when racing was a popular national pastime and Virginia-bred Secretariat became an American hero in the 1973 Triple Crown. And he’s optimistic enough to think there are more glory days ahead, both for racing in general and for Virginia Thoroughbreds in particular.

In fact, the 43-year-old Virginia native wants to ensure that happens. In the last year, he has launched ambitious efforts to restore two historic Thoroughbred fixtures to prominence: Miami’s Hialeah Park and his home state’s breeding industry.

Jerry Hollendorfer is a self-described workaholic, with stables running at full throttle in both northern and Southern California. In a training career dating back to 1979, he has won more than 5,000 races, and the end seems nowhere in sight.

These are nervous times for yearling sellers. The economy's slide, combined with the higher cost of raising horses, had many consignors worried as far back as last spring, well before the major yearling season opened.

The results of major select auctions this season offer some reassurance to upper-level consignors. But regional and open sales have largely confirmed sellers' fears for the rest of the market, suggesting sharply mixed results for the Keeneland yearling sale that runs Sept. 8-23.

When Headley Bell took over day-to-day management of Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Ky., last April, it was both a family duty and a labor of love. His grandfather, Hal Price Headley, was a founder of the Keeneland Association, and his mother, Alice Chandler, is the owner of the 1,100-acre Mill Ridge. His brothers, Mike and Reynolds, are well known in the horse business, Mike as a trainer and Reynolds as proprietor of the Reynolds Bell Thoroughbred Services agency.