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 Horsemens 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.
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 hes 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: Miamis Hialeah Park and his home states breeding industry.
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.
As Big Brown rose to glory last spring, Paul Pompa Jr. was the story behind the story. Pompa had sold majority interest to the IEAH Stables while retaining a quarter-share in the colt.
But as the man who initially recommended that Pompa buy an unraced 2-year-old who eventually was named Big Brown, Jack Brothers is the story behind the story behind the story.
The obvious thread linking Fusaichi Pegasus, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Curlin, and Big Brown is that each horse won one or more Triple Crown races in the past eight years.
The less obvious thread is that Robert Beck, a Lexington, Ky., lawyer who was recently named chairman of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, put together the deals to either sell or syndicate the horses for stallion duty.