OCALA, Fla. - Marion County farms have another round of stallion showings Saturday. The purpose of these stallion showcases is to reacquaint breeders with resident stallions and introduce new stallions that will be entering stud in 2008. Saturday's stallion shows include Lambholm South, Vinery, and Journeyman Stud.

Lambholm South will present seven stallions at its noon to 3 p.m. showing: Alysweep, Leading the Parade, Express Tour, Max's Pal, Safe in the USA, Lido Palace, and Agnes Gold.

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's two-day December mixed sale in Timonium, Md., ended Monday with mixed results as gross and average fell but median gained.

The auction sold 287 horses for $2,056,500, a decline of 23 percent from last year's sale, when 338 horses sold. The 2007 average price dropped 10 percent, from $7,924 to $7,166. But median price rose by 9 percent, climbing from $3,200 to $3,500. The buy-back rate also increased from last season's 34 percent to 39 percent.

Grade 2 winner Teuflesberg, who is recovering from a sesamoid injury he sustained in the Grade 3 Phoenix Stakes on Oct. 6, has been sold for an undisclosed sum and will stand stud at Hurricane Hall. The 3-year-old Johannesburg colt will start his stud career in 2008 at $10,000.

Hurricane Hall president Ben Walden Jr. said the partnership that raced Teuflesberg - trainer Jamie Sanders, her fiance Donnie Kelly, and partners Jeff Singer and Gary Logsdon - sold the colt outright to a new partnership group that includes Hurricane Hall.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. in Ocala, Fla., is the latest auction house to ban anabolic steroids in sale horses within 45 days of an auction, starting with the company's Feb. 12 select 2-year-old sale.

The company announced the policy Tuesday, following similar announcements by Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton. OBS will allow buyers to request tests for steroids and to rescind purchases in the event of a positive test.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - This season began with unusual promise as a group of five or six unusually good young stallions had their first foals coming to the races in 2007. Of the premier group, Aldebaran, Mineshaft, and Vindication all have had some moments in the spotlight with their first-season racers, and the days are still very early to make any sweeping judgments about their long-term prospects as sires.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Thoroughbred stud farms in Alberta, Canada, have been highly active in the United States stallion market this fall. Encouraged by a favorable exchange rate, such operations as Highfield Stock Farm, Bar None Ranches, and Esquirol Farms have all come across the border to purchase new stallions for their province, which is benefiting from a booming energy market, generous breeders' awards, and the construction of a combined racetrack, slots parlor, and retail facility in Balzac, near Calgary.

Maryland breeder Margaret Crane, the former Margaret Addis, is so busy, she's nearly impossible to pin down. And the St. Leonard, Md., resident and real estate attorney is even busier than usual, now that she is in the process of moving after recently getting married.

But stop her and get her talking about her small band of mares and the runners they've produced, and she will tell you all about them.

Two stakes wins by the outstanding 3-year-old Unusual Suspect in November have helped push his sire, Unusual Heat, higher in California's stallion rankings. The timing could not be better.

As breeders consider what stallions to choose for their mares for the upcoming breeding season, Unusual Heat is in a tight race for second among state stallions ranked by progeny earnings.

Through Thursday, Bertrando led with earnings of $3,962,851, but Deputy Commander ($3,395,944), In Excess ($3,352,458), and Unusual Heat ($3,348,188) were all having excellent seasons.

Defer, a graded-stakes-winning son of Danzig, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at Empire Stud near Hudson, N.Y. The 5-year-old will stand the 2008 breeding season for $6,500.

The homebred raced for Dinny Phipps and was trained by Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

Defer was a first-out winner as a juvenile at Belmont Park, a fact not lost on Empire Stud co-owner James LaMonica.

The first of three stallion shows this weekend in Florida will take place Saturday between 2 and 5 p.m. at Hartley DeRenzo Thoroughbreds in Ocala.

Hartley DeRenzo has added Simon Pure, a stakes-winning son of Silver Deputy out of the champion older mare Life's Magic, to its eclectic group of eight stallions.

The farm's stallions will be shown informally from 2 to 3, followed by a buffet and a formal showing of the stallions at 4. Those interested in breeding bookings for 2008 will be able to bid on the farm's stallions.