Owning and breeding a stakes-caliber filly can lead to admiration from other horsemen. Just ask Rick Waller. In the last few months, he and his wife, Sharon, have watched Swiss Diva develop from a maiden claimer to a stakes winner.

"I thought there must be something going on," Waller said. "People know my name around the track."

The Wallers are hoping that Swiss Diva can remain the center of attention when she starts in the $200,000 Melair Stakes at Hollywood Park on April 29.

Justin Casse, 27, is the youngest son of Norman E. Casse, who is the owner of Cardinal Hill Farm, many times a director of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association, current director of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. and for a quarter-century its chairman. Justin Casse is also the brother of Mark Casse, winner of the 2006 Sovereign Award as Canada's leading trainer.

But although he was constantly exposed to the horse business, Justin Casse had other ideas when he enrolled in Florida State University nine years ago.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When Dominican crossed the finish line of the Blue Grass Stakes with his nose in front, he scored a victory for a small breeding operation with strong ties to central Kentucky's Thoroughbred business.

The lone New York-bred sold at last Tuesday's Keeneland 2-year-olds in training sale was purchased for $500,000.

Consigned by Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock, agent, the son of Horse of the Year Mineshaft was bought by Dennis O'Neill.

It was the fourth-highest price among the 82 juveniles sold at Keeneland.

Named Explosive Surge, the colt is out of the Cox's Ridge mare Immerse, who is also the dam of Stephen Got Even, winner of the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, and of Indy Glory, winner of the Videogenic Stakes and placed in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes.

With his second-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, Friendly Island became the 19th New York-bred millionaire.

A 6-year-old horse bred by Kildare Stud and Adrian Regan, Friendly Island sent his earnings to $1,369,714 and has a record of

9-2-2 from 19 starts.

Owned by Stuart and Anita Subotnick, Friendly Island won the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita before his effort in Dubai. Winner also of the Grade 3 Maryland Breeders' Cup, he placed in the Forego and Breeders' Cup Sprint, both Grade 1 events.

Two-year-old racing is in high gear at racetracks around North America, including Woodbine, which held its first pair of two-furlong dashes this weekend and has two more in the condition book on April 28 and 29.

When trying to pick a winner in these races, handicappers should not look for only the fancy first-crop sires, because a lot of 2-year-old races are won this time of year by the offspring of stallions you might never have heard of, and might not hear from again until next spring.

Harry Aleo had much to mourn following the death of his Eclipse champion sprinter Lost in the Fog. That caliber champion comes along but once in a lifetime for a relatively small racing stable - perhaps not.

The weather conditions did not match the mood at Abbott Ranch in tiny Oro Grande, Calif., on Thursday afternoon.

While the wind kicked up, with gusts as high as 40 miles per hour, and a rare rain shower blew through the high desert town, ranch owner Buck Abbott was in high spirits.

Earlier in the day, across the nation, One Hot Wish, by Abbott Ranch stallion Bring the Heat, won a maiden race at Keeneland by 12 3/4 lengths, finishing 4 1/2 furlongs in the world-record time of 48.87 seconds. She will be sold Tuesday at Keeneland's 2-year-old sale.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Breeding a Kentucky Derby winner is a triumph for any horse owner, and Nobiz Like Shobiz - bred and raced by Elizabeth Valando - will be one of the favorites for this year's running of the Kentucky classic after his victory in the Wood Memorial last Saturday.

Valando and her late husband, Tommy, owned juvenile champion Fly So Free, who ran fifth in the 1991 Kentucky Derby and played an indirect role in the breeding of Nobiz Like Shobiz.

Veterinarian Renee Nodine and her husband, Alex Levengood, have weathered several storms at Horse Shoe Valley Equine, which they established in fall 2003 in Annville, Pa.

The first was an actual tornado, which touched down at their Thoroughbred nursery near the famous chocolate town of Hershey during summer 2004. The tornado wreaked havoc on fences and the exterior of their house, but miraculously spared the barn housing their horses. Everyone emerged safely, including future graded stakes winner Control System, who was a weanling at the time.