ARCADIA, Calif. - The newly created Eclipse Award for female sprinters has given trainer Don Chatlos a lofty goal this year for his star filly Shaggy Mane.
Along with the partnership that owns the 4-year-old California-bred - IEAH Stables, Jim Kwong, and Sanford Robbins - Chatlos is convinced that Shaggy Mane can compete for the new Eclipse Award, which will be awarded for the first time after the 2007 season.
Chatlos plans to give Shaggy Mane every chance to earn that coveted prize.
OCALA, Fla. - Barry and Shari Eisaman operate their sales business as Eisaman Equine, and they have chosen to concentrate their offerings of 2-year-olds in training at the March select auction of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company.
Although there are two other select juvenile sales in February, Eisaman Equine begins its sales season with the OBS March auction.
In the days preceding Tuesday and Wednesdays Ocala Breeders Sales Co.s select auction of 2-year-olds in training, the prevailing sentiment was that this sale could test the middle of the market.
We passed the test, said Tom Ventura, the general manager and sales director of the OBS, and the sales results show that Ventura was on the mark.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - By winning the Tampa Bay Derby in track-record time of 1:43.11 for 1 1/16 miles, Street Sense has thrown down the gauntlet to any classic colts who want to challenge his dominance in the division. Anyone wanting classic glory has this bay son of Street Cry to beat.
Street Sense nipped the talented and progressive Any Given Saturday in the Tampa Bay Derby, and both colts should progress through the season and show appreciation for classic distances.
The juvenile sales tempo accelerates this week with the Adena Springs auction of homebred 2-year-olds in training set for Monday afternoon at 5 p.m. There are 141 cataloged for this sale, which is managed by the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. The auction, however, does not take place at the OBS facilities but at Adena Springs South, about 20 miles north of Ocala.
The OBS March selected sale of 2-year-olds in training begins Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. There are 259 2-year-olds cataloged to sell in the first session and 261 for the second and final session on Wednesday.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Sales Integrity Task Force, which hammered out a nonbinding code of ethics for the bloodstock industry in 2004, is assembling a new team to tackle the issue of ownership disclosure again. And this time, the panel likely will include members from outside the Thoroughbred breeding and racing industry.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The 17 California-breds offered at Tuesday's Barretts March Sale of 2-year-olds in-training comprised less than 10 percent of the catalog, but they still had a significant impact on the one-day sale.
Among the 17, seven listed as sold, is a Cape Town filly that went for $800,000, the most expensive female purchased at the sale. The seven that were sold grossed $1,640,000 for an average of $234,285. There were six listed as not sold and four were withdrawn.
The English-based Les Arcs, who began his 6-year-old season as a relative unknown on both sides of the Atlantic, produced two remarkable efforts within 21 days during the summer of 2006. His victories in the Golden Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot and the July Cup at Newmarket, both Group 1 races on the turf, netted Les Arcs not only the majority of his $855,075 in earnings for the year, but also the titles of Maryland-bred horse of the year, champion older horse, champion turf horse, and champion sprinter in the annual poll conducted by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association.
This continues a review of New York stallions that will be represented by their first crop of runners in 2007.
Hook and Ladder: This son of Dixieland Band stands at Sequel Stallions New York, in Hudson, N.Y., for a fee of $6,000.
Winner of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Breeders Cup Sprint Handicap and Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Handicap, Hook and Ladder has been well received at auction. He was among the national leaders in terms of return on investment for a first- crop yearling sire in 2006.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Like a charmed princess, the royally pedigreed Rags to Riches has galloped into the spotlight as a classic candidate. A winner in 3 of her 4 starts, Rags to Riches has been so convincing in her last two performances - both victories in Grade 1 stakes - that the chestnut filly is even being considered for the Kentucky Derby.