Phil Fanning has always considered his victory aboard Ned's Flying in the 1958 running of the Maryland Hunt Cup as "the peak of my existence." But, at age 82, Fanning may change his mind.
If Great Hunter, a colt bred by Fanning at his Ivy Dell Farm near Unionville, Pa., wins this year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Fanning says he'll "be inclined to forget about the Maryland Hunt Cup."
With her victory in last Sunday's Miss Grillo Stakes at Belmont Park, Chestoria became the 21st New York-bred to win an open stakes race in 2006.
A 2-year-old daughter of Chester House, Chestoria first hinted at her potential in her second start, when she scored a nine-length maiden win on the Belmont turf in restricted company on Oct. 6. She followed by winning the Miss Grillo, in which she finished 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.82. By comparison, Pickapocket needed 1:52.62 to win the 1 1/8-mile Pilgrim Stakes, the male counterpart to the Miss Grillo which was run three races later.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Keeneland September yearling sale presents a big test for each year's first-crop sires. With such a large auction catalog - this year consisting of a record 5,161 - the sale provides one of the best early measures of how freshman sires will be received in the marketplace, before their runners hit the track.
Sunny's Halo, one of only two Canadian-breds to win the Kentucky Derby, was in the local news again this week when his Derby trophy, presented to trainer Dave Cross Jr., finally found a permanent home at the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame at Woodbine.
Cross had sold the trophy late in 2002 on eBay for $8,900, but this past summer the trophy resurfaced and was donated to the Hall of Fame by the trophy's current owners, Patti Cross, Earl Daynes, and Joe Trdak.
Chances are high that the Barretts October mixed sale on Monday and Tuesday in Pomona, Calif., will not be an expensive affair.
Last year, for example, the sale-topper was a broodmare that sold for $82,000. In 2004, the sale-topper was Cheiron, the 2004 Snow Chief Stakes winner who sold for $165,000 as part of a dispersal. The top seller other than the dispersal horses was a broodmare that sold for $60,000.
The Jockey Club recently reported that 17 Florida stallions each had a book of 100 mares or more in 2006. The trend toward bigger books is happening throughout the industry, especially when stallions do double duty and stand on both sides of the equator. But books of 100 or more are relatively new for Florida.
Among the 17 Florida stallions with triple-digit books are five freshmen, including the state's leader, Wildcat Heir, who stands at Cloverleaf Farms II for $8,000. The 6-year-old sprinter was bred to 173 mares.
Doug Arnold's Buck Pond Farm near Versailles, Ky., will reduce the fees for two of its stallions in 2007. The Danzig stallion Lost Soldier, sire of 2005 champion sprinter Lost in the Fog, will stand for $7,500, down from his $12,500 fee this year. Morluc, a 10-year-old Housebuster horse who has no runners yet, will drop from $5,000 to $3,500.
Northview Stallion Station in Maryland has reduced the fee for the state's leading sire, Not for Love, from $25,000 to $20,000 for the coming breeding season.
Not for Love, a 16-year-old Mr. Prospector horse, has more than $3.7 million in progeny earnings this year. His top runners include 2006 Grade 3-placed Love of Money and 2006 stakes winners Shades of Sunny and Ironton.
Northview also has made the fee for fifth-ranked Maryland sire Two Punch private for 2007. The Mr. Prospector stallion, who will be 24 next year, stood for $25,000 in 2006.
Distorted Humor, North America's seventh-leading sire whose 2006 stakes winners include Funny Cide, Flower Alley, and It's No Joke, will stand for $225,000 in 2007.
Standing at WinStar Farm, Distorted Humor stood for $150,000 last season.
WinStar's president, Doug Cauthen, said in announcing the raise that WinStar plans to breed She's a Winner, dam of 2006 Haskell winner Bluegrass Cat, to Distorted Humor in 2007.
Distorted Humor is a 13-year-old son of Forty Niner and Danzig's Beauty, by Danzig.
The New York Breeders Sales Company fall mixed sale, at Saratoga Race Course on Oct.o15, posted big gains over the corresponding sale of 2005.
The company sold 179 horses for $1,373,451, for an average of $7,673, with 91 not sold as RNA (reserve not attained).
In 2005, the sales company sold 116 horses for $690,500, for an average of $5,953 with 128 listed as not sold.
This was the fourth sale conducted by the company since it began operations in 2004.