With his victory in the Grade 3 Maryland Breeders' Cup Sprint Handicap on Preakness Day, Friendly Island became the 11th New York-bred winner of an open stakes race in 2006.

A 5-year-old horse by Crafty Friend, owned by the Anstu Stables of Stuart and Anita Subotnick and trained by Todd Pletcher, Friendly Island won his first graded-stakes race after a succession of fine efforts in top company.

He sent his earnings to $426,214 with a record of 7-1-1 from 13 starts, defeating graded-stakes winners Kazoo and Gaff in the process.

Jeff Begg's Windways Farm will receive the Breeder of the Year Award for 2005 at the Ontario Division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society's annual awards dinner on June 19 at the Verdi Hospitality Centre in Etobicoke.

Also honored at the dinner will be all Ontario breeders of stakes winners last year. In a change from previous years, this year there will not be a recipient of the Mint Julep Cup, an award for lifetime contribution to the local industry.

A few weeks ago, California breeder Ellen Jackson reflected positively on how business was going at her Victory Rose Farm in Vacaville.

"It's been an excellent season, probably our best season yet," she recalls thinking at the time. "I was gloating on the fact that we hadn't had any problems. Everything was going so well."

That was before the bizarre events of May 14, when the stallion Corslew attacked Jackson after a breeding session. Jackson was later hospitalized with several injuries, including a punctured lung and broken ribs.

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's preferred juvenile sale in Timonium, Md., kept up the 2-year-old season's record momentum. One of the last juvenile auctions of the season, the two-day Midlantic sale ended Tuesday with a record gross of $21,236,500, a record average price of $57,396, and a record top price of $625,000.

LAS VEGAS - The Metropolitan Handicap, the traditional Memorial Day feature at Belmont Park, is America's most prestigious mile race. According to the old axiom, top milers make the best stallions, and judging from the roster of its past winners, this is the race breeders want to win.

A pair of cloned mules will compete against each other in June in the first races between two clones, University of Idaho researchers have confirmed.

The two cloned mules, Idaho Gem and Idaho Star, will compete in time trials over the weekend of June 3-4 at an annual mule racing event in Winnemucca, Nev. They are then likely to compete against other mules at the San Joaquin County Fair in Stockton, Calif., later in the month.

The clones will compete over 350 yards on both days at Winnemucca. There will be pari-mutuel wagering at the event.

A record $625,000 Johannesburg colt got the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic preferred 2-year-old sale off to a hot start Monday in Timonium, Md.

Agent Joe Brocklebank purchased the colt on behalf of Jeff Singer. Danzel Brendemuehl's Classic Bloodstock agency sold the colt, a son of the World Appeal mare Hasty Appeal. He is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Dr. Park and currently is named Zounds.

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's preferred 2-year-old sale in Timonium, Md., began Monday with a $425,000 Silver Deputy colt the early session leader.

Egyptian beverage magnate Ahmed Zayat purchased the colt, a son of Kopenhagen, from Murray Smith's consignment.

California breeder Ellen Lee Jackson was scheduled to be released from a hospital on Friday, less than a week after being attacked by the stallion Corslew at Jackson's Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville, Calif.

According to farm employee Monica Jordan, Jackson suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs in the May 14 attack, and she was expected to be released on Friday afternoon.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Irish classic winner Grey Swallow raised the bar for turf horses in America with his five-length victory in the Jim Murray Memorial at Hollywood Park on Saturday.