LEXINGTON, Ky. - A. P Jet, New York's second-ranked sire, is improving after sustaining injuries in an accident at Howard Kaskel's Sugar Maple Farm in Poughquag, N.Y., on April 30, according to farm officials.

The accident occurred when A. P Jet became fractious and got away from his handler while being led to his paddock that morning. He ran to the paddock of another stallion, eighth-ranked Gold Token, who broke through his fence and fought with A. P Jet. The pair galloped off, and Gold Token was killed when he hit a tree.

May is when the 2-year-old season gathers steam, and five Florida-based stallions are already off the mark with winners and three of them are represented by a first crop at the races.

Gibson County (In Excess-Miss Gibson County, by Winrightt) has only 13 registered 2-year-olds in this, his first crop. Three of them have raced and two have won, collectively earning $76,515 and putting the McKathan Farm stallion on top of the state's 2-year-old earnings list.

Not so many moons ago, Marylander Brice Ridgely rose from obscurity in the Thoroughbred world to be hailed as the breeder of 2004 Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old Declan's Moon, a son of Malibu Moon.

Now Ridgely is approaching cloud nine as the co-owner of another offspring of Malibu Moon - the 3-year-old gelding Pagan Moon, a West Virginia-bred who is aiming for the Grade 3, $100,000 Hirsch Jacobs Stakes on the Preakness Day undercard.

The death of Gold Token and related injuries to A. P Jet dealt a blow to New York breeding last week.

Both stallions stood at Sugar Maple Farm.

According to a statement released by Sugar Maple Farm, A. P Jet got loose from his handlers and galloped over to Gold Token's paddock. Gold Token came through the fence to get at A. P Jet, and the two stallions began to fight and took off galloping beside the paddocks. Gold Token hit a tree and was killed.

On Friday, A. P Jet was at a veterinary clinic in New York in serious condition.

The winners of the six big events on California Gold Rush Day at Hollywood Park last weekend have major stakes on their agendas, with two runners being considered for stakes at Pimlico on Preakness weekend.

She's an Eleven, the winner of the Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, is being pointed for the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico on May 19, and Da Stoops, the winner of the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes last weekend, may start in the Preakness.

The other four major stakes winners on Gold Rush Day are expected to stay in Southern California.

A bill proposed by New York state Senator William Larkin would raise the distribution cap on New York breeders' awards, allowing the New York Breeding and Development Fund to give out more of its total revenue.

Larkin, who chairs the New York Senate's Racing Committee, has proposed that the statutory cap on distribution be raised from 50 percent of the fund's revenue to 65 percent, because of a sharp increase in the number of restricted New York-bred races. Since 2000, the number of New York-bred races at New York Racing Association tracks has ballooned from 452 to 722.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - With the Kentucky Derby favorite Brother Derek and other high-performing offspring, California-based stallion Benchmark is living up to his name and making himself the standard of excellence among sons of Alydar at stud.

Had Benchmark come along near the beginning of Alydar's stud career, he would have had a much different reception among national breeders and could have begun his career at stud in Kentucky, rather than the River Edge Farm of his owners, Pam and Marty Wygod, in California.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Having a Kentucky Derby contender is an obvious stroke of luck for a racehorse owner. But the immediate connections aren't the only ones who benefit from a Derby horse.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Baby Zip, dam of 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper and Grade 1 winner City Zip, has been named 2005's Broodmare of the Year.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association-Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders announced Baby Zip's award Thursday, along with Kentucky's statebred champions.

Baby Zip, a stakes-winning 15-year-old Relaunch mare, first reached national prominence as the dam of City Zip. That Carson City colt won the Grade 1 Hopeful in 2000 and seven other stakes, five of them graded, in 2000 and 2001.

Robert and Lawana Low bought their Kentucky Derby contender Steppenwolfer for a sale-topping $375,000 at last year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. April 2-year-old sale.

They came back this year to buy the auction's final session-topper on Friday, a $180,000 son of Broken Vow and Puddy Cat. Tom McCrocklin, agent, signed the ticket for the colt, who came from Nick de Meric's agency. The chestnut colt sold as Hip No. 1,237.