Seven horses fetched $1 million (Australian) or more Tuesday at the opening session of Australia's Inglis Easter yearling sale, boosting the auction's opening-day figures.
The select auction closed its first session with a Redoute's Choice colt the top price at $2 million, or about $1,475,500 U.S. Australian bloodstock agent Rob McAnulty bought the colt, a son of Urge to Merge. Arrowfield Stud sold the session-topper, a half-brother to Group 1 winner Suntagonal.
An Orientate colt worked a quarter-mile in 22 seconds to top Monday's second under-tack preview for Keeneland's select juvenile sale.
The colt, Hip No. 12, is part of Kip Elser's Kirkwood agency consignment. He is from the first crop of champion Orientate.
The day's fastest workers over an eighth of a mile were Hip Nos. 128 and 162, who covered the distance in 10.80 seconds. Hip No. 128 is a colt by freshman sire Buddha out of Grade 3-placed Comical Cat. Consigned by the Leprechaun Racing agency, he is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Cat's Career.
It has been a busy year for Eddie Woods, who has taken 2-year-old consignments to all the major sales so far this year and has 26 more cataloged for upcoming sales in April.
"I've got horses to sell at the Keeneland 2-year-old sales next Tuesday, and then it's back to Ocala," he said, referring to the Ocala Breeders' Sales auction from April 25-28.
Woods has prepped more than 100 2-year-olds for the sales this year, and there are still more to sell in June.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The victory of Kentucky Derby prospect Bob and John in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial is not the first for the Stonerside Stable of Robert and Janice McNair. In 2001, Congaree won the Wood in the Stonerside colors before racing to a game third in the Kentucky Derby.
If Bob and John compiles a record equal to Congaree's, Stonerside will have plenty more to cheer about, as Congaree won a dozen races and earned more than $3.2 million, with five Grade 1 successes as a measure of the horse's stature over the breadth of his career.
On Monday, Cozy Guy, the winner of the 2004 California Cup Classic, will be transferred from Double J Farm to nearby Moody Creek Farm in Bonsall, Calif., where he will soon begin late exercise.
It is an event that seemed impossible last summer, when Cozy Guy was fighting for his life with a severe liver ailment. At times during July and August, co-owner Lance Hayes was resigned to losing Cozy Guy. Now he is wondering if Cozy Guy can make a comeback.
"I hope this continues to be lucky," Hayes said.
Rockport Harbor, winner of the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes in 2004 and recently retired, will stand at Darley at Jonabell farm in Kentucky for the 2007 breeding season, farm officials said Thursday.
Rockport Harbor, 4, whose retirement was prompted by a nagging foot injury, was purchased by Darley from owner Rick Porter of Fox Hill Farm after finishing fifth in the March 12 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park, according to Dan Pride, the director of stallion operations at Darley. Pride declined to reveal the purchase price.
A stud fee will be set in the fall, Pride said.
LAS VEGAS - Because of its date on the racing calendar and its location at Keeneland in the heart of the Thoroughbred industry, the Blue Grass Stakes has always been an important prep for the Kentucky Derby. This year's race should provide great theater because of three major colts: First Samurai, Bluegrass Cat, and Strong Contender.
There has been much speculation that First Samurai may not want 1 1/4 miles, but his pedigree suggests he should not have a problem with distance.
Borrego, the winner of the 2005 Pacific Classic and Jockey Club Gold Cup, has been retired from racing and will stand in 2007 at the Lexington, Ky., farm Wintergreen Stallion Station, the breeding operation owned by the family of the horse's trainer and co-owner, Beau Greely.
Diesis, a 26-year-old stallion with 83 stakes winners, has been pensioned at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Ky., because of physical problems, according to the farm's stallion marketing manager, Bayne Welker.
Diesis, a son of Sharpen Up and the Reliance mare Doubly Sure, was bred and raced in Great Britain. He has stood at John and Alice Chandler's Mill Ridge Farm since 1984 after being retired in his 3-year-old season. A champion colt at 2 in England, Diesis has shown an affinity for siring successful grass horses that run in Europe despite standing in the United States.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Following in the traditions of Smarty Jones, who was bred in Pennsylvania, and Afleet Alex, raced by Cash Is King Stable, whose members live in the Philadelphia area, Florida Derby winner Barbaro is owned and bred by Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who live in West Grove, Pa., and race horses in the name of Lael Stable.