ARCADIA, Calif. - As a group, the owners of Lava Man - Jason Wood and the father-son team of Dave and Steve Kenly - seemed subdued in the moments after their gelding won the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita on Jan. 28.

MIAMI - Fasig-Tipton's select juvenile auction sold 154 racing prospects at Calder Race Course on Tuesday, but it will go down in history for just one: a $16 million Forestry-Magical Masquerade colt, the most expensive horse sold at public auction.

After a grueling bidding war against Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's agent, John Ferguson, Coolmore Stud agent Demi O'Byrne signed for the record-breaking colt. The colt will be trained by Todd Pletcher, according to O'Byrne.

MIAMI - It was one of those last-minute decisions. Dean De Renzo was sitting next to his business partner, trainer Randy Hartley, at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale last July, and Hartley had just bowed out on the bidding for a striking Forestry colt. The auctioneer had his gavel suspended, about to hammer the colt down to another bidder, when De Renzo suddenly raised his hand and bid $425,000, more than they had planned to spend on a horse that they hoped to resell profitably seven months later as a juvenile.

LAS VEGAS - Winner of the Hopeful and Champagne stakes, First Samurai was the leader of last year's 2-year-old division until he finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile behind Stevie Wonderboy. Possessing high speed and high class, he is one of only a few runners by Giant's Causeway to demonstrate his talent on dirt.

At nine furlongs, the Fountain of Youth Stakes should answer whether First Samurai will be a major contender for the Kentucky Derby or Metropolitan Mile.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Top This and That made only two starts for his breeders, Tom and Debbie Stull, before he was claimed for $40,000 after a win at Santa Anita in January 2005.

In the last year, Tom Stull has watched Top This and That earn more than $200,000 for a four-man partnership and slowly rise in class to join the list of probable starters for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap next Saturday.

Some breeders may react with disgust that a horse got away from them and went on to improve, but Stull insists he has taken an opposite approach.

The year's second 2-year-olds in training sale begins Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Calder Race Course. Fasig-Tipton's selected sale has cataloged 308 horses and 43 of them are Florida-breds. Last year Fasig-Tipton cataloged 355 horses, 47 of them Florida-breds.

Only eight of this year's sales horses are by current Florida sires. The sires are: Exchange Rate (who stands at Padua Stables), Red Bullet (Adena Springs South), Three Wonders (Hartley/DeRenzo Walmac South), Tiger Ridge (Hidden Point Farm), and Trippi (Ocala Stud).

How many stallions are too many? Don Litz, founder and president of Maryland Stallion Station, said that he and his partner, David DiPietro, considered that question carefully before adding yet another new horse to the farm's burgeoning roster for 2006.

Sixteen New York-bred juveniles are cataloged to the Fasig-Tipton Calder selected 2-year-olds in training sale at Calder, which begins 11 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

New York stallion Freud, who stands at Lakland North in Hudson, is represented by two colts and a filly in the sale, all of whom are New York-breds.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Legislation that supporters hope will curtail fraud in horse sales passed Kentucky's House of Representatives in an 84-14 vote on Tuesday.

The bill, HB 446, would require bloodstock agents who represent both the buyer and the seller in a transaction - a practice known as dual agency - to disclose that fact to both clients and obtain written consent from them. It also would prohibit undisclosed commissions to an agent, require a written bill of sale in transactions, and allow victims of fraud to receive triple the damages in addition to costs and attorneys fees.

LAS VEGAS - Winner of the 2001 Preakness, Belmont, Travers, Haskell Invitational, and San Felipe stakes as well as the Santa Anita Derby, Point Given was not only the 3-year-old champion, he was also Horse of the Year, and his first-crop foals are turning into formidable runners at age 3.