LAS VEGAS - As usual, the 3-year-olds are getting all the headlines on their way to the Triple Crown, but the older male division this year is promising to be a corker.
Although Afleet Alex has been retired to stud, many of last year's 3-year-olds who make up the core of this year's older runners are returning, and some have already served notice that they will be a force at 4.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Horatius, sire of champion sprinter Safely Kept, has died at age 31 in Maryland.
The pensioned stallion died in his sleep in his paddock on Feb. 3 at Charles and Cynthia McGinnes's Thornmar in Chestertown, Md.
Horatius had been pensioned since 2001, when arthritis in his hips made him too unsteady to breed. The Proudest Roman horse spent his entire breeding career at Thornmar.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Recent outbreaks of equine herpesvirus at racetracks in Kentucky and Maryland have put Bluegrass farms on alert. With breeding season set to open the week of Feb. 15, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club has warned breeders to take precautions against the disease, including vaccinating their horses.
Breeding season means farms will see a sharp increase in equine traffic, and that, breeders and farm managers fear, could help spread the disease.
The 2-year-olds in training auctions get underway Tuesday at Calder Race Course with one of four Florida sales hosted by the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company. Fasig-Tipton will conduct its annual 2-year-old auction, also at Calder Race Course, on Feb 28.
Sondra and Howard Bender, Maryland's leading breeders in 2001, '02, and '03, had an off season in 2005, with their stable of 20 homebreds landing "only" three stakes wins. But 2006 could be another banner year for the Benders, who so far this year have started eight horses and logged four wins, including a remarkable stakes-winning performance by the 4-year-old filly Promenade Girl.
The 5-year-old New York-bred mare Behaving Badly, known for brilliant speed in a brief career, elevated her game a notch with a powerful victory in the Grade 1 Santa Monica Handicap at Santa Anita last weekend.
The fact Behaving Badly was racing seven furlongs for the first time made no difference, as she rocketed away from a field that included Grade 1 winners Alphabet Kisses, Leave Me Alone, and Sharp Lisa in 1:21.93.
Like statebred 3-year-old turf filly J'ray, who is unbeaten in four starts on grass, Behaving Badly is now a major force in her division.
The retirement of Valentine Dancer and the possible retirement of Dream of Summer this winter will leave a void in the rankings of California-bred females.
Dream of Summer, who may make one more start and then be bred, has proven capable of winning stakes in open company as well as the statebred ranks. Her 2005 victories included the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap, Grade 3 Gardenia Handicap, and California Cup Matron.
New Zealand Bloodstock's premier yearling sale ended Wednesday with declines after posting a near-record top price. But company officials remained satisfied with the returns, pointing out that last year's auction featured the last yearlings by world-class sire Danehill.
The 2006 premier auction ended with 390 lots sold for about $34,145,462, for an average price of about $87,553 and a median of about $55,120. Considered in local currency, those figures were down 7 percent, 8 percent, and 11 percent, respectively.
Runway Model, a dual Grade 2 winner owned by Dr. Naveed Chowhan, has retired from racing and will be bred this season to Storm Cat.
A 4-year-old Petionville filly, Runway Model last raced in the Grade 3 Dogwood Breeders' Cup last June 11, finishing seventh. Bred by Everest Stables, Runway Model won a pair of Grade 2 events in 2004, the Alcibiades and the Golden Rod Stakes.
Brave Raj, North America's juvenile filly champion in 1986, died Jan. 28 in Lexington, Ky.
The 22-year-old mare had lost her Gulch foal on Jan. 21 but initially seemed to be recovering from that difficult birth. But she became unable to stand, probably because of a broken blood vessel, said Barry Ezrine, farm manager at Patchen Wilkes Farm, where Brave Raj lived.
