The effect of fast horses on people watching them should never be underestimated. At the races or at the sales, the best returns go to the horses with the kind of speed to burn up the track.

The perception of extraordinary speed in the eye of a buyer or his advisers is the key to the sales market for 2-year-olds in training. The young athletes who have the early maturity and natural speed to run a furlong or two at full throttle bring hefty prices. And 2-year-olds in training do this before many of them have reached their chronological second birthdays.

Dean De Renzo, chairman of the National Association of 2-Year-Old Consignors, has made a full career in the Thoroughbred business by playing in just about every part of the game. A native of Staten Island, N.Y., De Renzo started off with his family's Quarter Horses at rodeos, but when he moved to attend college in Southern California, De Renzo discovered the Thoroughbred world while hauling horses as a part-time job. Ultimately, he abandoned plans for a veterinary career and opted for a career that has made him one of the nation's leading 2-year-old consignors and a farm owner, too.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When the Dow Jones Industrial Average played hopscotch near the 11,000 mark recently, it seemed as if the mavens of Wall Street finance had finally caught on to the sense of well-being that the horse markets have found over the last 18 months or so.

In that regard, the markets for Thoroughbred racing and breeding prospects have been a steadier and more accurate indicator than the trend lines that most Wall Street analysts use.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's winter mixed sale ended Friday with a gain in total gross for the four-day sale. The auction in Ocala, Fla., sold a total of 744 horses for gross receipts of $10,557,900, up from last year's cumulative gross of $8,929,600 for 684 horses. The average of $14,191 was almost 9 percent higher than last year's average of $13,055.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Suances, a Group 1 winner in France in 2000, never had a chance to prove himself as a racehorse in the United States.

Shortly after arriving in this country, Suances suffered a serious leg injury that required surgery. The subsequent layoff forced him to miss his 4-year-old season in 2001. Suances returned to racing in 2002 and made only five more starts, but won two stakes.

There was much on the plate for Florida breeders and owners this past week. A number of farms conducted stallion shows from Jan. 14-18. The annual Florida Thoroughbred Owners' and Breeders' Association awards banquet was held on Monday evening, Jan. 16. Tuesday, the Ocala Breeders' Sales mixed sales began, and on Tuesday evening Florida Thoroughbred Charities Inc. held its annual auction of no-guarantee seasons.

The veteran Regal Classic, annually a leading sire in New York, had progeny earnings of $3,189,757 in 2005 to finish second to A. P Jet among state stallions.

A 21-year-old son of Vice Regent and grandson of Northern Dancer, Regal Classic stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds for a fee of $10,000 for the 2006 season.

Longevity and durability define Maryland's leading breeder, runner, and stallions of 2005.

Maryland's dominant breeder of the 1990's, Robert E. Meyerhoff, again tops the list. Awarded breeder-of-the-year honors by the Maryland Horse Breeders Association eight times since 1986, Meyerhoff last topped the rankings in 2000.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s winter mixed sale rolled into its third and final consignor-preferred session Thursday off declines the previous day. But the top of the market in Ocala, Fla., was strong enough Thursday to produce a pair of six-figure horses by 5 p.m.

One day after posting mixed returns in its opening session, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's winter mixed sale in Florida continued its four-day run Wednesday with a $160,000 El Corredor colt the early leader.

The Wednesday session was the second of three consignor-preferred sessions. As of 5 p.m., the market appeared polarized. Upper-market stock brought strong prices, but buy-backs also littered the results sheet, with 60 of the first 250 lots failing to reach their reserve prices.