The five-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s August yearling sale, which ended Friday, failed to match last year's strong results.

The 2005 auction opened with a one-day select session that could not keep pace with last year's record-setting select day.

Freshman sire Forest Camp has gotten off to a sharp start. He has eight winners from his first crop, and all of those won at first asking, said Brereton Jones, owner of Airdrie Stud, where Forest Camp stands.

"In all the years I've been in the horse business, I've never seen any sire have eight consecutive first-time starters win," Jones said. "And they're from Del Mar to Saratoga and from Japan to Puerto Rico."

Forest Camp's progeny so far include two stakes-placed runners, The Pharaoh and Hello Liberty.

Lady Tak, a multiple Grade 1-winning mare who earned more than $1 million, has been retired from racing, trainer Steve Asmussen said Friday.

Lady Tak, 5, has been sent to Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Lexington, Ky.

Asmussen said the decision to retire Lady Tak, owned by William Heiligbrodt, was made after it was determined she could not make Sunday's Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap, a race she won last year. Asmussen said he lost valuable training time with Lady Tak this spring when his Churchill Downs barn was one of three put under quarantine for equine herpes.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Dwain Davis, an investment banker from Paso Robles, Calif., and his family are in the process of buying Alex Trebek's Creston Farm in Creston, Calif., a deal that should be completed by the first week of October, Davis said Friday.

Davis said negotiations began earlier this year, when his family began exploring ways to invest in Thoroughbred racing. Creston Farm has been on the market for several months.

"We thought this was a good time to take a look at the market," Davis said of Thoroughbred racing. "We were pretty aggressive about it."

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A report from University of Louisville economic analysts - which Kentucky breeders hoped would resolve the debate over how the state's breeder incentive fund should be distributed - has backed a national distribution proposal. But the debate continues.

Limehouse, the winner of the Grade 2 Brooklyn Handicap this year, has been sold by Dogwood Stable to the Vinery farm, outside of Lexington, Ky. Limehouse will be retired at the end of this year, according to a release from Dogwood.

Limehouse, who has a record of 7 wins from 19 starts, including three graded stakes wins, is by Grand Slam out of the Dixieland Band mare Dixieland Blues. Dogwood's release said the horse will be syndicated, although a share price and stud fee have not yet been set.

"She was an ugly duckling, but we saw something special," said Charles McGinnes about a filly he and his wife bred named Foolish Kisses.

Charles and Cynthia McGinnes, named Maryland's breeders of the year last year, have spent many years evaluating horses. When they offered their friend Dr. Philip Torsney, an allergist and longtime breeder from Red Bank, N.J., the opportunity to purchase Foolish Kisses as a yearling in 1992, he gladly accepted.

"It was a very reasonable price," noted Torsney.

Monday's opening-day session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's five-day yearling auction, which ran through Friday, confirmed what many predicted: The market for young racehorses is two-tiered. At the upscale end, there is no shortage of money in pursuit of a well-made, athletic horse. At the tail end, the bidding dollars can be scarce.

The results of the annual New York-bred yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, conducted by Fasig-Tipton Company on Aug. 14-15, were similar to those of the 2004 version. The average price per yearling declined a bit, from $49,969 to $47,386, while the median increased from $40,500 to $45,000.

Gross receipts for 105 sold were $4,975,500, compared to 112 sold for $5,596,500 in 2004.

Grade 1 winner Colonial Colony has retired from the racetrack and will enter stud at Doug Arnold's Buck Pond Farm near Versailles, Ky.

His stud fee will be announced at a later date.

A 7-year-old Pleasant Colony horse, Colonial Colony won last year's Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap, beating Southern Image and Perfect Drift. He also finished second in the Grade 3 National Jockey Club Handicap in 2003 and 2004. He retires from the Lakeside Farms stable, trained by Dallas Stewart, with a 4-9-6 record from 40 starts and $921,345 in earnings.