Business for the first half of 2005 was good in Florida. New farms are being constructed all over Marion County. Real estate values are soaring, up by some 24 percent in the past year, according to real estate surveys.
The 2005 2-year-old sales so far have held their own; the gross was up, while the averages and medians were down a bit off a record year.
Pennsylvania's Day at the Races, July 23 at Philadelphia Park, boosted the fortunes of many state-breds. But it was a special boon to the connections of the 4-year-old gelding Nittany Express.
Nittany Express put an exciting finish on the 1 1/16-mile Iroquois Handicap, one of six stakes restricted to Pennsylvania-breds on the card. Bet down to near even-money in the field of five, Nittany Express rallied furiously from off the pace under jockey Thomas Clifton and nipped multiple stakes winner Yo by a head at the wire.
DEL MAR, Calif. - The stallion One Man Army has a perfect record with his first crop - one stakes winner from one foal.
Last weekend, Soldier's Kiss, a filly by One Man Army, won her fourth consecutive start in the $100,000 Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar, a sprint for California-bred 3-year-old fillies. She is the only filly that One Man Army produced in 2002.
The win was particularly gratifying to owner-breeder-trainer Bruce Headley, who raced One Man Army and bought him as a yearling.
"I've always wanted to breed my own," Headley said.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has introduced a bill designed to encourage investment in the horse industry and give horse owners access to programs that other livestock owners already can use.
The legislation would reduce the capital gains holding period for horses from 24 months to 12 months, reduce the depreciation period from seven years to three years, and make horses eligible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's livestock disaster-assistance programs.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - One of the elder statesmen of Kentucky breeding, the Sharpen Up stallion Diesis, fired up another good one in Europe over the weekend, as his daughter New Girlfriend, out of the Dynaformer mare New Story, won the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin against colts.
New Girlfriend comes by her precocity honestly. New Story was second in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac in France late in her 2-year-old season, and Diesis was the leading juvenile colt of his year in England, when he won the Group 1 Dewhurst and Middle Park stakes.
Keeneland has cataloged a record 5,110 yearlings to its September yearling sale, which will run this year from Sept. 12 to 26.
The sale will have a dark day on Friday, Sept. 16.
The catalog will include 2,668 colts, two geldings, and 2,440 fillies. The total surpasses the September auction's previous record of 4,891, which was set at last year's sale.
Keeneland's director of sales, Geoffrey Russell, attributed the rise in numbers partly to the September sale's popularity.
LAS VEGAS - Every decade since the 1950's, the Phipps family has bred champion fillies, and most of them became valuable broodmares. After Smuggler's authoritative victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks and prior win in the Mother Goose Stakes, she is the pro-tem leader of the 3-year-old filly division, and could be the first champion for the Phippses this century.
Madcap Escapade, one of the nation's top female sprinters, has torn a ligament in her left front leg and has been retired, trainer Frank Brothers said Tuesday.
Brothers said Madcap Escapade was "off" shortly after a victory in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Stakes at Calder on July 10. She was then sent to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., where Dr. Larry Bramlage diagnosed her torn ligament following an MRI.
Henny Hughes, the dominant winner of the Tremont Stakes and one of the favorites for Thursday's Grade 2 Saratoga Special, has been sold to Sheikh Rajid bin Mohammed al Maktoum, the son of Sheikh Mohammed.
Henny Hughes, who is 2 for 2, will race under the Darley Stable banner in North America, according to Omar Trevino, the agent directly involved in the sale. Henny Hughes will remain in trainer Patrick Biancone's barn.
Sources familiar with the sale said the purchase price was about $4.3 million. Trevino denied the price was that high and would not disclose the figure.
Mambo Slew, a two-time Grade 3 winner, has been retired to the pastures at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., her owners announced Monday. Mating plans have not been decided for Mambo Slew, a 4-year-old Kingmambo filly.
Mambo Slew, a homebred campaigned mainly in turf races by Frank Manganaro and his sons, won the 2004 Sands Point and 2003 Miesque Stakes, both Grade 3. Trained by Patrick Biancone, she retires with a record of 4-2-0 from 15 starts and $282,180 in winnings.