LEXINGTON, Ky. - The victory of Don't Get Mad in the Derby Trial put a second colt into the Kentucky Derby for owner B. Wayne Hughes, along with Illinois Derby winner Greeley's Galaxy. The accomplishment of making the Derby, especially with a pair of colts, is not lost on Hughes.

"The challenge of getting to the Derby is almost as great as the enormous thrill of winning . . . I think," Hughes said. "Buying horses, we've gone to the Derby three years in a row, and a lot of the credit there goes to Ron Ellis."

LAS VEGAS - It looked like the great Mr. Prospector would never sire a Kentucky Derby winner, but inonr of his final few crops, along came Fusaichi Pegasus to make his legacy complete. Winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby, Fusaichi Pegasus was a freshman sire last year, and it appears it may not take him that long to sire a Derby winner.

Fusaichi Pegasus got off to a fast start at stud, and has two colts exquisitely bred for 1 1/4 miles in this year's Derby - Bandini and Andromeda's Hero.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's spring 2-year-old sale had a bumpy four-day run, ending Thursday evening with slight declines across the board.

The first two sessions produced significant gains as well as the sale-topper, a $375,000 Aptitude-Wolfer colt that Robert and Lawana Low bought from the Eisaman Equine agency. But the final two sessions posted decreases from last year's figures.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - With two colts - Bandini and Andromeda's Hero - expected to start in the Kentucky Derby, Fusaichi Pegasus has a profound opportunity to establish himself as an eminent classic sire with his very first crop of racers.

Few stallions ever sire a horse worthy of starting in the Kentucky Derby, and far fewer sire a winner of the race.

The four-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s spring sale of 2-year-olds in training ended Thursday with a modest dip in the gross, the average, and the median. The number of horses sold, 774, was the same as were sold at the 2004 auction. The gross of $21.9 million was $1.2 million less than last year. The average of $28,337 and the median of $17,000 were down about 5 percent from a year ago. The buyback rate climbed from 19.9 to 28.6 percent

Ascot Knight has sired more than 50 stakes horses in 16 years at stud at Windfields Farm in Oshawa, Ontario, but the 21-year-old stallion could have his highest achievement should grandson Greeley's Galaxy win the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

Greeley's Galaxy, who was not nominated to the Triple Crown, is expected to be supplemented to the Derby for $200,000 as the 20th and final entrant.

Greeley's Galaxy is a son of the winning mare Ascot Starre, who is from Ascot Knight's 1996 crop.

Early returns for first-crop sire Desert Warrior, who stands at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, are making his connections happy.

"They are the best foals of any stallion I have ever stood," said Joe McMahon.

That is a sweeping statement from one of New York's most experienced breeders.

McMahon has handled dozens of stallions, including leaders such as Personal Flag, D'Accord, and Regal Classic, and currently stands eight sires at the family-owned farm near Saratoga Lake.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - More than 700 yearlings have been nominated to the Barretts October yearling sale on Oct. 4, which will mark the merger of the defunct Del Mar yearling sale and Barretts' own October event.

The merger of the two sales is designed to bring together the state's leading yearlings and buyers in one place, according to Doug Burge, the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. The CTBA operated the Del Mar sale.

Maryland's newest brush with Hollywood definitely isn't "Seabiscuit."

Explosions, commandos storming about, and Ice Cube are featured in the movie "XXX State of the Union," which had many scenes filmed around the Baltimore area. And don't be fooled by references to the "Virginia farm." The production company spent a couple of weeks at Allen and Audrey Murray's Murmur Farm in Darlington, Md., last September.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's spring juvenile sale hit the brakes in its two later sessions after enjoying gains during its first two days.

On Thursday, the fourth and final day of the sale, a handful of horses brought six-figure prices, but about 26 percent of the session's first 225 horses were withdrawn, a sign that a number of sellers expected to face poor bidding for their stock.