Winning a blue ribbon at the Maryland Horse Breeders Association's annual yearling show is no portent for future success on the racetrack. It has been that way since 1932, when Hall of Famer James E. "Sunny Jim" Fitzsimmons became the first of a long line of distinguished trainers to serve as judge for the event.
More than $30 million changed hands this past week in the Ocala 2-year-old sales venues. On Monday night at Frank Stronach's Adena Springs South, 46 of the farm's homebreds sold for $3,916,000. On Tuesday and Wednesday at the Ocala Breeders' Sales complex, another 323 selected 2-year-olds in training sold for $26,399,000. The average price for the 369 horses sold at both venues was $82,154.
The OBS March average price was $81,731. It was $73,610 in 2003 and a record $92,094 last year.
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March select 2-year-old auction posted mixed results after a softer final session on Wednesday, proving that it is hard to top a record year, even when selling is good.
Following a record sale last season, the 2005 auction's gross receipts hit a sale-record $26,399,000 for 323 juveniles sold; last year, 245 horses brought a total of $22,563,000. But the 2005 average price of $81,731 slid 11 percent from last year's record $92,094. The median price also declined, from $60,000 to $55,000.
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March select juvenile auction, which opened its two-day run in Florida on Tuesday, hit a high note late in the afternoon when a Yes It's True colt brought $900,000 from Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's Darley organization.
Eisaman Equine, agent, consigned the colt. Sold as Hip No. 264, the bay 2-year-old is out of Kit Kat Kitty, a winning Pentelicus mare who also has produced a winner, Darian Skye, by Dance Master. Hip No. 264 was one of four juveniles having the under-tack shows' fastest quarter-mile work of 21.20 seconds.
A Golden Missile colt sold for a sale-record $500,000 at the Adena Springs South 2-year-olds in training sale Monday near Ocala, Fla. Only 46 of the 111 offered sold - a buy-back rate of nearly 60 percent - but the sale average more than doubled from last year. This year, 46 horses sold for $3,916,000, an average of $85,130. Last year, 57 sold for $2,228,000, an average of $39,088.
LAS VEGAS - With five live contenders for the Kentucky Derby, Nick Zito is the envy of every trainer in America. Sun King, High Fly, and Bellamy Road are the most accomplished runners of the group and Noble Causeway is developing quickly, but Andromeda's Hero may be better than all of them and is poised for a breakthrough performance in Saturday's Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park.
The New York State Breeding and Development Fund has changed the procedure for verifying a horse's New York-bred status.
Under the new procedure, the fund's registrar will issue a New York-bred certification card once the horse's status has been confirmed via a Jockey Club website and all other registry requirements have been fulfilled.
The certification card effectively replaces statebred seals affixed to horses' Jockey Club certificates, and owners and breeders will no longer have to forward their horses' Jockey Club papers to the fund.
Three colts breezed a quarter-mile in 21.20 seconds on Sunday and one on Saturday to post the fastest works at the distance during the under-tack previews for the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March select 2-year-old auction.
The sale was to run Tuesday and Wednesday at the OBS facility in Ocala, Fla., where the public workouts also took place. The under-tack shows took place on March 11-12 and this past weekend.
Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Friday signed into law a bill creating a state breeder-incentive program for all breeds of horses.
The new law will apply the state's 6 percent sales tax on stud fees for stallions standing in Kentucky to encourage breeding and foaling horses in Kentucky. The funds will be split among Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds, Quarter Horses, and other breeds. Each breeders' group will develop its own distribution plan for the funds.
The sales tax on stud fees generated $14 million in revenue for the state budget in 2004.