LEXINGTON, Ky. - Satish Sanan, who boycotted the Fasig-Tipton July and Saratoga yearling sales to protest the lack of a code of ethics in the bloodstock market, looks likely to attend the Keeneland September sale.

Exclusive Ribot, believed to be the last living direct offspring of the champion Ribot, died Aug. 8 at Dormello II Stud near Decatur, Texas, according to his owner, Brian Wallis.

Exclusive Ribot was 32 years old. On his final day, the stallion did "20 or 30 laps" around his paddock before collapsing of heart failure, Wallis said.

"He looked like a million bucks," said Wallis, who named his farm in honor of the stud farm owned by Ribot's Italian breeder, Federico Tesio. "You couldn't tell he was 32."

LAS VEGAS - The historic Spinaway and Hopeful stakes, both of which have showcased dozens of juvenile champions over the last century at Saratoga, will take center stage Friday and Saturday. Both stakes are at seven furlongs and are the first major stepping-stones to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Juvenile Fillies, which will be held at Lone Star Park on Oct. 30.

The Spinaway

Boosted by a colt and a filly who sold for over $200,000, the Del Mar yearling sale on Monday evening averaged a record $48,228. But it also had a buyback rate of nearly 50 percent of the 110 horses offered.

The sale average rose 39.8 percent from last year's average of $34,506. Monday's sale grossed $2,749,000 for 57 horses sold, a decline of 11.4 percent in gross price from last year. A total of 53 horses were bought back Monday.

The record average eclipsed the 2002 mark of $43,770. The median Monday was a record $33,000, slightly higher than $32,000 mark set in 2002.

Fasig-Tipton's New York-bred sale of yearlings concluded its second and final session in Saratoga on Monday with gains in gross, average, and median prices over the 2003 sale.

At the two-day sale, 112 horses sold for $5,596,500, for an average of $49,969, an increase of 20 percent over the 2003 average of $41,567.

The median jumped 27 percent to $40,500 from $32,000.

Last year at the two-day sale, 127 head sold for $5,279,000.

With the average and median up at the first session of Fasig-Tipton's New York-bred yearling sale in Saratoga Springs on Sunday, officials were satisfied with the results.

"It was a solid horse sale," said Boyd T. Browning Jr., Fasig-Tipton's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "[Monday], based on some of the comments from the consignors, may look a bit stronger across the board than tonight was."

One man's castoff is another man's treasure. How many times has George Harmening seen it happen that way during his 16 years as a veterinarian at Maryland racetracks? Often enough, apparently, to know a treasure when he finds one.

Harmening and his wife, Kim, have only two broodmares at their 15-acre farm in Carroll County, Md. Both were rejects from the racetrack, bought for nominal prices, and both are stakes producers. One is the dam of a current Maryland-bred star.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The first time trainer Wesley Ward's life intersected with Roger King's, about 15 years ago in Miami, it resulted in perhaps the fastest pinhooking success on record.

Ward had just bought a colt at Fasig-Tipton's Calder juvenile sale, a colt that King had made a bid on. When they ran into Ward after the auction, King's trainer, Sonny Hine, kidded the famously competitive owner about losing the colt.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The success of Monday's Del Mar yearling sale hinges on consignments such as the 10 horses offered by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

Owned by Tom and Debra Stull, Tommy Town Thoroughbreds of Santa Ynez, Calif., will have four fillies and six colts in Monday evening's sale. If the market is strong for buyers, few, if any, of the Tommy Town horses will be returning to their central California farm. If the market is weak, some could race next year in the Stulls' black and gray colors.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After a decline in last year's sale of New York-breds at Saratoga, Fasig-Tipton scaled back slightly in the number of yearlings and was more selective in the process of picking horses for its two-day sale that begins Sunday.

"We probably grew a little bit too quickly in the size of the catalog from 2002 to 2003," said Boyd T. Browning Jr., Fasig-Tipton's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "We probably increased almost 25 percent in the number of horses."