LAS VEGAS - There are few worlds left to conquer for 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri, but one thing she has not done is face males. While 6-year-old Azeri may not be in her prime, the old gal has demonstrated that she still has what it takes to win at the highest level, and she finally gets a chance to race against males on Monday in the Metropolitan Handicap, the most important one-mile race in this country.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Elusive Quality might not have been a household name before his son Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but breeders clued in to the stallion's potential well before the first Saturday in May.

Officials at Gainsborough Farm in Versailles, Ky., which stands Elusive Quality, point out that the stallion's 2004 book included the dams of three Kentucky Derby starters: Smarty Jones, 2003 juvenile champion Action This Day, and Santa Catalina Stakes winner St Averil.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When a colt like Smarty Jones wins the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and produces such a positive and dramatic effect on the general public, you should see what it does to breeders and stallion managers. Everyone in the breeding business wants to have the next hot stallion prospect, and nothing is hotter than classic performance and the promise of a Triple Crown.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The recent sale of the stallion Avenue of Flags to New Mexico is the first of several changes to the stallion roster at the storied Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona.

Business manager Janine McCullough said Thursday that Golden Eagle is reevaluating the other five members of its stallion roster. She said another defection from the list and two additions are likely before the 2005 breeding season.

ELMONT, N.Y. - After winning last Sunday's $113,600 Bouwerie Stakes to remain undefeated at Belmont Park, Rodeo Licious is headed to the Grade 1, $250,000 Prioress on July 3, according to her trainer, Bruce Levine.

Rodeo Licious will try to follow in the footsteps of another New York-bred 3-year-old filly, Carson Hollow, who won the Prioress two years ago at Belmont.

Rodeo Licious, a one-length winner of the seven-furlong Bouwerie, was making her first start beyond six furlongs in that restricted stakes. She will drop back to six furlongs in the Prioress.

Numbers soared at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale at Timonium on May 17-18.

The highest-grossing horse auction ever held in Maryland, 354 horses sold for $13,227,800, an average of $37,367 each. Gross and average rose 35 percent and 23 percent, respectively, over last year's figures.

Florida has long enjoyed a reputation for freshmen sires who are quick off the mark. Hidden Point Farm's syndicated Family Calling was such a sire in 2003. A son of Mr. Prospector, he ended the year as Florida's leading freshman stallion in number of winners with 19 and placed eighth in the national rankings.

A sale-record $450,000 filly boosted Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's May juvenile sale in Timonium, Md., to new marks for gross receipts and average price.

Led by a $450,000 Silver Deputy filly that Buzz Chace bought for Charles and Marianne Hesse, the two-day sale ended Tuesday with a $13,227,800 gross for 354 juveniles, up 35 percent from last year's total for 322 lots. The average price soared 23 percent, from $30,451 last year to $37,367, but the median price remained unchanged from last year at $22,000.

Golden Eagle Farms has sold its stallion Avenue of Flags privately to an unidentified owner in New Mexico, and the horse will relocate to Double LL Farms in Brosque, N.M., for the 2005 season.

Avenue of Flags, a 16-year-old son of Seattle Slew, stood this year at Golden Eagle in Ramona, Calif., for $15,000. He is the sire of Grade 1 winners Joey Franco and Notable Career and two-time Grade 2 winner Fleet Lady, among other stakes-winners.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The 2-year-old auction season continued to show unprecedented strength at Tuesday's final session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May juvenile sale in Timonium, Md., where a sale-record price of $450,000 was reached. The previous record of $360,000 was set in 1998 and matched in 1999.