Gail Casselman has bred only two racehorses in her 17 years in the horse business, and she may never breed another one.

But one of them, the long-backed and high-striding gelding Copper Trail, could put Casselman in the headlines come Queen's Plate Day, June 27.

A Woodbine-based trainer, Casselman no longer owns Copper Trail - he is owned by Stolar Stables and trained by Jim Day - but she's almost as happy simply collecting the breeders' awards that have stuffed her mailbox since last fall, when Copper Trail won the first of his two stakes races.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The $16,000 that Tom Metzger and trainer Troy Bainum spent to claim Black Bart in December at Hollywood Park was intended to give them a horse capable of winning allowance races at Turf Paradise.

Black Bart, a California-bred, accomplished that goal 11 days after he was claimed. It is the four wins this year, including an upset win in the $150,000 Khaled Stakes on turf at Hollywood Park on April 24, that have left Metzger and Bainum surprised.

In honor of its 75th anniversary, the Maryland Horse Breeders Association has offered a blast from the past - a 36-page commemorative magazine highlighting the association's many milestones since its founding in 1929, along with significant achievements in Maryland racing and breeding.

Ever wonder how the MHBA came to be founded? Or what role, exactly, the legendary Humphrey S. Finney filled in those early years? How the Maryland-bred Fund was developed? What led to the creation of the Maryland Million?

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.