The Ocala Breeders' Sales March sale of 2-year-olds in training last Tuesday and Wednesday was the third and final selected sale of the 2004 Florida 2-year-old sales season, and, like its predecessors at Calder Race Course last month, it was a record-smashing auction.

A colt from the first crop of Tiger Ridge sold for $650,000 on Wednesday at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March 2-year-olds in training sale, topping the two-day sale of 245 juveniles.

The colt, named Notable Tiger, was purchased by John Ferguson, an agent for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. Notable Tiger was consigned by Dean DeRenzo and Randy Hartley, who purchased the colt last August at an OBS yearling sale for $21,000.

LAS VEGAS - The Kentucky Derby is six weeks from Saturday, and with the 3-year-old picture in total disarray, it looks like a Gato del Sol- or Charismatic-type year.

As usual, the four final 1 1/8-mile Derby preps - Santa Anita Derby, Arkansas Derby, Blue Grass, and Wood Memorial Stakes - will separate the contenders from the pretenders. But it has been shown that in a wide-open year, races such as the Lexington Stakes or Illinois Derby could also be a stepping-stone to Derby success.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's two-day March select 2-year-old auction got off to a strong start Tuesday, with sharp gains in gross and average and several horses that brought $300,000 or more.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bob and Beverly Lewis, who raced Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm and Charismatic, will sell a 10-percent interest in their 2004 juveniles to a specially selected group of new owners in an effort to recruit new investors for the sport.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - In a sales season in which record prices for 2-year-olds in training have been shattered at one sale after another, perhaps the result of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap will only fan the flames higher.

Why? Because the winner, Southern Image, brought the second-highest price two years ago at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's March sale of 2-year-olds in training. And with the 2004 OBS March sale set for next week, Southern Image's second Grade 1 victory could not have come at a more opportune time.

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association will hold its annual awards banquet Monday evening, following the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's festival of racing. The event will be held at Steinbrenner's Ramada Inn convention center, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Bertrando, the champion older male of 1993 and a leading stallion in California in recent years, is suffering from a liver disease that could lead to him being pensioned after the current breeding season, owner Marty Wygod said.

In December, Bertrando underwent surgery for the second time to remove gallstones, a rare occurrence for Thoroughbreds, according to Greg Ferraro of the Center for Equine Health at the University of California-Davis. The chronic liver disease caused the stones, Ferraro said.

New York's breeding industry lost two influential people in the last month. In addition to Jerry Nielsen, the president of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders who died on Feb. 2, owner and breeder Einar P. Robsham died 20 days later at age 75.

Chestertown, an idyllic locale on the Chester River on Maryland's Eastern Shore, is maintaining its reputation as a hub of Thoroughbred activity. Two runners foaled near Chestertown won stakes at Laurel Park during a one-week span this month.