French champion Irish River, sire of such champions as Paradise Creek and Hatoof, died Sunday at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky., the farm confirmed Tuesday. The stallion, pensioned since 2001, was 28.

Bred and raced in France by Mrs. Raymond Ades, Irish River was a son of Riverman and the Klairon mare Irish Star. He was a two-time champion in France, first in 1978 as that country's top 2-year-old and again the following year as top miler. He won seven Group 1 races in those two seasons. He retired with a lifetime race record of 12-10-0-1 and $622,739 in earnings.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company in Florida ended its April 2-year-old auction Thursday evening with a sale-record top price and record gains that bolstered the season's bull market for juveniles.

At its next-to-last session Wednesday, the four-day auction sold a $975,000 Distorted Humor-Zuppardo Ardo colt to John Ferguson, agent for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. That broke the old record of $550,000, set in 1998 and equaled in 2001.

Can lightning strike twice? That question is on the minds of those involved in the New York's breeding industry as the anniversary of Funny Cide's win in last year's Kentucky Derby approaches.

Funny Cide, who became the first horse bred in the Empire State to win the Kentucky Derby, created a buzz never felt before in New York's breeding and racing program. Next Saturday at Churchill Downs, two New York-breds, Friends Lake and Read the Footnotes, will try to follow in Funny Cide's footsteps when they run in the 130th Kentucky Derby.

Incredible and unbelievable were only two of the exclamations heard during and after the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's spring sale of 2-year-olds in training, held this past Monday through Thursday. A look at the record numbers tells you why. This year's auction had 774 go through the ring, 70 more than a year ago. The gross of $23,183,000 was up from last year's $14,923,000 and considerably higher than the previous record of $18,058,600, established in 2001. The average price per horse jumped from $21,197 last year to $29,952 this year, a 41 percent increase.

Optimism abounds every spring with the new class of freshman sires. Maryland has five stallions - Cat Country, Crowd Pleaser, Lion Hearted, Purple Passion, and Unbridled Jet - whose first foals reach the races this year, and one has already jumped to the head of the class.

Lion Hearted, an 8-year-old who stands at Northview Stallion Station in Chesapeake City, got his first winner on April 8 in Aqueduct's first juvenile race of the year, when first-time starter Chocolate Brown, a filly facing males, made easy work of her first assignment, winning by nearly six lengths.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - One of the interesting facts about this year's Kentucky Derby, as well as one of the significant challenges to handicapping the race, is the likelihood that up to a half-dozen starters in the Derby will have made only two starts this year before the classic.

The number of colts who have had only a pair of starts this year is unusual. But to handicappers and students of the breed, does it tell us something of significance?

It tells us, first of all, that times have changed and keep on changing.

Longtime California owner and breeder Marty Wygod has a lot of good reasons to go racing over the next week, and three of them trace back to a common source: his stallion Benchmark.

"One of my favorite subjects," Wygod said recently.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bolstered by a sale-record $975,000 Distorted Humor colt, Wednesday's third session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April juvenile sale triggered dramatic financial increases.

Early selling remained strong at the sale's fourth and final session Thursday. A $675,000 Double Honor colt was the early leader. Consigned by Farnsworth Farms, agent, the colt is out of Camptown Miss, by Carr de Naskra, and is a half-brother to three winners, most notably the stakes winner College Honor. William Condren bought the colt.

The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April juvenile sale in Ocala, Fla., set a sale record Wednesday in its third session when a Distorted Humor colt brought a $975,000 final bid from Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's agent, John Ferguson.

On April 16, the colt had breezed an eighth-mile in 10 seconds, the fastest time for the distance at the auction's under-tack show. He is out of Grade 2 winner Zuppardo Ardo. Niall Brennan, agent for the John Franks estates, consigned the colt.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April 2-year-old auction continued the season's positive trend when it opened Monday in Ocala, Fla. The first of four sessions didn't break any records, as select auctions earlier in the season have, but it posted gains across the board.