LEXINGTON, Ky. - Juddmonte Farms's Grade 1 winner and millionaire Chester House was euthanized in Lexington on Saturday due to the effects of a form of bone marrow cancer. The Mr. Prospector stallion was 8 and was standing his third season at stud. His first foals are yearlings this year.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It does not surprise trainer Paul Aguirre that Stalking Tiger is undefeated in two starts, including the $94,050 Haggin Stakes at Hollywood Park on June 21.

Since the California-bred gelding joined his barn last month following a private purchase, Stalking Tiger has impressed Aguirre, sometimes by doing nothing.

While some 2-year-olds can be playful and a problem for handlers, Stalking Tiger is the opposite, Aguirre said.

"He gives you confidence around the barn," Aguirre said. "He's always laying down sleeping and taking care of himself."

Mt. Sassafras, Canada's Horse of the Year of 1996, will be paraded in front of the Woodbine fans as part of the Canada Day festivities Tuesday. An 11-year-old gelding, he won the 1997 edition of the Dominion Day Handicap, the 1 1/4-mile race held annually on the country's birthday.

Mt. Sassafras was one of four champions raced by Aubrey Minshall in the 1990's. In fact, it has been 12 years since Minshall, who died in 1993, collected his first Sovereign, for his homebred sprint champion King Corrie.

Sharon "Sam" Maloney runs a school for young horses at her Dog Patch Farm in Warrenton, Va., breaking yearlings who go on to join the stables of many trainers throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond.

So it's not unusual to find Maloney glued to a television set, watching races from far-flung locations.

There is hardly anyone in Florida's Thoroughbred breeding and sales industry who hasn't met, done business with, or heard of J.B. "Luke" McKathan. He is the father of J.B. Jr. and Kevin McKathan, the McKathan brothers so often associated with Bob Baffert. He is the father of Gary McKathan, presently learning the farrier trade in Ocala, the uncle of David McKathan, who has his own sales and training business in Ocala, and the husband of Jocelyn, once of the Eastern establishment hunter-jumper set and now the McKathan Thoroughbred pedigree pundit.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stick to Beauty, dam of 1982 champion sprinter Gold Beauty and four other stakes winners, was euthanized Friday at the age of 30. The mare will be buried at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., where she had resided since 1999.

"She was having a hard time getting around, and with the weather getting hot, we didn't want her to suffer," said Frank Taylor.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Breeders' Cup's recent decision to boost purses for the Juvenile and the Mile to $1.5 million each wasn't based solely on marketing the Breeders' Cup. It was also based on marketing horses.

At a June 23 press conference announcing the increases, Breeders' Cup president D. G. Van Clief, Jr., said, "You have a dual rationale in both cases. One is an event or market rationale, and the other is a breeding rationale.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The two best older mares in the United States - Azeri, the Horse of the Year, and Ipi Tombe, the African-bred giant-slayer - do not appear to be on a collision course at the races.

The Big Apple Triple, which begins next Saturday with the $100,000 Mike Lee at Belmont Park, is proving difficult to win.

The series for 3-year-old New York-breds was created in 1999 when three restricted stakes, the Mike Lee, New York Derby, and Albany, were linked together. The closest a horse has come to winning the Big Apple Triple was in 2000, when Image Maker captured the first two legs.

Virginia's world-renowned Keswick Stables near Charlottesville, Va., owned and operated by Peggy Augustus, has been struck by misfortune over the past several years. But one runner is doing his best to carry the farm's reputation forward.