LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fly So Free, 1990's juvenile champion and the sire of Grade 1 winner Captain Steve, has been pensioned from stud duty at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky., because of a heart problem, the farm announced Tuesday.
The 14-year-old son Fly So Free "developed a heart condition that could be aggravated by continued breeding activity," Robert Clay, owner of Three Chimneys, said in a statement.
The Florida Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club will hold its annual equine trade fair and stallion parade at the Ocala Equestrian Complex, adjacent to the Ocala Breeders' Sales grounds, on Sunday.
The schedule of events begins at 10 a.m. with a casual look at the stallions. The silent auction of 2003 services to the stallions begins at 11 a.m. At 1 p.m. the stallions will be paraded, accompanied by individual commentaries.
While the stallion activities are in full swing, the equine trade show will also be going on, with all sorts of horse-related products and services.
Trainer Larry Murray has been checking airline flight schedules and studying road maps during the past several days, as he moves towards an unprecedented challenge. That is the Great State Challenge, scheduled for Dec. 7 at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.
Murray is the private trainer for Howard and Sondra Bender, longtime Maryland breeders whose horses have been winning stakes at an awesome clip this season. Three Bender horses are on the list of horses selected to represent Maryland in the six races of the Challenge. Each race will be worth up to $275,000 in purse money.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - It's been a busy week for Jose De Camargo. De Camargo is a part owner of Kentucky Oaks winner Farda Amiga, who retired from racing on Wednesday.
De Camargo, exuberant and lavishly mustachioed, became a popular figure at Farda Amiga's races, leading victory celebrations with the mare's other owners, Julio Camargo and Marcos Simon. Now, he is busy sifting through options for Farda Amiga's mating plans, which probably will be settled by early next week.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Gold Fever, sire of millionaire Gold Mover, has relocated from Lane's End in Versailles, Ky., to Lou Salerno's Questroyal Stud in Hudson, N.Y. He will stand for a $5,000 fee in 2003.
Gold Mover is a 9-year-old Forty Niner horse and Grade 1 winner. From his first three crops to race, he has sired Gold Mover, winner of this year's Grade 2 Princess Rooney Handicap and eight other stakes; 2002 stakes-winning juvenile Arco's Gold; and three-time stakes winner Golden Hurricane. Gold Mover's progeny earnings currently stand at $3,265,080.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - What began with a tax break for racetracks has ended with a lucrative new Florida-bred showcase day, and the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association hopes the state's whole breeding industry will reap the rewards.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Keeneland November sale ended Wednesday, and the 10-day auction provided some insights on the health of the horse business and its prospects for next year. Coming into November, most observers expected the market to be down. The only question was how much. The result, however, was an unexpected upturn in average and median prices, as well as an increase in gross revenues. The unexpected boost is reassuring to those in the horse-selling business, a segment of the economy whose product is not a daily requirement.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A $210,000 Chilean-bred broodmare was the session leader late Tuesday afternoon on the ninth day of Keeneland's 10-day November breeding stock sale. Santa Escolastica purchased the mare, Crystal House, from Craig Bandoroff's Denali Stud agency.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Grade 1 winner Victory Ride, retired after her third-place finish in Saturday's Grade 2 Churchill Downs Distaff, will be bred to Storm Cat in 2003, owner G. Watts Humphrey Jr. said Monday.
The mating plan came one day after trainer Rusty Arnold told reporters Saturday that the 4-year-old Seeking the Gold filly would retire.