Spring can't come soon enough for some New York farm owners and operators.

New York's breeding farms have been blasted by harsh winter weather that also has wreaked havoc with racing schedules at many tracks in the Northeast.

Gus Schoenborn Jr., the owner of Contemporary Stallions, the home of sire City Zip, said it is the worst winter he has experienced in two decades. Schoenborn said heavy-duty manpower has been required this winter to keep roadways clear of snow and ice at Contemporary, which is located in the town of Coxsackie in the Catskills.

The Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association has announced its champions for 2002. Florida horse of the year, breeder of the year, small breeder of the year, and other awards will be announced at the FTBOA banquet dinner March 17 at Steinbrenner's Ramada Inn following the Ocala sales and racing festival.

Magic Weisner, who gained national attention when he finished second in the Preakness Stakes, was the unanimous choice as 2002 Maryland-bred horse of the year.

Also named champion 3-year-old male, Magic Weisner (by Ameri Valay) was the leading Maryland-bred earner of 2002, with $791,000, after winning or placing in 7 of his 8 starts. Bred, owned, and trained by Nancy Alberts, Magic Weisner, a gelding, started 2002 as the Maryland-bred champion 2-year-old but was virtually unknown beyond state borders, even after winning four straight stakes at Laurel Park.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Barretts select 2-year-old sale last Tuesday reiterated the fact that selling juveniles is a feast-or-famine business. A $2.7 million Sea of Secrets colt shocked the sale community by shattering the previous $2 million juvenile world record, but many of the other horses that passed through the ring failed to sell. A record sale topper and a 49 percent buyback rate provided a mixed message for Barretts that could lead the company to develop a new strategy next year: a reduction in catalog numbers and an even more rigid focus on quality athletes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Great Notion, who won the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn by nine lengths on Saturday, is yet another stakes winner by the impressive young sire Elusive Quality. A son of Gone West, Elusive Quality was an exceptionally fast racer, and he set records at Gulfstream (a track record for seven furlongs in 1:20) and at Belmont (a world record for a mile in 1:31.60).

POMONA, Calif. - The record price for a juvenile purchased at auction was shattered Tuesday when Canadian owner Charles Fipke paid $2.7 million for a Sea of Secrets colt at the Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training.

The colt was consigned by Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock. Thomas, along with partner Lewis Lakin, bought him for $30,000 at the 2002 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale.

Fipke, who is president of a diamond mining business in Canada, outbid Aaron and Marie Jones.

POMONA, Calif. - The record price for a juvenile bought at an in-training sale was shattered on Tuesday when Canadian owner Charles Fipke paid $2.7 million for a Sea of Secrets colt at the Barretts March Sale of 2-year-old's in training.

The colt was consigned by Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock, who bought him for $30,000 at the 2002 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Lady's Secret, Horse of the Year for 1986 and the last female to receive that honor before Azeri in 2002, died Tuesday morning at California's Valley Creek Farm because of post-foaling complications. She was 21.

Lady's Secret produced a General Meeting colt on Monday night at about 11:50 p.m. The foaling appeared normal, according to Leigh Ann Howard, who manages Valley Creek in Valley Center, Calif.

An Anet filly blazed an eighth of a mile in 10.00 seconds as the fastest worker at the Sunday under-tack preview for the March 4 Barretts March 2-year-old sale in Pomona, Calif.

The filly is a daughter of Anet and the unraced Dixieland Band mare Dixieland Fantasy. She will sell on March 4 as Hip No. 179 from the B.C.3 Thoroughbreds agency.

The day's fastest quarter-mile time was 21.10 seconds for Hip No. 78, a Tactical Cat filly out of Mr. Leader's Grade 2-winning daughter Ransomed Captive. She is in Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock consignment.

MIAMI - Fusao Sekiguchi resurfaced with a splash in the auction world Tuesday when he and his entourage strode into the Calder paddock to view Fasig-Tipton's select 2-year-old offerings.

Sekiguchi liked only one horse enough to buy it. That was a Kris S. colt out of Mr. Prospector's daughter Key to My Heart that Sekiguchi acquired from Maurice Miller III and Tom Van Meter for $850,000, the sale's third-highest price.