Spencer Young devised a plan for the blue-blooded Makin back in 1997, when the Danzig stallion was about to stand his first season at Young's Sunny Dell farm in Barboursville, Va. Young, who owns a half-interest in Makin with partners Gregory Fox and David Romanik, found as many solid, sound, proven racemares as he could afford and bred them to the horse.

Is a breeding program ever that simple? One would begin to think so after seeing Young's results. With a handful of mares, Young is nearly single-handedly making a name for Makin.

Gulfstream Park's leading owner, Mike Gill, has returned three horses purchased at the Feb. 4 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's select juvenile auction at Miami's Calder Race Course.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fasig Tipton Kentucky's winter mixed sale ended its two-day run here Monday with a $270,000 sale-topper bought by Eugene Melnyk.

The auction offered more horses this year, prompting company officials to expand it from one to two days. This year's 285 lots sold for $3,160,900, up 12 percent from last year, when 248 sold. The average and median prices declined slightly, the average 2.7 percent from last year's $11,408 to $11,091, and the median from $5,200 to $5,000. The buy-back rate rose from 18 percent in 2002 to 27 percent this year.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A survey by the University of Kentucky's Department of Veterinary Science and College of Agriculture has identified four possible risk factors in a rise in equine abortions in the fall of 2002.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's two-day winter mixed auction, which started Sunday, posted an early sale leader Monday, the $150,000 broodmare Pomona.

The auction, expanded this year from one day to two with 459 horses cataloged, began Sunday with a modest $64,000 session topper, a yearling Charismatic filly.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Fact Book, an annual report by The Jockey Club that includes statistics for purses, handle, breeding, and sales, is now available online at http://home.jockeyclub.com.

Prominent in the Fact Book, which was released Friday, is the increase in handle for 2002, the ninth consecutive year that handle has increased for Thoroughbred racing in the United States. Handle climbed 3.5 percent last year to surpass $15 billion for the first time.

Even in this slots-rich era, few horses have managed to earn close to a half-million dollars at Charles Town. In fact there may be only one - Confucius Say.

A record was set at the Ocala Breeders' Sales 2-year-olds in training sale at Calder Race Course Tuesday. Despite a modest decline in sales average and median from last year, Demi O'Byrne, agent for Michael Tabor, spent an OBS record $1.2 million for a Montbrook colt.

MIAMI - When the auctioneer's gavel rang down, Mike O'Farrell's Ocala Stud had sold the highest-priced juvenile ever at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's sale of 2-year-olds in training. The dark brown son of Ocala Stud stallion Montbrook was bred and raised by Ocala Stud, and he is the most expensive youngster the farm has ever sold.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The excitement surrounding Standard Setter's upset victory in the Golden Gate Derby last month wore off quickly for co-owners Phil Lebherz and Richard Meister and trainer Jeff Bonde.

Before they had a chance to plan his next start, they learned the California-bred Standard Setter would be sidelined until late June with a bone chip in a knee.

Lebherz described the injury as "a flake," but it ended any hopes of continuing on the preps for the Triple Crown.