Fri, 12/13/2002 - 00:00

Sez Who a commercial breeding operation x 2

Sez Who Thoroughbreds is a tale of two cities - Ocala, Fla., and Stillwater, N.Y. Both Sez Who operations are owned by retired insurance magnate Dick Simon. Management is mostly made up of the team that operated Harry T. Mangurian Jr.'s Mockingbird Farm, which is now closed, the exceptions being Ocala director of operations Steve Silver and New York farm manager Bill Leak. Mark Casse is the overall general manager.

Thu, 12/12/2002 - 00:00

Stud plans for Vindication

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Vindication will stand at John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Farm near Lexington at the conclusion of his racing career, according to a Thursday announcement by the colt's owner, Satish and Anne Sanan's Padua Stables. The likely 2-year-old champion, Vindication is being pointed for the Kentucky Derby.

Mon, 12/09/2002 - 00:00

Banks Hill is retired

Banks Hill, the champion turf female of 2001, has been retired and sent to Kentucky to be bred, trainer Bobby Frankel said.

The 4-year-old Banks Hill finished fourth in her final start, the $500,000 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park on Dec. 1. Overall, she won 5 of 15 starts and $1,933,651 for Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms. Racing in three countries, Banks Hill won five stakes, including three Grade or Group 1 stakes - the 2001 Coronation Stakes at Ascot, England, the 2001 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Belmont Park, and the Prix Jacques le Marois in August in France.

Mon, 12/09/2002 - 00:00

Sunline said to be out of Keeneland

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Champion mare Sunline will not be coming to the Keeneland January sale after all, according to a report Sunday in New Zealand's Thoroughbred News.

Mon, 12/09/2002 - 00:00

Fasig-Tipton opener down sharply

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's two-day December mixed sale saw sharp declines of almost 40 percent in gross revenue and average price on its opening day, Sunday, at Timonium, Md.

The auction's first session sold 188 lots for total receipts of $823,100, down 39 percent from the total brought by 192 lots in the equivalent session last year. The first-session average plummeted by 37 percent this year to $4,378. The median was off only slightly, declining from last year's $2,700 to $2,650.

Fri, 12/06/2002 - 00:00

Keeneland sale has superstar in Sunline

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland's January horses of all ages sale will have a major headliner in Australia and New Zealand's three-time horse of the year Sunline. The 7-year-old mare's fame has spread well beyond the Southern Hemisphere, thanks to her seven Australian and New Zealand championships and her horse of the year titles.

Sunline, who earned more than $6.2 million, will sell as Hip No. 134 on the first day of the Keeneland's five-day January auction. Sunline is a daughter of British-bred Desert Sun and the New Zealand-bred Western Symphony mare Songline.

Fri, 12/06/2002 - 00:00

Cal. breeding: Summer Wind Dancer gets tested for class

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Summer Wind Dancer has grown out of the California-bred 2-year-old filly division this fall.

After winning the Cover Gal Stakes and California Cup Juvenile Fillies during the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting, Summer Wind Dancer will reappear in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes over 1 1/16 miles next Saturday. The Starlet is led by Composure, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Arlington Park in October.

Fri, 12/06/2002 - 00:00

Florida breeding: Much to feel good about this year

There were several positives for the Florida Thoroughbred industry in 2002, said Dick Hancock, executive vice president of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association.

One is the expansion of the Florida-bred stakes program. Before this year, there were no big days of racing for Florida-breds outside of the Florida Stallion Stakes series for 2-year-olds. But this year the Florida Million, a day of stakes for statebreds, was inaugurated at Calder, and in January Gulfstream will hold the first Sunshine Millions, which matches Florida-breds against California-breds.

Thu, 12/05/2002 - 00:00

Spend a Buck dies in Brazil

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Spend a Buck, the 1985 Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year, died at Brazil's Haras Bage do Sul on Nov. 24 of anaphylactic shock after an allergic reaction to penicillin. Spend a Buck was 20.

Spend a Buck, who began his stud career at Lane's End in Versailles, Ky., stood the 2000 breeding season at Jay Adcock's Red River Farms in Coushatta, La., before being sold last year to Antonio Lemgruber, a Brazilian breeder.

Thu, 12/05/2002 - 00:00

Red Bullet retired to stud

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Red Bullet, the 2000 Preakness winner, has been retired, according to trainer Joe Orseno. Red Bullet, 5, bled while finishing seventh as the favorite in last week's Grade 1 Cigar Mile.

Red Bullet was scheduled to van to owner Frank Stronach's Adena Springs Farm in Midway, Ky., over the weekend. He will stand for $30,000, live foal, according to farm manager Dan Hall.