There will be plenty of opportunities for buyers to pick up a Canadian-bred yearling this week, when 471 youngsters are up for bids at the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale at Woodbine.

The selected session of 200 yearlings gets underway Tuesday at 4 p.m. and the open sessions will be held Friday and Saturday beginning at 6 p.m.

Fasig-Tipton took over the operation of the sale from Canadian Breeders' Sales this year. A repository that provides radiograph information about each yearling will be available to prospective buyers for the first time.

Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired horses have found a path of golden opportunity on the turf courses of Colonial Downs, the state's only parimutuel racetrack. But the Colonial Downs meeting is brief - only 26 days a year.

Some Thoroughbred industry mavens attributed the decline in sales averages and median prices at the Florida yearling sales Aug. 19-22 to general market uncertainties. While a slumping Wall Street likely has had an effect on the Ocala market weakness, lack of young stallion power is far more likely.

"Not much to choose from," said J.B. McKathan, one-half of the well-known McKathan brothers duo, referring to the dearth of yearlings by first-crop Florida stallions.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Prominent owner David Milch is dispersing his racing holdings at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November sale on Nov. 3, a consignment that includes Disturbingthepeace, a top contender for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint at Arlington Park on Oct. 26.

A California-bred, Disturbingthepeace has won six consecutive races and developed into the West Coast's top sprinter this year.

When Belmont Park's fall meet begins on Friday, purses for New York-bred allowance and maiden races will be raised by $2,000.

Earlier this year at Belmont's spring meet, open allowance and maiden races received a $2,000 boost, while statebred purses remained unchanged. The New York Racing Association again bumped up open purses by $2,000 for Saratoga's six-week meet, creating a $4,000 differential between open and New York-bred purses.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Although some knowledgeable judges had figured that Came Home was unsuited to distances as long as 10 furlongs, the talented 3-year-old colt showed that 1 1/4 miles was within his compass when he won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sunday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - It has been more than a year since mare reproductive loss syndrome devastated central Kentucky's Thoroughbred breeding operations with a wave of abortions. So far, researchers have yet to identify the mysterious disease's exact cause, but scientists meeting this week in Lexington gave progress reports in their search for the culprit.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A group of equine disease and caterpillar researchers gathered at the University of Kentucky on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss a variety of theories and new avenues for studying mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS).

As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, an $85,000 filly by Tale of the Cat was leading the second and final session of the Fasig-Tipton Texas summer yearling sale at Lone Star Park near Dallas.

The filly, purchased by Stonerside Stable, is out of the stakes-winning mare Winthrop Arms, making her a half-sister to Valarone, a stakes winner of $277,548, and Armed and Ready, a stakes-placed winner of $172,043.

The filly was consigned by Highclere Sales.

As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Monday, a Wild Zone colt purchased for $60,000 topped the first session of the Fasig-Tipton Texas summer yearling sale at Lone Star Park near Dallas. A total of 416 yearlings were cataloged for the two-day sale, which was to conclude Tuesday.

Diamond G Ranch bought the Wild Zone colt. He is out of the winning Buckaroo mare Green Reader, and is a full brother to Wild Hits, a stakes winner of $241,986 who set a track record at Lone Star in 2000 when he won a division of the Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity.