William R. Harris is in his fifth decade of breeding Thoroughbreds, but the Dave's Friend Stakes at Laurel Park on Aug. 3 was a first for the 74-year-old breeder.

Sassy Hound and Deer Run, both 5-year-old sons of former Maryland sire Deerhound bred by Harris, drew off from the others in the six-furlong Dave's Friend, with Sassy Hound finishing 1 1/4 lengths in front of the fast-closing Deer Run. It was more than four lengths back to race favorite Rusty Spur. The final time was a very quick 1:09.34.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga selected yearling sale picked up steam in its second session , but the night ended anticlimactically when the expected sale-topper failed to sell at $3.8 million.

Hip No. 152, a Storm Cat full brother to Grade 1 winner Forestry and half-brother to Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Cash Run, became one of the biggest buy-backs in Thoroughbred auction history when he fell just short of breeder Robert "Shell" Evans's $3.9 million reserve. He also deprived Fasig-Tipton of a financial boost to the sale's bottom line.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Fasig-Tipton's 82nd annual Saratoga yearling sale opened without fireworks Tuesday night, posting declines across the board as buyers played conservatively in the boutique market.

A $750,000 Unbridled's Song-Dreamscape filly offered by Gainesway, agent, topped the opening session on a final bid from Bob and Beverly Lewis. The night's most expensive colt was a $700,000 A. P. Indy-Fleet Road colt, a half-brother to stakes winners Tuzia and Tanja, that Laddie Dance and Jeanne Vance bought from Lane's End, agent.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When a potential buyer stands looking at a yearling at a select auction consignment, he probably doesn't notice the person on the end of that yearling's lead shank. But the yearling handlers - known as showmen - can have an influence on the buyer's viewing experience and, in a small way, on how the yearling sells.

The showman's job is simple: Lead the yearling out of the barn and into the consignment's walking ring, stand with the horse, and walk the horse up and down at the buyer's request. But, as any consignor will tell you, there's more to it than that.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Keeneland July select sales results received wide attention, although not everyone interpreted them the same way. In fact, most observers seem to have a slightly different opinion about the results of the first two yearling sales of 2002 and about the prospects for the market, notably the select sale at Saratoga that starts Tuesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fasig-Tipton's flagship Saratoga selected yearling sale is coming off two record years, and company officials say they believe this year's auction, which starts Tuesday, will produce sound returns this year, even if the sale doesn't equal last year's level.

To say that horses bred by Pennsylvanian George Strawbridge Jr. are on a hot streak is an understatement.

Five Strawbridge horses - all Pennsylvania-breds - won stakes during a 2 1/2-week span in July against some of the most highly rated performers in current competition.

West Nile Virus is a potential threat to Florida's horse populations, according to a veterinarian from the University of Florida's School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Huisheng Xie Shen, who estimates that he and his colleagues have found the virus in more than 100 horses in the past year.

A local veterinarian, Dr. Janet White, says that she has diagnosed West Nile in some 30 Thoroughbreds since last fall including two who died earlier this year.

An interesting group of New York-bred yearlings, many by young sires, are part of Fasig-Tipton's select sale in Saratoga Springs this week.

Fourteen registered New York-bred yearlings are consigned to the three-day sale, which begins Tuesday and features more than 200 yearlings.

The New York-breds are:

o Hip No. 1, a Cozzene colt out of a stakes-placed Ogygian mare.

o Hip No. 6, a son of freshman sire Swain out of millionaire Clabber Girl.

o Hip No. 15, a daughter of freshman sire and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again out of a Copelan mare.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The massive Golden Eagle Farm racing and breeding operation will undergo a downsizing in the coming months.

Four months after the death of John Mabee, his wife, Betty, said she is in the process of reducing the farm's bloodstock holdings at sales in California and Kentucky over the next six months.

Next weekend, at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association's Del Mar Yearling Sales, Golden Eagle Farm has an eight-horse consignment.