LEXINGTON, Ky. - Dr. Patches, North America's co-champion sprinter in 1978, died Tuesday in Ocala, Fla., and was buried at the Tartan Farms cemetery at Winding Oaks Farm, a Winding Oaks official said Wednesday. Dr. Patches was 28 and was euthanized because of the infirmities of old age.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stakes-winner Wheelaway has retired from the racetrack to enter stud at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds, the farm announced Monday.

The 5-year-old Unbridled horse will be syndicated. His fee has not yet been announced.

After finishing fourth behind Commendable in the 2000 Belmont Stakes, Wheelaway was sidelined with a bone chip in his left ankle. Owners Caesar Kimmel and Philip Solondz sent the horse for surgery to remove the chip, and this summer Wheelaway had been training for a comeback with John Kimmel's stable in Fair Hill, Md.

After New York-bred Sherpa Guide won his third consecutive race and became a stakes winner in the $81,475 Evan Shipman last Sunday at Belmont Park, his owner and breeder, Doug Koch, had to be thrilled he didn't sell as he had originally intended.

Sherpa Guide, a 4-year-old gelding with $259,999 in earnings, was consigned to Fasig-Tipton's preferred sale of yearlings at Saratoga in 1999, but failed to bring his $29,000 reserve and was kept by Koch.

"The market tells you what a horse is worth," says longtime Maryland breeder Charles McGinnes. And for McGinnes and his wife, Cynthia, owners of Thornmar farm in Chestertown, Md., the market soared for their colt by first-year Maryland stallion Diamond at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Selected Yearling sale on July 17.

Selling with the consignment of Marshall Silverman, Diamond's chestnut son out of the stellar racemare Castilla brought $140,000, far exceeding the McGinneses' expectations.

Crowned Dancer and Farno are two freshmen colts who made headlines this past week. Crowned Dancer is presently the West's leading freshman, evidenced by his victory in the Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile Stakes, and Farno, winner of the Tyro Stakes at Monmouth, is a comer in the East. Both are Florida-bred sons of Tactical Advantage, who stands the Northern Hemisphere season at Doug Henderson's Marablue Farm.

In a little more than four weeks, local breeders will send their homebred yearlings through the Woodbine sales ring, the culmination of two and a half years of planning and praying.

Luck plays an important part in breeding a mare and raising a foal, but Wait for Silence and her owner, Reade Baker, didn't have any from the moment the filly retired from racing.

DEL MAR, Calif. - For $80,000 in 1996, David Abrams and his partners claimed Unusual Heat, hoping he would competitive in high-priced claimers and a minor stakes. Within a month, they were forced into the breeding business when Unusual Heat suffered a tendon injury.

What seemed at the time like bad racing luck is developing into a long-term success story for a young stallion. From 14 foals to race in his first two crops, Unusual Heat has had 10 winners, many in the claiming class.

"When we claimed him, we thought he was worth that much to breed," Abrams said.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Considering the success California-breds have had in major stakes in the last two weeks, Adminniestrator, Continental Red, and Ringaskiddy should not be dismissed in Sunday's $250,000 Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park.

This month, Cal-breds have won four major stakes at Hollywood Park. Sky Jack won the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, Disturbingthepeace pulled an upset in the $300,000 Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Handicap, Super High won the $100,000 Flawlessy Stakes, and Go Go won the $75,000 Great Lady M. Handicap.

Florida's freshman stallions are off to a promising start. Midway through July, Concerto, by Chief's Crown, standing at Ocala Stud, leads the division with three winners from eight starters, including the stakes-placed Collymore Hall. His get have earned $88,887.

Lucky Lionel, who stands at Adena Springs, South, has three winners from seven starters including the stakes-placed Lucky Magnus. Progeny earnings for Lucky Lionel, a son of Mt. Livermore, are currently at $84,871.

When the incomparable Pennsylvania horseman Marshall Jenney died unexpectedly in November 2000, many people assumed that his Derry Meeting Farm - the place where Storm Cat and Danzig took their first steps, and headquarters for one of the mid-Atlantic region's top sales agencies - would be consigned to history.

Far from it.