The Breeders' Sales Co. of Louisiana has cataloged 431 horses to its yearling and mixed session sale Monday and Tuesday at the Ike Hamilton Equine Exposition Center in West Monroe, La.

The first day of the sale will feature 274 yearlings by such sires as Afternoon Deelites, Broken Vow, Deputy Commander, Ide, Leestown, Mutakiddim, and Van Nistelrooy. The second day of the sale will offer 157 broodmares, horses of racing age, and weanlings.

The top of the market was on the upswing Tuesday as the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's fall mixed sale entered its second and final consignor-preferred session in Ocala, Fla. The Tuesday session-leader at 5:15 p.m. was a $185,000 Closing Argument weanling colt out of Autumn Music that agent Buzz Chace bought for L & F Stables, the pinhooking partnership started by Lewis Lakin and Terry Finley.

Beth Bayer, agent, sold the dark bay or brown colt. His dam is a daughter of Unbridled's Song who also produced Puerto Rican champion Vivaldi Girl.

All four companies that have previously expressed interest in operating the franchise currently held by the New York Racing Association plan to make presentations to the New York Senate's Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering on Wednesday morning, officials for the companies and the committee said.

NYRA, Empire Racing Associates, Excelsior Racing Associates, and Capital Play will each make presentations during the hearing, the fourth called by the committee over the past month to discuss issues revolving around the award of the franchise.

Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's Eastern fall yearling sale ended Wednesday with mixed results on a smaller number of horses sold this year than in 2006.

The three-day auction at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Md., closed with 574 yearlings sold for $13,331,400, down 9 percent from last year, when 658 horses sold. The average price benefited from the smaller number of sales, rising 5 percent from $22,159 last year to $23,225 this season. But the median fell 13 percent, from $11,500 to $10,000.

Churchill Downs Inc. has hired Bill Mudd, a former executive of a unit of General Electric, to be its chief financial officer, the company announced Thursday.

Mudd, 36, was formerly the chief financial officer of General Electric's Water and Process Technologies, which is based in Trevose, Pa. Mudd will fill the position vacated by Mike Miller, who resigned from Churchill in January.

Mudd is a native of Marion County, Ky.

The Sales Integrity Task Force, which was reconstituted this year at the behest of Thoroughbred owner Jess Jackson and Kentucky's legislature, will hold a public meeting to unveil its preliminary recommendations on Oct. 15 at 1 p.m. in the Keeneland sale pavilion. Specifically, the task force will discuss its recommendations regarding disclosure of sale horses' ownership and medication records and the topic of licensing of bloodstock agents.

Churchill Downs Inc. has hired Bill Mudd, a former executive of a unit of General Electric, to be its chief financial officer, the company announced on Thursday.

Mudd, 36, was formerly the chief financial officer of General Electric's Water and Process Technologies, which is based in Trevose, Penn. Mudd will fill the position vacated by Mike Miller, who resigned from Churchill in January.

Mudd is a native of Marion County, Ky., who has worked for General Electric since 1992. He holds a masters of business administration degree from Webster College.

Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's November mixed sale, set for Nov. 4 in Lexington, Ky., got another boost Wednesday with the announcement that three-time Grade 1 winner Pussycat Doll will be in the catalog. Hill 'n' Dale Sales agency will consign the 5-year-old Real Quiet mare.

Hill 'n' Dale's consignment also will feature Grade 1-winning females Dream Rush, Irish Smoke, and Lear's Princess.

POMONA, Calif. - Tuesday's California October yearling sale at Barretts showed declines in major categories compared with the 2006 sale. The sale-topper was a colt by Friends Lake purchased for $150,000 by bloodstock agent Bruno de Berdt.

The one-day sale saw 169 horses sold for $3,364,600, an average price of $19,909 and a median of $11,000. The gross fell 22.3 percent, while the average was down 21.3 percent from 2007. The median showed the most significant loss, down 31.2 percent from $16,000 in 2006 to $11,000 this year.

West Point Thoroughbreds, the public syndicate enjoying a banner year at the races, has nominated three of its Grade 1-winning fillies - Dream Rush, Irish Smoke, and Lear's Princess - to Fasig-Tipton Kentucky's November mixed auction on Nov. 4 in Lexington, Ky.

John Sikura's Hill 'n' Dale Sales will be the consigning agent.

West Point founder and president Terry Finley said the sale nomination keeps options open for the fillies' owners.