A $220,000 El Prado colt out of Grade 2-placed Saint Bernadette, by Saint Ballado, topped the Adena Springs 2-year-old sale on Monday night at the Adena Springs South facility near Ocala, Fla. Eric Fein bought the topper.
A Grand Slam-Dancing with Wings filly also brought $220,000 but failed to reach her reserve. The one-night auction grossed $4,892,000 for 90 juveniles, up from last year's $4,397,000 for 65 horses. The average this year was down 20 percent, from $67,646 last year to $54,356.
Churchill Downs Inc. has resumed making payments to the Jockeys' Guild after the two sides settled lawsuits filed against each other related to two walkouts at Churchill's racetracks in 2004, according to the two groups.
The settlement, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville on Wednesday and which must be approved by Judge John G. Heyburn, prohibits the Jockeys' Guild and its members from organizing any walkouts or interfering with the operations at any of Churchill's racetracks, a statement released by the two groups said.
POMONA, Calif. - Led by an Officer colt purchased by the Maktoum family for $1.4 million, Tuesday's Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training showed substantial gains in gross, average, and median over a year ago, but a high number of buybacks had sale organizers concerned.
In the one-day sale, 88 of the 199 horses cataloged sold for $19,340,000, an average of $219,773 and a median of $147,500. The gross increased 34 percent from last year, the average was up 42 percent, and the median grew by a whopping 84 percent over the 2006 sale.
Bill Nader, the senior vice president and chief operating officer of the New York Racing Association, has been hired as the executive director of racing for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the overseas organization announced on Friday.
Nader, 49, started his career 20 years ago at Rockingham Park and moved rapidly up the ranks at NYRA. He will start in his new job on April 23, the Hong Kong Jockey Club said.
Youbet.com, the diversified online horserace broadcasting and wagering company, had a net loss of $2 million for 2006, compared to net income of $5.7 million in 2005, according to financial statements released by the company on Tuesday.
Revenues for the company, driven by strong wagering gains for its domestic account-wagering platform and for its offshore rebate shop, International Racing Group, were $136.7 million, up 53.9 percent over 2005. Expenses rose 60.4 percent, from $85.8 million in 2005 to $137.3 million in 2006.
Two fillies and a colt fired off eighth-mile works in 9.80 seconds on Monday to top the work tab at the Barretts March select juvenile sale's first under-tack show.
The under-tack show was the first of two for the March 20 Barretts auction in Pomona, Calif. The second preview will take place on March 18.
A sale record 211 2-year-olds will be offered in the fifth annual John Franks Memorial 2-year-olds in training and paddock sale next Sunday at Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino. In addition, 33 racing and breeding prospects will go through the sales ring following the 2-year-old sale.
The total of 244 is a 40 percent increase from last year's sale, which offered 174 horses: 139 2-year-olds and 35 older horses.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stonestreet Stable owner Jess Jackson and California-based trainer Bruce Headley have reached a settlement over a lawsuit in which Jackson alleged Headley had defrauded him in transactions for horses, according to Jackson's lead counsel, Richard A. Getty.
Getty said on Thursday the amount of the settlement was $900,000.
Headley's attorney, Barry West, did not return calls seeking comment.
MIAMI - When Hoby Kight and Don Mattox bought a $1 million Storm Cat colt at last year's Keeneland September yearling sale, they gambled that the colt would turn a profit for them just seven months later at Fasig-Tipton's Calder 2-year-old sale.
"I have to admit it took me a little while of looking at the ceiling before I could get to sleep," Mattox recalled on Tuesday, "and Hoby told me he didn't get a wink."
