August 17, 2008

Penpont's foals elevate Unusual Heat as stallion
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Even the most dedicated racing fan is forgiven for not recalling the racing career of Penpont in the late 1990s.

The appearance of her name on a breeding line is another matter.

While Penpont had only 1 win in 17 starts, she has been a star broodmare. Recently, Penpont was honored as the 2007-08 California Broodmare of the Year in voting of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association members.

Penpont has been represented by two graded stakes winners in the last year - Unusual Suspect, the winner of the Grade 3 Hollywood Turf Express last November, and Golden Doc A, the winner of the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes in February.

Penpont's success has been a family affair. A 14-year-old New Zealand-bred mare by Crested Wave, Penpont is owned by the brothers David and Barry Abrams and Barry's wife, Dyan. From 2000 to 2007, they bred Penpont annually to their stallion Unusual Heat, who rose from a modest start to become the state's leading stallion by progeny earnings this year.

Penpont's foals have played a major role in that development. She is the dam of Master Heat (who earned $157,764), Solid Fuel ($168,093), Rushen Heat ($151,168), Unusual Suspect ($504,866), and Golden Doc A ($496,189). Rushen Heat, Unusual Suspect and Golden Doc A have raced this year.

This year, for the first time, Penpont did not produce a foal, according to Barry Abrams, who besides co-owning Penpoint is a Southern California trainer. Abrams said that Penpont's 2008 foal was stillborn.

Because she would have been bred at a later date, Penpont was left open this year, according to Barry Abrams. "We gave her a year off," he said.

There also has been concern about Penpont's health. She has battled founder, although Barry Abrams said the situation has improved.

"It looks like she's recovering," he said.

Penpont raced in New Zealand and California. She earned $31,722.

Golden Doc A was Penpont's first stakes winner, in the Generous Portion Stakes for California-bred 2-year-old fillies at Del Mar on Aug. 29, 2007. It was the start of a remarkable three months for the mare's foals. Golden Doc A later won the Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita in October, and finished third in the Grade 3 Miesque Stakes on turf at Hollywood Park on Nov. 24.

On the same Nov. 24 program, Golden Doc A's older full brother Unusual Suspect won his third stakes of the autumn, and first at the graded level, in the Hollywood Turf Express. Preceding that race, Unusual Suspect won the Bay Meadows Derby and the California Cup Mile. This year, Unusual Suspect has not had the same success, going winless in seven starts.

Golden Doc A has been in the best form of her career this year. Owned by Ron McCauley since last winter, Golden Doc A won the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes over a mile at Santa Anita in February and later finished second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks and Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland. She was also fourth in the Kentucky Oaks and Acorn Stakes.

Golden Doc A has been working regularly in recent weeks for Abrams at Del Mar, and is a candidate for the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a mile on Aug. 31.

The mating of Unusual Heat and Penpont has at least two more opportunities for success. Penpont is the dam of a yearling colt by Unusual Heat and a 2-year-old named Mama Rosa, who is unlikely to start until the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, Abrams said.

Penpont is scheduled to be bred to Unusual Heat in 2009.

August 10, 2008

Three sisters of Thor's Echo big for small farm
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Fast Lane Farms, the breeding operation of horseman Steve Warner, has never been a big outfit.

"We've never had more than three or four mares," said Warner, whose principal business provides feed at Southern California Thoroughbred tracks.

Warner was the breeder of two starters at the 2006 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs - Thor's Echo, who won the Sprint, and Dancing Edie, who finished eighth in the Filly and Mare Turf.

Warner owned a minority share in Dancing Edie at the time, but had sold Thor's Echo. It did not detract from his enthusiasm when Thor's Echo won, or from his sadness when Helen of Troy, the dam of Thor's Echo, was lost to laminitis earlier this summer.

Her death hit Warner hard.

"She was in pretty bad shape, let me tell ya," Warner said. "We tried everything for her."

Helen of Troy, 12, was based at Old English Rancho in Sanger, Calif., at the time of her death. She produced her final foal in 2007, a filly by Swiss Yodeler who is a full sister to Thor's Echo and will be named Thorellen, Warner said. Helen of Troy was not bred that year because of her health.

Thorellen is one of three full sisters to Thor's Echo owned by Fast Lane Farms, including the 2-year-old Serena's Echo and the 5-year-old Helen's Echo. Those fillies have become the focus of the Fast Lane Farms racing and breeding operation.

Serena's Echo, who has not started, had several workouts at Hollywood Park earlier this year, but none since early June. She has been turned out, Warner said. The mare Helen's Echo was unplaced in her only start, which came at Santa Anita in January 2006. She produced an Unusual Heat colt earlier this year, and has been bred back to that stallion. Unusual Heat is the leading sire in California by progeny earnings.

Thor's Echo, who has won 5 of 22 starts and $2,441,992, is winless in four starts since winning the Grade 1 Frank De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel in November 2006, a victory that essentially clinched his title as the champion sprinter that year. In early 2007, Thor's Echo was sold to Zabeel Racing International of Dubai and made two starts in that country, finishing sixth in stakes.

This year, back in the United States for Zabeel and back with trainer Doug O'Neill, Thor's Echo has been fourth in the Grade 2 True North Handicap at Belmont Park on June 7 and fourth in the Grade 2 Alfred Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga on July 26.

"Thor's ran a good race the other day," Warner said. "He missed third by a nose up there at Saratoga."

Warner's connection to Thor's Echo is limited to cheerleading and being the recipient of breeders awards, along with his partners Carlton Block, Harry Forman, and Carl Smith. The mating came about five years ago through a conversation that Warner had with trainers Mike and Patricia Harrington, who campaigned Swiss Yodeler in the late 1990s.

Smith, a groom for the Harringtons, had a breeding season to Swiss Yodeler, but did not own a mare. Smith had groomed Swiss Yodeler during his racing career and received the season from Heinz Steinmann, who owns Swiss Yodeler. When Warner heard that Smith was looking for a mare to breed to Swiss Yodeler, he and his partners suggested Helen of Troy.

"It was all through charity and good feelings," Warner said of the mating.

The resulting foal led to a piece of California racing history.

* The Barretts 2008 fall selected yearling sale, to be conducted on Sept. 30 in Pomona, has 235 horses cataloged. The sale catalogs are available online at Barretts.com.

August 3, 2008

Thanks for the memories, Lava Man
By STEVE ANDERSEN
DEL MAR, Calif. - When it was finally over on Wednesday, the day that Lava Man's retirement was announced after 10 days of speculation, co-owner Jason Wood sat down at his Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., home and sent out an e-mail to about 30 family members and friends.

Wood highlighted the 2005 Hollywood Gold Cup, the first of the gelding's three consecutive wins in that Grade 1 race, the two wins in the Santa Anita Handicap in 2006 and 2007 and the 2006 Pacific Classic as personal favorites.

"All you can say is, 'Thanks, Lava Man,'" Wood wrote in his message.

The raw statistics of Lava Man's career emphasize Wood's feelings - 17 wins in 46 starts, seven Grade 1 wins, and earnings of $5,268,706. He retires as the third-richest California-bred in history behind Tiznow ($6,247,830) and Best Pal ($5,668,245). Not bad company.

What cannot be quantified is his impact on the sport in California. In an age when champion horses sometimes make fewer than 10 career starts or race longer than a year, Lava Man became a familiar name to California sports fans from 2005 to 2008, and not just racing fans who congregate at Del Mar, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita.

* Lava Man's lifetime past performances

If you popped into one of those places on, say, July 9, 2005, the date of Lava Man's first win in the Hollywood Gold Cup, or Aug. 20, 2006, the afternoon that Lava Man won the Pacific Classic, or March 3, 2007, when he defended his title in the Santa Anita Handicap, you saw a performance to remember.

Trained by Doug O'Neill for Wood and Steve, Dave and Tracy Kenly, Lava Man won the 2005 Gold Cup by 8 3/4 lengths, a record margin. After the race Steve Kenly, who never tired of talking about Lava Man, was nearly speechless.

"I was shaking," he said at the time. "We could hardly see straight. It's a rarity to get a horse like this."

The day Lava Man won the Pacific Classic, he broke the will of his seven rivals with a romping move on the final turn that gave him an insurmountable three-length lead. He had been third in the race in 2005 and was then vanned off afterward, exhausted. The Pacific Classic win remains a personal favorite for Tony Romero, the exercise rider who was almost exclusively Lava Man's partner after he was claimed for $50,000 in August 2004.

"I felt good when he won all those races," Romero said on the Del Mar backstretch earlier this week.

When Lava Man defended his title in the 2007 Santa Anita Handicap, he fought off a stubborn Molengao to win by three-quarters of a length before an adoring ontrack crowd of 43,024. As he galloped back to the winner's circle, Lava Man was greeted by waves of cheering that started on the far reaches of the clubhouse, went through the box seats and finally to the grandstand before reaching a crescendo.

Lava Man won only one more race, the 2007 Gold Cup. He lost the final six races of his career, the last of which was a sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar on July 20. Last week, while being examined at the Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Clinic in Los Olivos, Calif., veterinarians said that Lava Man's ankles were suffering from wear and tear, Steve Kenly said.

The 7-year-old, bred by Lonnie Arterburn and Eve and Kim Kuhlmann, had reached the end of his career.

The evolution of Lava Man from $50,000 claimer to Grade 1 winner took less than 11 months from August 2004 to July 2005. Lava Man spent the next years proving he was so much more.

July 26, 2008

Babs Moossa keeps surprising
By STEVE ANDERSEN
DEL MAR, Calif. - Ted Aroney had just about given up on Babs Moossa when the gelding made his third start in a $12,500 maiden claimer at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., on June 25.

"I was rooting for a tag," Aroney said, hoping the gelding would get claimed.

Babs Moossa's four-length win in the race was a minor consolation. At least Babs Moossa improved on sixth- and second-place finishes in maiden claiming races at Golden Gate Fields in the spring.

What has happened since is far from what Aroney or trainer Jerry Hollendorfer envisioned. Following the Pleasanton race, Babs Moossa won the Solano County Juvenile Stakes at Vallejo on July 12 in odd circumstances, then returned to win the second stakes of his career in the $136,000 Graduation Stakes for California-breds at Del Mar on Wednesday.

"He's definitely matured in the last two months," Aroney said. "Jerry has done a wonderful job with the horse."

Babs Moossa needed all 5 1/2 furlongs of the Graduation to catch Triumphant Flight, a colt by Chullo, in the final strides. Babs Moossa won by a nose, taking the lead in the final strides. The style of the win suggested he should have no difficulty with the six-furlong distance of the $100,000 I'm Smokin Stakes for statebreds here on Sept. 1, his next expected start.

While Babs Moossa displayed his experience in the Graduation, he was the beneficiary of a wild finish to the Solano County Juvenile. Babs Moossa was third in early stretch in that race over 5 1/2 furlongs when front-runner Cross Fire, the 3-5 favorite, ducked in and fell over the inside rail. Babs Moossa went on to win by two lengths, earning a first-place purse of $41,450.

He earned $81,600 for winning the Graduation, improving his career earnings to $132,450.

"He's made $130,000," said Dan Ward, Hollendorfer's assistant. "Not bad for a maiden twelve-five."

Aroney bred Babs Moossa, who is by Crowning Storm out Moossa's Girl, by Candi's Gold. Crowning Storm, 12, won 2 of 9 starts and $92,940 for Sid Craig, racing from 1998 to 2000. Crowning Storm placed twice in Grade 3 races - the 1998 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs and the 1999 Affirmed Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Craig died last Monday after a five-year battle with cancer. Craig and Aroney campaigned horses together in recent years.

Moossa's Girl, 9, raced for Aroney's Halo Farms, whose burgundy and gray silks are among the most recognizable in California racing. Moossa's Girl made only six starts as a 2-year-old and ended her career with a two-length win the fillies division of the 2001 California Sires Stakes at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting. The race is no longer run.

Moossa's Girl is the dam of one other winner, Crowning Moossa, and was bred to Benchmark earlier this year, Aroney said. She does not have a yearling or a foal by her side, Aroney said. The mare is kept at Legacy Ranch in Clements, Calif.

Crowning Storm was sent to stud in Argentina in 2005 and his oldest foals there will be 2-year-olds next year, Aroney said.

Aroney retains the Northern Hemisphere breeding rights to Crowning Storm, but said there is no decision about whether he will return to this part of the world for the upcoming breeding season.

"This will be his last crop" in California, Aroney said of the current 2-year-olds. "He stands in Argentina. The Crowning Storms can run. Sid Craig stood him with me. He'd be very happy. We'll miss him a lot."

Swiss Yodeler relocates

Swiss Yodeler, the leading stallion in California in 2006, has been moved to Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., the farm announced Friday.

Swiss Yodeler had stood at Pepper Oaks Farm in Santa Ynez, Calif., since he entered stud in 1999. Patricia Youngman, the owner of Pepper Oaks Farm, said in June that she would no longer stand stallions at that farm.

Heinz Steinmann, who campaigned Swiss Yodeler during his racing career in the late 1990s, has retained ownership in Swiss Yodeler.

Swiss Yodeler, 14, is the sire of Thor's Echo, the 2006 champion sprinter and the winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint that year. Thor's Echo was entered in the Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.

Swiss Yodeler has sired 19 stakes winners and winners off more than $16.6 million in purses. According to a statement from Harris Farms, the stud fee for the 2009 season will be announced in September.

July 6, 2008

Momentum's early returns encouraging
By STEVE ANDERSEN
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Momentum, the California-based first-year stallion, cracked the national top 10 in progeny earnings earlier this week when the colt Lidstrom won his debut in a maiden race Wednesday at Hollywood Park.

The stallion's success is even more remarkable considering he has sired three winners from just six starters in a crop of 27 registered foals.

Momentum, who stands at Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, Calif., will have larger crops of 2-year-olds in 2009 and 2010, and many of them are likely to race for the stallion's owner, Paul Reddam.

Not only has Reddam supported Momentum with his own mares, but financially guaranteed that other breeders would be satisfied with their Momentum foals by offering to buy back those horses as yearlings for up to three times the stud fee. The offer was extended for the 2006 and 2007 breeding season.

For the 2007 foals, Reddam committed to buying back yearlings at three times the $5,000 stud fee, or $15,000.

For the 2008 foals, the program changed. Reddam instructed mare owners to name a stud fee, ranging from $3,000 to $15,000. He committed to buying back the unwanted yearlings for three times the named fee. The stud fees varied considerably, he said.

"There were a bunch of people at $3,000 and a lot at $15,000," Reddam said.

It is unclear how many yearlings that Reddam will wind up buying back from other breeders this year. He estimates he will buy back 10 yearlings this year and approximately 25 next year.

"I stuck my neck out with the triple buyback guarantee," he said. "We'll end up buying a few. It depends on whether he can keep his success going."

Reddam said Momentum has 50 yearlings this year and is expected to have a crop of 80 foals this year. Next year, the figure will drop. "This year, he hardly bred any mares," Reddam said. "I probably bred 25 mares myself. There were no financial incentives."

Through Thursday, Momentum has progeny earnings of $92,340. He is the highest-ranked California-based stallion on the list of first-year sires. The red-hot Lion Heart, based in Kentucky, leads the national list with progeny earnings of $254,641.

Lidstrom, named after Detroit Red Wings captain Niklas Lidstrom, was bred by Reddam and is trained by Craig Dollase. The colt was favored in Wednesday's 5 1/2-furlong race, and rallied from fifth in a field of 11 to win by 2 1/4 lengths. The winning time of 1:05.44 was not quick, but Reddam and Dollase were encouraged by the style of the victory.

Dollase trained Momentum for Reddam during the American part of the stallion's career, which included a victory in the 2001 Native Diver Handicap and second-place finishes in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Pacific Classic and Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap in 2002. A stakes winner on turf in England at 3, Momentum, now 10, won 4 of 17 starts and $664,817.

Eventually, Reddam and Dollase would like to try Lidstrom on turf.

"He's bred to run on," Dollase said. "He reminds me a lot of his dad. He handles himself with a lot of class, a good-moving horse."

In the short-term, Lidstrom will be pointed to the $125,000 Graduation Stakes for 2-year-old California-breds over 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on July 23.

"Hopefully, we'll see some bigger and better races from him," Reddam said. "He really has some grass action. We're kind of high on that one."

June 29, 2008

Pepper Oaks Farm is closing
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Pepper Oaks Farm in Santa Ynez, Calif., which has stood leading California sire Swiss Yodeler since he went to stud in 1999, is closing on Tuesday, farm owner Patricia Youngman announced Thursday.

In her announcement, Youngman said she was disgruntled over the direction of the sport in general and scolded the sport for failing to have "vision and unity."

In a brief interview on Friday, Youngman deferred to her statement. She said the farm will not be developed.

"This is going to be my home," she said. "I have horses, and they will live at my place."

Swiss Yodeler, the leading sire in California in 2006 in progeny earnings, will be relocated to another California farm for the 2009 breeding season, but no plans have been finalized, according to Mike Harrington, who trained Swiss Yodeler and is active in the stallion's management.

Harrington is an avid supporter of Swiss Yodeler, having owned, bred and trained several of the sire's offspring.

Swiss Yodeler is the sire of Thor's Echo, who won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs. Thor's Echo was named champion sprinter for 2006, Swiss Yodeler's first champion.

Swiss Yodeler is owned by Heinz Steinmann, who will decide where the horse stands, Harrington said.

"There are several farms interested, but we haven't made a determination yet," Harrington said. "It will be in California. It will be up to Mr. Steinmann. It's his horse. We've had three people call us, and I'm sure there'll be more."

Through Thursday, Swiss Yodeler ranked seventh among the state's stallion in progeny earnings, at $1,267,983.

Youngman's decision to close Pepper Oaks comes two years after she announced that she was reducing her breeding holdings through sales. In late 2006, she said that the other stallions that stood at Pepper Oaks would be relocated or pensioned. Swiss Yodeler was the only active stallion on the property in 2007 and 2008.

In 2006, Youngman said she wanted to redirect her effort to promote racing and race a small stable. At the 2006 October breeding sale at Barretts, Pepper Oaks sold 15 horses for $61,200.

In a statement that announced the cessation of activity at Pepper Oaks, Youngman said she will continue to race "one or two horses."

"However," she said, "the current problems within the industry and its failure to do more to enhance its position in the marketplace along with the lack of vision and unity required by its current leaders in all areas to ensure a bright future for the sport leaves me saddened and concerned as a business owner," she said.

"I hope racing can find its way and regain its position as a leading sport and entertainment alternative for fans and families."

On Friday, she said she "weighed everything for a long time" before making the announcement to close the farm.

The loss of Pepper Oaks Farm is a blow to the state's breeding industry, which has lost several other farms in recent years to development.

Youngman's decision did not surprise Harrington.

"She cut back a couple of years ago, and she indicated this spring she wasn't continuing on for long," he said. "She has other things she wanted to do. It's a beautiful farm, and it's a shame that such a beautiful farm won't have [breeding] horses on it."

June 22, 2008

Gold Cup an ambitious target for McCann's Mojave
By STEVE ANDERSEN
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - When McCann's Mojave won the Grade 3 Berkeley Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on May 26, trainer Steve Specht immediately knew his next goal - the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at Hollywood Park next Saturday.

The margin of victory, 3 1/2 lengths, was the widest of McCann's Mojave's 34-race career, which includes 12 wins and earnings of $1,468,565.

"Specht was adamant that we need to take a shot," owner-breeder Mike Willman said. "He really ran well the other day."

Specht had simple reasons for his confidence, beginning with the Gold Cup purse: "It's a lot of damn money, it's a short field, and the horse is coming off a big race."

An 8-year-old California-bred horse by Memo, McCann's Mojave will make his 13th consecutive appearance in a stakes in the Gold Cup, and his first in a Grade 1 since a fourth-place finish in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap in March 2007. In that race, McCann's Mojave was beaten 2 1/2 lengths by Lava Man, another California-bred. Lava Man has won the last three runnings of the Gold Cup, but his participation this year was doubtful as of Friday, according to trainer Doug O'Neill.

While McCann's Mojave will be a longshot in the Gold Cup, neither Specht nor Willman is worried about the race distance of 1 1/4 miles.

"The way he ran in the Big Cap last year, we're not concerned about the mile and a quarter," said Willman, the director of publicity at Santa Anita.

The Berkeley Stakes is McCann's Mojave's only win in four starts this year, which includes a troubled fifth in the Sensational Star Handicap at Santa Anita in April and a 10th in the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita in January, a race Willman dismisses.

McCann's Mojave won the 2007 Sunshine Millions Classic for California-breds and Florida-breds at Gulfstream Park in a 33-1 upset. The race remains the richest win of his career, which includes a victory in the $250,000 California Cup Classic in 2005.

McCann's Mojave has even beaten expected Gold Cup favorite Heatseeker in the past. McCann's Mojave was fourth in the Grade 3 Morvich Handicap at Santa Anita last fall, while Heatseeker was only seventh.

The result does not leave Willman expecting a handy victory from McCann's Mojave in what will be arguably the toughest race of his career.

"I know he's a different horse now," Willman said of Heatseeker. "Our horse has earned the shot."

Modest expectations for Barretts sale

The Barretts summer sale of horses of racing age and 2-year-olds in training in Pomona on Tuesday is not expected to reach the record levels of the 2007 sale.

Last year's auction featured a dispersal of Meadow Creek Farm, which was led by the sale of the

3-year-old Laddies Poker for $525,000. Overall, 89 horses were sold for a record gross of $1,680,200, a gain of 48 percent, and a record average of $18,879, an increase of 99.7 percent.

Tuesday's sale features a main catalog of 94 horses, and a supplemental catalog of 30 horses. There is a training preview for the 2-year-olds on Monday.

"This is just a service market," Barretts president Gerald McMahon said. "It's kind of a meat-and-potatoes sale."

The horses of racing age include Leesider, who won the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes for statebred 3-year-olds at Hollywood in 2007, but has been running in claiming races recently. The 2-year-olds include the California-bred filly Aromatica, the winner of a two-furlong maiden race at Santa Anita in March, who was sixth against males in the Willard Proctor Memorial Stakes on May 25.

May 23, 2008

Sherlock got quite a bargain at yearling sale
By STEVE ANDERSEN
The California October yearling sale was about half over last fall when the filly Listisimo went into the ring. At the time, it did not seem like an important moment.

Listisimo was purchased for $2,500 by trainer Gary Sherlock as something of a gamble. It has already paid off.

Listisimo, a rare California-bred More Than Ready filly, won a $49,200 maiden special weight race at Hollywood Park on Wednesday, a performance that has Sherlock convinced that she will play a factor in the statebred stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Del Mar.

Making her second start, Listisimo ran 4 1/2 furlongs in 52.55 seconds, winning by 1 1/4 lengths over Seattle Sweetie.

"She won easily," Sherlock said. "I think she wants to go further."

Sherlock bought Listisimo from a reduction of holdings of the Mabee family's Golden Eagle Farm. Sherlock owns the filly with Tom Grether Farms.

"They didn't put a reserve on her," Sherlock said of Golden Eagle. "I was in the right place at the right time. I liked her."

Listisimo is out of the Boston Harbor mare Harbor Princess. More Than Ready stands at Vinery Stud in Lexington, Ky., for a $60,000 fee.

Debut time at hand

By any measurement, it is early in the season for 2-year-old racing. Many of the best prospects will be unveiled over the next three months, particularly as the opening of the Del Mar meeting on July 16 nears. Regardless of what California-breds emerge in coming weeks, Sherlock has a filly who should be well-suited for races such as the $125,000 CTBA Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs on July 18 and the $100,000 Generous Portion Stakes over six furlongs on Aug. 27, both for statebreds.

Another filly capable of starting in those races is Gonging Wild, who set a two-furlong track record of 20.87 seconds at Santa Anita in April.

Gonging Wild will make her stakes debut in Sunday's $75,000 Cinderella Stakes at Hollywood Park. The Cinderella, which drew a field of eight 2-year-old fillies, including five California-breds, will be Gonging Wild's first start for Sundance Racing Stable and trainer Paul Aguirre.

Gonging Wild raced for Galley Farm and trainer Adam Kitchingman when she won her debut at Santa Anita. While Galley Farm retains an ownership interest in the filly, Kitchingman is no longer the trainer.

Gonging Wild is by Expressionist, and was that stallion's first winner. Gonging Wild was purchased privately by Sundance Racing Stable shortly after the maiden win. The Sundance partnership is a group of Aguirre's clients, the trainer said.

Aguirre is taking a cautious approach to Sunday's race. He fears that she may not be ready for a top race, and is already looking toward Del Mar.

"I think we're going into the race a little short," he said. "Our goal is to get her ready for the Del Mar Cal-bred stakes. I don't think she can win. She seems like she's got some quality and can hit the board."

Idiot Proof back in training

Idiot Proof, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint last October and the Golden Shaheen Stakes in Dubai in March, has resumed training with Clifford Sise at Hollywood Park.

Owned by breeders Marty and Pam Wygod, Idiot Proof is not likely to start until later this summer. The Wygods and Sise are hoping to run Idiot Proof twice at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita this fall - a defense of his title in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Oct. 25.

May 16, 2008

Barretts falls short of 2007
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Compared with 2007, Tuesday's Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training failed to keep pace. The sale had a 15 percent decline in average price, a 4 percent drop in median, and a 31 percent reduction in gross receipts.

The figures seem discouraging but sale officials insist they were not surprised by the results.

"A lot more horses stayed east this year," Barretts president Gerald McMahon said. "I think it was a factor of expenses and risk-reward. We didn't have as deep of a top end."

In fairness, the 2007 sale was a hard act to follow, with a record gross of $11,331,300 and a record average of $62,604. This year, the gross was $7,816,400, with 34 fewer horses sold, and the average was $53,173. Tuesday's average was 1 percent higher than the 2006 average of $52,573.

This year, there were six horses that sold for $250,000 or more. Last year, there were 13 horses that sold for $250,000 or more, compared with just four in 2006.

"It was incredible last year," McMahon said. "We were hoping we could build on that. We saw early on that we didn't have the horses coming out. There were a lot of buyers here for the same horses and weakness for the middle and lower horses. Buyers are pretty selective."

Jess Jackson led all buyers at Tuesday's sale, acquiring four horses for $1.6 million. Jackson bought the Harlan's Holiday filly that topped the sale at $700,000. The owner of reigning Horse of the Year Curlin, Jackson has a history of buying expensive horses at this sale. He also acquired the 2003 sale-topper for $375,000, at a time when he was building his racing holdings.

Jackson said the Harlan's Holiday filly will be sent to trainer Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky-bred filly, consigned by Murray Smith, agent, zipped a quarter-mile in 20.80 seconds in a training preview on May 8, the fastest two-furlong workout of the sale prospects. The filly is out of the unraced Septieme Ciel mare Leading the Way, 12. The second dam, Fit to Lead, won seven races, including five stakes, and earned $595,776.

The Harlan's Holiday filly was purchased for $150,000 by M.S.T.S. at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale last July.

"She's ready to run now, but that's not the point," Jackson said. "I want to baby her and put her into Steve Asmussen's care. We want a two-turn horse that runs in her fourth year.

"She's a two-turn prospect and has a natural gait. She does things easily. You can't ask for anything more."

Smith said the filly was injured in a paddock accident in Florida earlier this year. "Her leg got caught in a fence early this year," she said. "I lost some time."

Smith was the second leading consignor, selling four horses for $965,000. Jerry Bailey Sales Agency, acting as agent, led all consignors, selling seven horses for $1,009,000. Bailey's leading sale was a Mr. Greeley colt purchased for $300,000 by Jackson.

Jackson paid $300,000 for two other prospects - a Fusaichi Pegasus colt and a Lion Heart filly.

The leading California-bred in the one-day sale was an In Excess filly purchased for $115,000 by Dolantori Racing from the consignment of Sam Hendricks, agent. Cat Dreamer, who held the 4 1/2-furlong track record of 50.84 seconds at Hollywood Park earlier this month, sold for $110,000 to Gary Broad. A California-bred, Cat Dreamer started in a $40,000 claiming race for maidens when he set the track record on May 8.

April 20, 2008

Owner keeps an eye on one that got away
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Bob Bone will have an interesting perspective on the $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes at Hollywood Park next Sunday.

When he stands in the paddock, Bone will be focused on Overland, a Harlan's Holiday colt that will be his starter in the race for 3-year-old California-breds.

Do not be surprised if Bone peeks across the paddock occasionally to check on Bamaha Breeze, a colt he bred and saw claimed away for $20,000 in January.

Bamaha Breeze is unbeaten in four starts, three of which have come for trainer Steve Miyadi, who took him from Bone.

Bone thought he was getting away with sneaky move when he put Bamaha Breeze into a low-priced claimer for his career debut. But he got caught.

"I thought we were taking a little edge," he said. "I wouldn't have entered him for maiden 20 if I thought he'd be like this. It's disappointing but it's part of the game. If I enter him for $20,000, it's my own deal. I don't get upset or cry about it. I've claimed some good ones and some bad ones."

Bone, of Shingle Springs, Calif., has been active claiming horses for years. He is well-known for claiming Choctaw Nation for $40,000 in 2004 and watching the horse develop into a multiple stakes winner and millionaire.

Bone thinks Overland can be a factor in the Snow Chief Stakes, the richest race on the California Gold Rush program, which includes 10 stakes for statebreds.

So far, Overland has been a successful acquisition for Bone and partner Jim Vlahos. They claimed Overland for $32,000 at Golden Gate Fields last November and have watched him earn $29,320 since.

Overland, trained by Steve Sherman, has won 2 of 7 starts and $40,420. For Bone and Vlahos, Overland has won a starter allowance, finished eighth in the $150,000 California Derby, and second in two optional claiming races around two turns.

The second-place finishes were a disappointment to Bone, even though Overland was closing late.

"I think we made a good claim," Bone said. "I really expected him to win both times, but he got behind a slow pace. In the California Derby, he was a little disappointing. I think he's one of those horses that the further he goes, the better.

"He'll be a little outmatched, class-wise," Bone said of the Snow Chief, which is run over 1 1/8 miles. "I think a lot of them won't get the distance, but he'll get the distance for sure. He'll come running and pick up horses. I don't know if he's talented enough."

Bone was attracted to Overland because of his breeding. The colt is out of Lookn at a Blurr, by Murrtheblurr. Lookn at a Blurr is the dam of Lookn Mighty Fine, another remarkable claim for Bone earlier this decade.

Bone claimed Lookn Mighty Fine in Fresno in October 2000 for $6,250 and watched her develop into the winner of the Sun City Handicap at Turf Paradise in 2001 before losing her for $62,500 in summer 2001. A year later, Bone claimed Lookn Mighty Fine again, this time for $50,000. She later won the 2002 Las Madrinas Handicap at Fairplex Park before Bone lost her in an $80,000 claiming race.

Overland is by Harlan's Holiday, who stands in Kentucky. Overland was registered as a California-bred after Lookn at a Blurr was bred back to a California stallion.

As for Bamaha Breeze, he still generates breeders awards for Bone.

"When people claim from me, I wish them great luck, except when I run against them," he said. "Then, I wish them good luck."

April 13, 2008

Moscow Ballet leaves behind decades of success
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Moscow Ballet, who was euthanized at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., on April 4 at the age of 26, had a significant impact on California racing throughout his more than two decades at stud.

The stallion was euthanized because of degeneration in his hind end, Harris said.

"He couldn't get up and couldn't get down," Harris said. "He had a good life. He looked really good until the last three or four weeks."

Moscow Ballet stood his first season in 1986, as a 4-year-old, and his first crop included Dominant Dancer, the winner of the Grade 1 Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita in 1989. In 2006, two of his females - Dancing Edie and Moscow Burning - finished first and second in the Grade 1 John Mabee Handicap at Del Mar. Moscow Burning had been named California-bred horse of the year two years earlier.

Through his stallion career, Moscow Ballet had one home - at Harris Farms.

"It's unusual to stand a stallion as long as we did, for more than 20 years," owner John Harris said.

It was Harris who walked out of the winner's circle after the 2006 John Mabee and said, "He's still got it," about Moscow Ballet.

Moscow Ballet was a stakes winner in Ireland as a 2-year-old in 1984, winning the Group 3 Railway Stakes. He made one start at 3, but was unplaced.

At stud, he sired more than 750 foals with progeny earnings of more than $20 million. Moscow Ballet was by Nijinsky out of the Cornish Prince mare Millicent, who did not start. Millicent was a half-sister to Mill Reef, the star European 3-year-old of 1971.

Moscow Ballet ranked 13th on the 1989 juvenile sire list, helped by Dominant Dancer's major win. She was the first of three Grade 1 winners for the stallion. The others were Dancing Edie and Golden Ballet, who rose from the lowly two-furlong maiden special weight races at Santa Anita in 2000 to win the Grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes and Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in 2001.

Moscow Ballet had six California-bred champions: Dominant Dancer, Golden Ballet, Moscow Burning, Moscow Changes, Soviet Problem, and Teresa Mc. It was Soviet Problem who came closest to giving Moscow Ballet a Breeders' Cup winner, finishing second by a head in the 1994 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs after leading by a length in the stretch. She was named the California-bred horse of the year that season.

While Golden Ballet was the champion state bred 3-year-old filly of 2001, Moscow Ballet's other statebred champions came in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Dominant Dancer was the top 2-year-old filly of 1989, Teresa Mc was the champion 3-year-old filly of 1991, and Moscow Changes was the leading 2-year-old male of 1992.

Moscow Ballet stood for as much as $15,000, Harris said. In 2007, his final full season at stud, he stood for $3,000.

"It's hard to stand one for a whole lot in California," Harris said. "He got fairly good mares."

This year, Moscow Ballet was bred to "a few mares, but we didn't get any mares in foal," Harris said.

The stallion is the broodmare sire of 11 stakes winners, including Leave Me Alone, the winner of the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga in 2005; Spot the Diplomat, the winner of two stakes for California-bred males at Del Mar in 2006; and Stage Luck, the winner of the 2008 Affectionately Handicap at Aqueduct.

Stage Luck is by Unbridled's Song out of Golden Ballet, and was purchased by Darley Stable for $1.6 million at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale.

"I think he'll be a good broodmare sire," Harris said of Moscow Ballet. "We've got several Moscow Ballet mares."

April 6, 2008

Insurance program to aid farms
By STEVE ANDERSEN
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bud Johnston does not need a reminder about the exorbitant costs that California horse farm owners pay for worker's compensation. The figure for his Old English Rancho in Sanger, Calif., is easy to remember.

"It's $1,000 a day, and that's before we open the door or buy a bale of hay," he said Friday morning at Santa Anita.

For Johnston's operation, and other California Thoroughbred farms, relief could be on the way. A captive insurance program developed by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and modeled after an existing program for Thoroughbred trainers in the state is nearing completion and could be put in place later this spring, according to CTBA executive director Doug Burge.

Burge said Friday that farms could have savings of "15 to 20" percent off current policies, many of which are purchased through the government-backed State Fund insurance system.

For Johnston, and other farm owners, the savings cannot occur fast enough.

"It's ridiculous," Johnston said of the cost. "I hope it accomplishes what they believe it will."

The program will be limited to farms that are CTBA members and will be brokered by MOC Insurance Services of San Francisco, which developed the program for trainers.

Scoop Vessels, former president of the CTBA and the owner of Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, Calif., said the new program will benefit his operation.

"Once it comes rolling out, we'll take a hard look at it," Vessels said. "For a majority of the people, it could be [a savings of] 10 to 15 percent daily, which is quite a bit in today's market. That's a pretty good deal. Anything we can do to help the farm nowadays, it's tough out there."

Burge said the program could be in place within 30 days and could offset increases in labor, fuel, and hay costs that currently burden farms.

"It's our goal and intention to offer the farms a competitive alternative to the current situation, which basically has the State Fund as the only entity that has written worker's compensation insurance," he said.

Filly gives Momentum his first winner

The freshman stallion Momentum was represented by his first winner when Aromatica won a two-furlong race for 2-year-olds at Santa Anita on March 28.

A filly racing against males, Aromatica was timed in 21.01 seconds, winning by a length. Owned and bred by Francoise Dupuis, Diane Keith, and Michael Neumann, Aromatica is trained by Jean-Pierre Dupuis. The filly is out of Doman's Magic, by Magical Mile.

Momentum is by Nureyev out of the Foolish Pleasure mare Imprudent Love. Momentum raced in England and the United States, winning 4 of 17 starts and $664,817. A two-time stakes winner, Momentum ran second in the Pacific Classic and Hollywood Gold Cup in 2002.

Owned by Paul Reddam, Momentum stands for $5,000 at Vessels and had more than 100 foals in his last two crops, Vessels said.

As part of a promotion to attract mares to the stallion, Reddam offered a deal to breeders that yearlings could be sold back to the farm this year for $15,000 without obligation, or three times the $5,000 stud fee. Vessels said that there have been "quite a few" breeders who had taken advantage of the promotion.

The promotion is no longer being offered, Vessels said.

"We do have a lot of interest in him," Vessels said. "It was pretty forward thinking on [Reddam's] part, along with the horse doing his part of being a nice stallion. Paul stepped out of the box in regards to deal making. We had a couple years of 100 mares, that's pretty good."

March 30, 2008

Barretts sets up new auction
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Taking advantage of the Breeders' Cup being run in Southern California, Barretts unveiled plans on Friday to host a sale of selected horses of racing age in Pomona, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 26.

The evening sale will be held a day after the second and final day of the Breeders' Cup at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita.

"We expect it to be a fairly small sale," said Jerry McMahon, president of Barretts. "Somewhere around 50 to 75 horses would be a decent target for us. We're looking for high-quality horses that need to be marketed at that time of year."

The newly formed sale, which will be called Barretts Classic, will be the first of as many as three days of sales at Barretts that week. The annual fall mixed sale will be held on Oct. 27 and possibly Oct. 28, if there are sufficient horses available, McMahon said.

The Barretts Classic sale could become an annual event, since the 2009 Breeders' Cup is also scheduled for the Oak Tree meeting, McMahon said.

"We have to get out and tell the story and hope that enough like people like the concept," McMahon said. "Our early discussions with a few industry people seem very supportive. We have to get out and sell the horses."

The Barretts Classic sale will have a nomination deadline of Sept. 5.

McMahon said the upcoming May sale of 2-year-olds in training on May 13 will include approximately 330 horses.

Tommy Town adds Buck to roster

Buck, a winner of 2 of 5 starts, including the final race of his career, has entered stud during the current breeding season at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, Calif., the farm announced earlier this month.

Buck, who is by Unbridled's Song out of the Wild Again mare Kate Again, will stand for $2,500. Buck ended his career last December, winning an allowance race over 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita. A $375,000 purchased at the 2003 Keeneland September yearling sale, Buck raced in California, making two starts in 2005 and three starts last year.

He joins a stallion roster at Tommy Town that includes Cat Dreams, Hold for Gold, Mambo Train, Ministers Wild Cat, Old Topper, Proud Tower Too, and Uncle Denny.

Sale's top-price statebred turned out

A California-bred Victory Gallop filly bought for $170,000 at the Barretts March sale of selected 2-year-olds in training earlier this month has been turned out and will be pointed to a campaign in the second half of the year, according to new trainer Bob Baffert.

The filly was purchased by David and Elia Sivage's D and E Racing, Baffert said. She was the most expensive California-bred purchased at the one-day sale on March 12.

"She doesn't look like a sprinter," Baffert said. "She moves nice. We liked her at the sale, but she's been turned out. I hope she can run."

Consigned by Kirkwood Stable, agent, the Victory Gallop filly is out of the 18-year-old mare Devil's Nell, who was stakes-placed at Santa Anita. The Victory Gallop filly is a half-sister to Kiss the Devil, a two-time stakes winner who earned $381,629.

The filly was purchased for $62,000 at the California October yearling sale last year by Thor-Bred Stables.

The leading California-bred male at the sale, a colt by Include, was purchased for $100,000 by WinStar Farm. Consigned by NexStar, agent, the colt was purchased at the California October yearling sale for $50,000 by Oakmont Thoroughbreds.

Yearling sale changing location

The Northern California yearling sale will be held on Aug. 26 at the Sonoma County fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. The sale had been previously held at the Alameda County fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

Nominations for the sale, which is administered by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, close on June 2

March 23, 2008

Idiot Proof extends Wygods' empire globally
By STEVE ANDERSEN
The breeding operation of Marty and Pam Wygod stretches from California to Kentucky, and it includes River Edge Farm in Buellton, Calif., the ownership of Kentucky-based stallions After Market and Yankee Gentleman, and numerous top-level mares in that state.

In the next week, the Wygods' racing stable will go global when Idiot Proof starts in the $2 million Golden Shaheen for sprinters in Dubai.

For the Wygods, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., the California-bred Idiot Proof is the leading horse in a stable that in recent years has included the Grade 1 winner After Market, the 2004 champion 2-year-old filly Sweet Catomine, and other major stakes winners in this decade such as Silent Sighs, Smooth Player, and Tranquility Lake.

Last year, their stable had two finalists for Eclipse Awards - Idiot Proof as outstanding sprinter and After Market as outstanding turf male.

Idiot Proof, the runner-up to Midnight Lute in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Monmouth Park last October, will enter the Golden Shaheen on a three-race losing streak. His last win came in the Grade 1 Ancient Title Stakes at Santa Anita last fall. Trained by Clifford Sise, Idiot Proof, 4, has lost twice this year, finishing third in the El Conejo Handicap at Santa Anita on Jan. 1 and second in the Phoenix Gold Cup at Turf Paradise on Feb. 16.

In the Golden Shaheen, Idiot Proof will try to become the second California-bred to win the six-furlong dirt straightaway race, joining Proud Tower Too, the 2006 winner.

"I think he'll run very big," Marty Wygod said. "He's a funny horse. There are tracks that he likes and tracks that he doesn't like. He prefers plain dirt. It depends on how he ships and how he reacts. I think he's just coming into his own."

The Wygods bred Idiot Proof at River Edge Farm. He is by their homebred stallion Benchmark, one of three River Edge stallions that have thrived in recent years. Bertrando, the champion older male of 1993, led California stallions in progeny earnings in 2007 with $4,235,168. At the age of 19, he remains in high demand among California breeders.

The upstart has been Tribal Rule, 12, whose racing career was cut short by injuries. A winner of 2 of 4 starts and the leading freshman sire in California in 2006, Tribal Rule stood for no breeding fee for his first three years at stud. A breeding season now costs $5,000. Wygod said there has been interest from Kentucky farms about relocating the Storm Cat horse.

Wygod said that River Edge farm manager Russell Drake "can't understand why all the owners of Kentucky farms are so friendly to him."

Speaking of Tribal Rule, Wygod said, "What he's been able to accomplish has shocked me. I didn't have the same confidence as Russell did."

For now, Tribal Rule is not leaving the state, though Wygod wonders if California can support such a promising stallion.

"I think I'd like to keep him here if I can stand him at a price close to what he would stand for in Kentucky," he said. "I think $10,000 is about as high as California will go."

Wygod said he will breed 20 of his mares to Tribal Rule and that the stallion will have a book of more than 140 mares this year, a large number for a California stallion.

The Wygods bred Tribal Rule as well as his dam, Sown, a half-sister to the late stallion Pirate's Bounty, who stood at River Edge and was a leading sire in California.

After Market and Yankee Gentleman were bred by the Wygods.

After Market, who stands for $30,000 at Lane's End in Versailles, Ky., is by Storm Cat out of Tranquility Lake, a half-sister to Benchmark. Tranquility Lake's full-brother Jalil was sold by the Wygods for $9.7 million at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale to Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai and is a probable starter in the $6 million Dubai World Cup next Saturday.

Yankee Gentleman, who stands for $7,500 at Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky., is by Storm Cat out of the Gradeo1 winner Key Phrase, who is a half-sister to Tribal Rule.

"All the families come back to claiming horses we had 30 years ago," Wygod said. "It's all come together with the old families."

February 17, 2008

Drop in foal crop raises field size worries in California
By STEVE ANDERSEN
ARCADIA, Calif. - The 3,223 California-breds registered with the Jockey Club from the 2006 crop marked an 11 percent decline from the 2005 crop and the lowest number of foals registered in the state in nearly a decade.

Earlier this week, the Jockey Club released its online fact book, which included state-by-state foal crops for 2006, the most recent available. California ranked third in number of foals behind Kentucky (10,346) and Florida (4,296), a position it has held annually since relinquishing second to Florida in 1994.

The 2005 California-bred foal crop reached 3,636. There were 3,783 foals in the 2004 crop, according to Jockey Club statistics.

The sharp drop in California-bred foals in 2006 has the attention of California Thoroughbred Breeders Association executive director Doug Burge, who acknowledges that the economic climate in California has contributed to the decrease.

Burge said the loss of some farms to development and the high cost of operating a breeding farm in California have taken a toll at a time when purses are not growing substantially. At the same time, purses in New Mexico, where some of the lesser mares from California have been sent, are booming because of growth in purses from racetracks aided by slot machines.

"If you look at the mares bred, the one thing that is a little concerning is that we've taken 1,000 mares out of production in the last two to three years," Burge said. "There is a good argument that most of that is a shuffling off from the bottom end, a culling from an economic standpoint.

"It costs more now than ever to raise and develop a young horse. If it's not making it from an economic standpoint, you will see a demise."

"A lot of the regional markets are experiencing similar trends as we are. It's not just a major issue here in California. It does get down to the economics."

Since 1968, according to records available on the Jockey Club's website, California's annual foal crop has ranged from a low of 3,128 in the 1997 crop to a high of 6,061 in 1985. As recently as the 2003 crop, there were 3,865 foals registered in the state.

Burge said the development of an incentive awards program for owners of California-breds in the late 1990s spurred growth through the first half of this decade, but that the advantages from that program have dissipated.

Along with the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the racetracks, the CTBA has held discussions on ways to increase ownership of statebreds, Burge said. Field size at the state's racetracks could be at risk. Burge said that 50 percent of starters on both the Northern and Southern California circuits are California-breds.

"What we're looking at are ways to stimulate the production of not only better horses but to reverse that trend [of smaller foal crops] and get back to where we need to be," Burge said.

"I think the optimum number, with the amount of racing dates we have and the dependency we have in California on the local horse, is probably 3,500-plus."

Burge said that farm operation costs have hurt foal crops. One way to help alleviate those costs is to help farms band together for issues such as workers' compensation insurance policies.

"We've lost a number of farms to development and horses to other states that are subsidized by slot machine money," Burge said. "We're looking for ways to assist here."

Burge said that the preliminary figures for the 2007 foal crop are more encouraging. In conversations with the Jockey Club, he said he found the foal crop could reach 3,300.

February 10, 2008

Lava Man targets unprecedented feat
By STEVE ANDERSEN
ARCADIA, Calif. – When Lava Man makes his expected return to racing this spring after a layoff of nearly six months, he will begin a campaign that could lead to an unprecedented fourth consecutive title as outstanding California-bred older male.

Last week, as Lava Man returned to trainer Doug O’Neill’s stable at Hollywood Park, he was named the champion California-bred older male of 2007, a title he won in 2005 and 2006. He joins Ancient Title (1974-76) and Best Pal (1992, 1994-95) as three-time winners. In addition, Lava Man is a finalist for the horse of the year title, along with the champion sprinter Idiot Proof and the outstanding older female Nashoba’s Key.

Lava Man won the California-bred horse of the year title in 2005-06. The only three-time winners of that award are Snow Chief (1985-87) and Best Pal (1990-92). The award will be announced at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s awards dinner in Pasadena on Feb. 18. CTBA members vote on the year-end champions.

Lava Man has not started since finishing sixth in the California Cup Classic on Nov. 3. The loss was his third straight, a disappointing end to an otherwise outstanding campaign. Early in the year, Lava Man successfully defended his title in the Santa Anita Handicap and won a record-equaling third Hollywood Gold Cup in June. But as the year progressed, his form tailed off and he was sent to a local farm for a break in the fall.

O’Neill said that Lava Man has shown signs of enthusiasm since returning to the stable.

“He looks fantastic,” O’Neill said. “I’m very happy with the time off, what it’s done for him. We’re seeing all the signs of a champion Thoroughbred on the comeback trail.”

Owned by the Kenly family’s STD Racing and Jason Wood, Lava Man is expected to return to racing at the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting. The long-term goal is the Hollywood Gold Cup, with a possible start to the campaign in the Khaled Stakes for statebreds on turf in late April. Lava Man won the 2006 Khaled.

“That’s got our name written all over it,” O’Neill said. “We’ve been lucky, with other horses, of using a grass route as a prep. That might weigh into it. I’d definitely say Santa Anita is out.”

The six horses that accounted for the eight divisional titles are expected to race again this year.

Georgie Boy, the champion 2-year-old male, starts in Sunday’s $150,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita.

Spring Awakening, the champion 2-year-old filly, and Romance Is Diane, the champion 3-year-old filly, have been turned out for the winter, with plans to return at Hollywood Park in the summer, according to Mike Mitchell, who trains both fillies.

Idiot Proof, who was also named champion 3-year-old male, will start in the Phoenix Gold Cup at Turf Paradise next weekend.

Nashoba’s Key, also named champion turf horse, is being considered for the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap at Santa Anita in March.

At the Feb. 18 ceremony, three breeder awards will be presented to Marty and Pam Wygod, who own River Edge Farm in Buellton, Calif. Their stallion Bertrando led the general progeny earnings list, while Tribal Rule was the leading sire of 2-year-olds by earnings. The Wygods were leading breeders in money earned.

In other awards, Ed Moger Jr. will be honored as outstanding trainer, the stallion Decarchy will be recognized as leading freshman sire, and the stallion Swiss Yodeler will be honored as the sire of the most winners.

The CTBA’s Hall of Fame will induct breeder John Harris, trainer Mel Stute, jockey Russell Baze, and the champions Flying Paster and Decidedly.

January 19, 2008

Barretts starts year with realistic mind-set
By STEVE ANDERSEN
ARCADIA, Calif. - Barretts conducts the first of its six sales for 2008 with the two-day mixed sale in Pomona, Calif., on Tuesday and Wednesday, an event that will be hard-pressed to repeat the success of 2007, according to the sale company's president, Gerald McMahon.

Last year, boosted by the dispersal of Granja Vista del Rio Stable, the sale's average price grew 21 percent, to $9,544, and the $560,000 price paid for the stakes-winning mare Selvatica set a sale record.

This year's sale, which features 524 horses, does not feature a dispersal of the same strength.

"I don't think we have a dispersal that will ring the bell," McMahon said. "This is more normal."

The sale is dominated by 224 broodmares and 145 yearlings. The broodmares include Delta Belle, by Mr. Prospector, who is being sold in foal to Good Journey. Delta Belle is out of Without Feathers, the winner of the Grade 1 Monmouth Oaks in 1987. The yearlings include Ministers Power, a half-brother to the multiple stakes winner Epic Power, who is by Ministers Wild Cat.

Barretts offers two mixed sales each year, in January and October; two sales of 2-year-olds in training, in March and May; a horses of racing age and 2-year-olds in training sale in June; and a yearling sale in the fall.

In 2007, five of the six sales at Barretts showed an increase in average. The May sale had a record average of $62,604, while the June sale, boosted by a small dispersal from Meadow Creek Farm, had a record average of $18,879.

"We've been kind of lucky to have some good dispersals," McMahon said. "It seemed like last year every sale had a component that was pretty exotic."

The only declining market in 2007 was the yearling sale, held in conjunction with the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. The average price fell 21 percent from 2006, to $19,909.

The sale calendar ended with a strong October mixed sale, which had an average price of $9,740, an increase of 74 percent over 2006. The sale was boosted by a reduction of Golden Eagle Farm horses and a dispersal of holdings from prominent owner Stan Fulton.

McMahon said that the first sale of 2-year-olds in training, on March 12, will have a catalog of approximately 190 horses, down about 10 from last year. He said that is a reflection on the number of top-class horses available for that sale.

McMahon says predictions are hard to make for the 2-year-old market.

"The market is very selective, and those sales are kind of reflective of that," he said. "The March sale is always a high-wire act. The top performers and top-rated horses always do well.

"May is a middle market and has been pretty strong. It has kind of a little more depth because it doesn't have the expectations" of the March sale.

McMahon said the yearling sale is tentatively set for Sept. 30. The sale has a narrow window for potential dates, between the massive Keeneland September yearling sale and other autumn sales in Florida and Maryland.

"We're looking hard at it and trying to pick a date that makes sense," he said. "The calendar is chock-full. That market is a challenge because of the caliber of competition across the country for buyers.

"It's hard to know what effect Keeneland has on the market. Some people say if you sell before, they'll wait, and if you wait, the money will be gone.

"Racing here is really demanding, and a lot of local owners and trainers chose to buy at other market as opposed to here."

January 11, 2008

Bertrando, Decarchy lead sire lists
By STEVE ANDERSEN
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bertrando has truly become a heavyweight among California stallions.

In 2007, for the second time in three years, he led California stallions in progeny earnings, with $4,235,168.

Lately, at Marty and Pam Wygod's River Edge Farm in Buellton, Calif., where the 19-year-old stallion is based, he has been sporting, well, a larger look.

"He's a little heavier weight-wise than he normally is, but I probably did that to him," farm manager Russell Drake said. "When they get older, I tend to feed them a little more."

Bertrando, who ranked 45th on the 2007 national list, led by Smart Strike ($14,358,570), was the only California stallion to surpass $4 million in progeny earnings in 2007. He was followed on the list by In Excess ($3,797,819), Deputy Commander ($3,692,200), Unusual Heat ($3,542,981), and 2006 leader Swiss Yodeler ($3,403,662).

Bertrando's 2007 earnings were much higher than when he topped California's general list in 2005 with earnings of $3,644,295.

In 2007, Bertrando's leading money winner was Bilo, who earned $327,780 and won the Grade 1 Triple Bend Handicap at Santa Anita and the California Cup Sprint at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting for trainer Marty Jones. Bilo was campaigned by the late Ed Nahem, who was part of the partnership that campaigned Bertrando on the racetrack. Nahem retained an ownership share in Bertrando during the horse's stallion career.

Nahem died in November. Bilo was subsequently sold to the partnership of Scott and Wayne Anastasi and Don Capen and is being pointed for the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita on Jan. 26, according to new trainer Mike Mitchell.

Bertrando, who stands for $12,500, was bred to "80 to 90 mares" in 2007, according to Drake. He expects a similar number for 2008.

"It seems like everyone's a little slow about booking," he said. "He's got 70-plus right now. A lot of people wait until their mare foals. It's not like you're in Kentucky when if they're going to breed to a good stallion you've got to book in October or November."

Drake thinks that Bertrando's legacy could be his results as a broodmare sire.

"The thing I love about Bertrando is that some of his broodmares are fabulous, and you can breed them to anything and get a decent-looking foal," he said. "I think someday his broodmare part will be a strongest point."

Decarchy top freshman stallion

Decarchy was the leading freshman stallion in California in 2007 with progeny earnings of $289,243. He ranked 30th on the national list, led by Posse, with $1,765,638.

Decarchy stands at Rich and Gaby Sulpizio's Magali Farms in Santa Ynez. His freshman stallion title was a delightful surprise to farm manager Tom Hudson.

"We thought they'd be better later horses, as 3-year-olds," he said. "We didn't think he'd produce a lot of 2-year-olds, so he shocked all of us that he's produced as many runners as he has."

Timehascometoday was Decarchy's leading earner, with $73,998.

The success has led to added interest in the 11-year-old stallion, Hudson said. Decarchy was bred to "60 mares or above every year" since he entered stud in 2004, Hudson said. In 2008, Hudson expects that number to rise.

"Now that they're running, the phone is ringing off the hook," Hudson said. "He'll probably get 80 to 100 mares. He's done very well. We won't go over 100. We're believers in keeping the numbers reasonable."

Decarchy will stand for $5,000.

In 2006, Tribal Rule was the top freshman stallion in the state, with progeny earnings of $344,419, while in 2005 Royal Cat led with progeny earnings of $121,971.

Proud Tower Too stands for $5,000

Proud Tower Too, the winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 2005 and the Group 1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai in 2006, will stand at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds for $5,000, the farm announced recently.

Proud Tower Too was retired in late 2007 because of a recurring tendon injury. Owned and bred by Tricar Stable, Proud Tower Too won 7 of 22 starts and $1,735,572. A 6-year-old, Proud Tower Too finished second in the Grade 2 San Carlos Handicap last February in the final start of his career.

* Trickey Trevor, a graded stakes winner, will stand his first season at stud this year at Victory Rose Thoroughbreds in Vacaville, Calif.

A winner of 20 of 47 starts and $701,224, Trickey Trevor, 9, won the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Handicap in 2006 and the Oakland Stakes at Golden Gate Fields in 2007.

Two stallions who previously stood at Windfall Farms, Crafty C.T. and Muqtarib, will relocate to Victory Rose and stand for $3,500.

December 30, 2007

Bob Black Jack's win boosts demand in sire
By STEVE ANDERSEN
ARCADIA, Calif. - Not long after Bob Black Jack walked off the Santa Anita racetrack after winning Wednesday's $138,375 California Breeders' Champion Stakes, the phone began ringing at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif.

Callers were inquiring about breeding to Stormy Jack, the sire of Bob Black Jack, who had just zipped seven furlongs in 1:20.37, winning the race for statebreds by 6 1/4 lengths.

"I think we got four or five calls in the hour after the race," farm owner John Harris said.

"He won the stakes about as impressive as any California-bred winner in some time."

Bob Black Jack's win came at an ideal time for Stormy Jack, one of the top freshman stallions in California this year. Bob Black Jack was Stormy Jack's first stakes winner, and pushed his progeny earnings to $190,870. He is second on the state's freshman stallion list to Decarchy, who has progeny earnings of $278,483.

Stormy Jack, 10, stands for $2,500. By Bertrando, Stormy Jack won 8 of 21 starts and $5967,673 in a four-year career from 1999 to 2003.

Campaigned by Jack and Florence Arnold and trained by Bob Baffert, Stormy Jack won four stakes - the 1999 I'm Smokin Stakes, 2000 Real Good Deal and Oceanside Stakes, and 2001 On Trust Handicap. He was second in the Grade 3 Los Angeles Handicap at Hollywood Park in 2001, his best result in a graded stakes.

In his first crop, Stormy Jack has had 34 2-year-olds, with 8 starters and 5 winners. The stallion is owned by Gary and Marlene Howard and Bruce Dunmore, who bred Bob Black Jack. Harris said the Howards and Dunmore approached him about standing Stormy Jack at Harris Farms in 2008.

Stormy Jack had stood at the Howards' Hideaway Farms near San Jacinto, Calif., which was sold to owner-breeder Ben Warren earlier this year. The Howards now operate a training center on that property on behalf of Warren.

Gary Howard is hopeful that the stallion can attract 40 to 60 mares in 2008.

"They've shown a lot of speed and they like synthetics," he said of Stormy Jack's offspring.

Dunmore is fighting bone cancer, which is in remission, Howard said.

"Of all the gratifying things about this, that probably means the most," Howard said.

Bob Black Jack has won 2 of 4 starts and $131,625 for owners Tim Kasparoff and Jeff Harmon. He is the first stakes winner for trainer James Kasparoff, Tim's brother.

The colt made his first start at Del Mar on July 29, finishing second in a six-furlong race for statebred maidens. He returned to win a similar race by 2 3/4 lengths on Aug. 26.

Bob Black Jack made his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes over seven furlongs on Nov. 22, finishing fourth, five lengths behind the winner, Massive Drama.

He was the 2-1 second choice in the California Breeders' Champion Stakes and led throughout, pulling clear in the final furlong.

"It was pretty exciting for me," James Kasparoff said. "He's a very talented colt. He likes to train. I really thought that if he ran his race, he'd do pretty well against those horses."

Kasparoff said that Bob Black Jack will be pointed for the $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash over six furlongs for California-breds and Florida-breds at Santa Anita on Jan. 26. To the trainer, the race is an ideal fit for a colt that sometimes can be tough to handle.

"It's here and it's pretty realistic for the horse," Kasparoff said. "We don't have any grandiose ideas of putting him on the Derby trail. He might be better around one turn.

"He's a pleasure to be around when he's not trying to bite you."

December 9, 2007

Proud Tower Too injury leads to his retirement
By STEVE ANDERSEN
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Proud Tower Too, the winner of the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes in 2005 and the $2 million Golden Shaheen Sprint in Dubai in 2006, has been retired because of a recurring tendon injury, trainer Sal Gonzalez said Friday.

Owned and bred by Daniel Cardenas's Tricar Stables, Proud Tower Too won 7 of 22 starts and $1,735,572. The 5-year-old horse was in training with Gonzalez at Sunland Park in New Mexico this fall when the injury was detected. Proud Tower Too finished second in the Grade 2 San Carlos Handicap in February in his final start.

The recent setback is a recurrence of a tendon injury first discovered in March. At the time, Gonzalez said that Proud Tower Too would need a six-month break.

"We put him back in training in September," Gonzalez said. "I worked him and he had a filling in the tendon. We decided to just stop on him.

"He gave us the most satisfaction from a racehorse. We're very grateful for him. He was a very good racehorse."

Gonzalez said that negotiations are taking place with a California farm for Proud Tower Too to stand at stud in 2008.

Barretts steroid ban expanded

The Barretts sales company, which announced earlier this week that it will ban anabolic steroids from sale yearlings and weanlings beginning with auctions in 2008, will implement a similar program for its popular 2-year-olds in-training sales in 2009, president and general manager Gerald McMahon said on Friday.

Barretts joins Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton, and Ocala Breeders' Sales as major auction companies that are banning the use of steroids in weanlings and yearlings within 45 days of a sale.

McMahon said that Barretts is working with officials from the California Horse Racing Board on details of the testing.

Racing board officials have said they hope to have a steroid ban in place for racehorses by July 2008, well before the Breeders' Cup is held in late October at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.

The board in late November moved forward with a proposed rule to set threshold limits for four anabolic steroids - nandrolone, boldenone, testosterone, and stanozolol - which will be tested from urine samples.

The 2-year-old sales at Barretts will comply with those rules at the 2009 in-training sales, the first held after the rules go into effect, McMahon said.

"Right now, our plan is to move forward as racing moves forward," McMahon said.

At the recent racing board meeting, chairman Richard Shapiro called for a ban of the use of steroids at 2-year-old in-training sales.

"As quickly as possible, we need to extend the restrictions to the 2-year-olds in-training sales, so that horses being sold are under racetrack conditions and scrutiny," he said. "Buyers can have confidence that horses are being sold with the highest level of integrity."

The use of anabolic steroids in yearlings and weanlings "is not a major issue in California," McMahon said. "In the national context, this is something that everyone is moving forward on and we want to be part of that."

McMahon said the first Barretts sales that will be affected by the steroid rule is the 2008 California October yearling sale.

Barretts has moved the dates of its sales in January and March to accommodate a revamped racing schedule at Santa Anita that includes Monday racing.

The January mixed sale, originally scheduled for Jan. 21 and 22, will be conducted on Jan. 22 and 23.

The March sale of 2-year-olds in-training has been pushed back one day from March 11 to March 12. The sale preview days will be March 4 and 10.

December 2, 2007

Unusual Heat's stock is rising
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Two stakes wins by the outstanding 3-year-old Unusual Suspect in November have helped push his sire, Unusual Heat, higher in California's stallion rankings. The timing could not be better.

As breeders consider what stallions to choose for their mares for the upcoming breeding season, Unusual Heat is in a tight race for second among state stallions ranked by progeny earnings.

Through Thursday, Bertrando led with earnings of $3,962,851, but Deputy Commander ($3,395,944), In Excess ($3,352,458), and Unusual Heat ($3,348,188) were all having excellent seasons.

Unusual Heat, who stands at Old English Rancho in Sanger, is co-owned by trainer Barry Abrams, who has gambled heavily on the success of the stallion in recent years. Many of the horses in Abrams's stable are by Unusual Heat.

The success of Unusual Heat, combined with a conservative approach to book size by the partnership that owns the 17-year-old stallion, is likely to lead to a price increase for the 2008 breeding season. The partnership includes Russell Wolkoff, Madeline Auerbach, and Abrams's brother, David.

Though Abrams was reluctant to state a specific price for 2008 earlier this week, Unusual Heat stood for $15,000 in 2007. The figure could rise to $20,000 for 2008, though Abrams said a "private treaty" negotiation will be offered to some mare owners.

In addition, Abrams said the partnership will limit the stallion to 60 to 70 mares and that few vacancies exist. In 2007, the stallion was bred to approximately 60 mares.

"The book is nearly full," Abrams said. "We don't have many openings left."

Unusual Heat, by Nureyev, is having a particularly strong year as a sire of turf runners. Unusual Suspect won the California Cup Mile at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting on Nov.o3 and the Grade 3 Hollywood Turf Express on Nov. 24. Unusual Heat is also the sire of synthetic-track stakes winners Runforthemoneybaby (California Cup Juvenile) and Golden Doc A (Generous Portion and Anoakia). Golden Doc A is a full sister to Unusual Suspect.

Abrams and his partners will breed 25 of their mares to Unusual Heat this year, he said. He wishes the state had more mares that could support stallions with a stud fee at Unusual Heat's level. Many California breeders ship mares to Kentucky to be bred in that state, leaving California stallion owners to compete against one another for the remaining quality mares.

"In California, there are probably 100 mares that people can breed to a $15,000 or $20,000 stud fee," Abrams said.

While that may be underestimating the depth of California's broodmares, competition can be fierce for stallion owners, particularly with established stallions such as Bertrando, Benchmark, In Excess, and Swiss Yodeler, and the up-and-coming Idiot Proof available.

Unusual Suspect has won 6 of 19 starts and $469,136. He closed from last of nine in the Turf Express to finish a nose in front of the California-bred Bonfante. Unusual Suspect avoided the trouble that plagued several rivals in early stretch, but Abrams is quick to point that his colt had to run the final quarter-mile in approximately 22 seconds to reach the wire first.

Abrams said that Unusual Suspect will be considered for two stakes for 3-year-olds on Santa Anita's opening day - the $250,000 Malibu Stakes over seven furlongs or the $100,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes over a mile on turf.

Auction raises $75K for lobbyists

The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association's stallion season auction has raised more than $75,000 for the organization's political action committee fund, according to a statement on its website.

Seasons were sold to such stallions as Decarchy, Deputy Commander, In Excess, Salt Lake, and Swiss Yodeler.

The political fund is used to support legislation that favors California Thoroughbred breeders.

November 25, 2007

McCann's Mojave on way back to Sunshine Millions
By STEVE ANDERSEN
McCann's Mojave's victory in the $150,000 All American Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on Nov. 17 was not the richest win of the 7-year-old horse's career. The purse was just a fraction of the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic that McCann's Mojave won in a 33-1 upset at Gulfstream Park last January.

The Grade 3 All American was not his most prestigious victory, a distinction achieved with a victory in the Grade 2 Potrero Grande Breeders' Cup Handicap at Santa Anita in 2004.

But the win had its own significance to owner-breeder Mike Willman. McCann's Mojave not only became a multiple graded stakes winner with the victory, but showed that he has rebounded from a bleeding incident earlier this year that left Willman and trainer Steve Specht concerned about the horse's future.

"I kind of had butterflies," Willman said of his feelings before the race. "Not only did he not bleed, he ran one of the best races of his career."

By Memo, McCann's Mojave, 7, won the All American Handicap at 1 1/8 miles by a neck over Putmeinyourwill. The win was the seventh stakes victory in a career that includes 11 wins in 29 starts and earnings of $1,346,555.

Even though he just won a graded stakes, McCann's Mojave will revert to statebred company for the next few months, Willman said. The next goal is the $100,000 On Trust Handicap for California-breds at 7 1/2 furlongs at Hollywood Park on Dec. 22. Then, Willman and Specht are hopeful that McCann's Mojave can defend his title in the Sunshine Millions Classic for California-breds and Florida-breds at Santa Anita on Jan. 26.

McCann's Mojave will be looked upon as a top hope for the California-bred team in the Sunshine Millions Classic, since the multimillionaire Lava Man is sidelined following a poor run of form.

The All American was McCann's Mojave's second start since a last-place finish in the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on June 2, the day he bled. He was fourth beaten a length in the Grade 3 Morvich Handicap on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Oct. 27.

In addition, the All American was McCann's Mojave's first start on a synthetic track. The early indications are that he may like the Cushion Track surface at Santa Anita.

"When he came down for the Morvich, they said that he skipped across the Cushion Track and loved it," Willman said. "I think everything is fine."

Willman said that McCann's Mojave will race through 2008 and is expected to go to stud in California in 2009.

Shaggy Mane to stay in training

Shaggy Mane, the winner of the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint at Gulfstream Park last January, will stay in training in 2008, trainer Don Chatlos said Friday.

Her first goal will be a defense of her Sunshine Millions title at Santa Anita on Jan. 26, Chatlos said.

Owned by a partnership that includes IEAH Stables, Shaggy Mane ended 2007 with an eighth in the Presque Isle Downs Masters in September and seventh in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Monmouth Park on Oct. 26.

A winner of 6 of 13 starts and $391,671, Shaggy Mane is winless in four starts since the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Sprint, but was a game second to fellow California-bred River's Prayer in the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap at Calder in July.

Chatlos said that the 2008 Princess Rooney will be Shaggy Mane's main goal next summer, with the hope that she can gain a Grade 1 stakes win.

October 7, 2007

Sellers concerned by yearling sale dip
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Andy Havens perhaps had a better sale than anyone at Tuesday's California October yearling sale at Barretts in Pomona, Calif.

Havens led all consignors, selling 31 horses for $706,700, including a Friends Lake colt that topped the sale at $150,000.

But even Havens left the sale confused about the California yearling market. Significant declines in average price, median, and gross and an increased buy-back rate left consignors disappointed in the sale results.

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

"I had a strong top end, so from that standpoint the horses that were really nice horses brought good value," Havens said. "I experienced pretty much the same level of buy-back as everyone else did, and that was the disturbing part to me.

"I don't like buying back horses. I'm usually pretty good at appraising them. On reflection, I was pretty disturbed. I thought we were reasonable. We didn't have people to pick up the lower end of horses. I don't know the point we could have sold them."

The sale results have left some observers wondering about the overall health of the yearling market in California. As a venue, Barretts certainly had little trouble selling 2-year-olds in training in the spring. The March sale earlier this year had an average of $219,773, a gain of 42 percent over the 2006 sale; while the May sale had an average of $62,604, a gain of 19 percent over 2006.

This was the third year of the California October yearling sale, a joint venture between Barretts and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

The lower figures on Tuesday alarmed Barretts president Gerald McMahon.

"In our first year in this same concept and dates, we had a lot of enthusiasm and started off well," he said. "We didn't get a lot of return buyers each year, and now we're not seeing a lot of demand for the horses.

"We've got a disconnect except for the cases when [buyers] compete for a horse."

McMahon said Barretts and the CTBA accepted about half of the horses nominated to Tuesday's sale.

"We didn't say this is a select market," he said. "We take the best half of what is offered, and this is the result."

One factor working against the yearling market is the desire of California racehorse owners for immediate action. Claiming activity is very popular in Southern California.

"They're looking for ready-made racehorses, a 2-year-old, claimer, or European or Argentine horse," McMahon said of horse owners. "This has been going on. The only solution is to compete for buyers by upgrading your horses."

That can be frustrating for Havens, who also consigns extensively to Barretts's March and May sales.

"I had some pretty nice horses," he said of Tuesday's sale. "I know what they're worth, and we didn't get them sold."

Havens said yearling buyers may have been suffering from "sales fatigue" after the marathon Keeneland September yearling sale in Kentucky and the less prestigious Northern California yearling sale conducted by the CTBA on Sept. 25. "There are a whole lot at the same time," he said.

Havens said that some of the horses that were bought back Tuesday were later sold privately. The others will be raced by their owners or offered at sales of 2-year-olds in training, he said.

"Some will be 2-year-olds in training, and will be good 2-year-olds in training," he said.

September 30, 2007

Brocklebank ready to buy and sell at Barretts
By STEVE ANDERSEN
By Thursday evening, John Brocklebank had been back to his Utah home for two days, fresh from a two-week stay at the Keeneland yearling sale.

He said he had yet to take his suitcases out of the car. There was little need to. Brocklebank was scheduled to go back on the road this weekend, heading toward Pomona, Calif., for Tuesday's Barretts October yearling sale.

"Life in the fast lane, sometimes," he said jokingly.

Brocklebank will play a prominent role in California's premier yearling sale as a consignor. His B.C.3 Thoroughbreds operation with partner Shane Chipman has 27 yearlings in the sale, some consigned on behalf of outside clients and some being pinhooked.

Plus, Brocklebank plans to be active as a buyer. At the 2006 October yearling sale, he led all buyers, paying $405,000 for seven yearlings. Brocklebank bought the sale topper, a Cape Town filly, for $240,000. She was pinhooked to the Barretts March sale earlier this year and was purchased for $800,000 by John Ferguson, agent for Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum.

As a consignor, Brocklebank sold two horses for $112,000 last October, good enough to rank among the 10 leading consignors, a group led by Andy Havens.

"We tested the water a little bit last year," Brocklebank said of his 2006 consignment.

For this year's sale, Brocklebank said he expects to sell the horses that are being pinhooked.

"Those are going to be sold," he said. "We bought some in January and some privately. They are the sort of horses that I like and hopefully someone else will, too.

"I like Cal-breds, and the yearlings that we're offering are an awful nice group. We want to be as popular selling yearlings as we are with 2-year-olds. We've got some nice outside consignments, too."

Brocklebank nominated two fillies - one by Old Topper (Hip No. 75) and one by Swiss Yodeler (Hip No. 88) - as prominent members of his consignment.

As a buyer, Brocklebank has spent time on the Barretts website, inspecting photographs of yearlings to gain a preliminary opinion of the sale horses. He said he is the sort of buyer that prefers to see yearlings in person and not form an opinion from a pedigree.

"I'm a horse buyer and not so much a catalog guy, but it looks like on paper there are some good horses," Brocklebank said.

Last year's October yearling sale had an average price of $26,362, an increase of $50 from 2005, but showed a 19 percent decline in gross, to $4,336,900, and a 17 percent drop in number sold, from 207 to 171. The number of horses bought back reached 33 percent, or 108 of the 327 yearlings cataloged. In 2005, 26.8 percent of the yearlings offered were listed as not sold.

The sale is a joint operation between Barretts and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

Last Tuesday, the CTBA conducted its annual Northern California yearling sale, which saw lower-than-expected returns. The average at that sale fell 28.6 percent from 2006, to $5,843, and the gross of $1,351,600 fell 33.4 percent.

Those results, combined with mixed returns at the 2006 October sale, has led Barretts president Gerald McMahon to be cautious regarding Tuesday's sale.

"I don't really have a strong sense of whether we'll grow from last year's numbers," he said last week. "When you look at the overall marketplace, no one is predicting too much growth in yearling prices, especially in the regional market. You start with last year's number and hope you hit those.

"This is the market for a vast number of market breeders in California. Everybody is behind this sale. Trying to get improvement every year, if we can, is what breeders are trying to do and what we're trying to do."

September 23, 2007

Optimism meets reality at sale
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Larry Ullmann had a quick answer when asked to describe the eight horses he is offering in Tuesday's Northern California yearling sale at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton.

"I think I have the best consignment in the sale," he said. "I hope it goes well."

Ullmann, and his wife, Sheila, who operate as SLU Inc., have consigned the horses through Old English Rancho in Sanger, Calif. The group includes six yearlings who have stakes-winning half-brothers or sisters or are out of dams who were stakes winners or stakes-placed.

For the Northern California yearling sale, the Ullmanns' consignment represents an important element of quality.

Sponsored by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, the one-day sale was launched in 2004, and had its highest average price in 2006: $8,192. The 2006 sale grossed $1,351,600, with 165 horses listed as sold and 58 bought back. The 2006 average grew 8.6 percent over 2005. The sale-topper was a Benchmark colt sold for $72,000.

Ullmann is not predicting that he has the sale-topper in his consignment, but he expects his yearlings to greatly surpass the 2006 average.

"I've told a lot of people that I think I should get $120,000 to $130,000 for the horses," Ullmann said. "If it's a good horse, they'll buy it.

"I've supported the sale every year, and I hope it continues to grow," he said.

Like many California breeders, Ullmann is banking on success by those yearlings on the racetrack to help his bottom line. Yearlings may not sell for great sums in this state, but they can go on to earn significant purses, and therefore reward breeders with stallion and breeder awards.

At the 2006 Northern California sale, Ullmann sold the Perfect Mandate colt Run Brother Run for $40,000. So far this year, Run Brother Run has won two stakes - the Beau Brummel Stakes at Fairplex Park and the Everett Nevin Alameda County Futurity - and earned $101,707.

At Tuesday's sale, Ullmann is offering a half-sister to Run Brother Run by Royal Cat, an 11-year-old stallion by Storm Cat who stands for $3,500 at Old English Rancho. Ullmann said he owns a 50 percent stake in Royal Cat. Ullmann raced the yearling filly's dam, Aloha Mangos, by Bold Badgett, who placed in six stakes and earned $194,245.

"I'm betting on the family, and the family produces runners," he said.

Later in the sale, Ullmann is offering a colt by Cahill Road who is a half-brother to Amber Hill, a stakes winner of $261,143. He also is bringing a Royal Cat colt who is out of the stakes winner Takes Two to Mango, the dam of the stakes winner Two to Get Ready.

Ullmann has shifted his emphasis in recent years from breeding and racing to breeding, racing and sales. He owned Bold Roberta, a stakes winner who earned $449,704. She is now in Kentucky, in foal to Borrego, he said.

Ullmann, 74, lives in San Ramon, Calif., not far from Pleasanton. Retired from his former business since the early 1990s, he concentrates on his racing holdings, hoping that the yearlings he sells can be successful.

"I'm trying to breed, race and sell," he said. "If they go with the right people, I'll do all right. That's all you can do right now."

The sale has a catalog of 264 horses, but as of Thursday 21 had been withdrawn. The sale includes the first crop of yearlings by the stallions Cat Dreams, Champali, Islander, Jackpot, Joey Franco, Marino Marini, Momentum, Popular, Sky Terrace, Spinelessjellyfish, Tenpins, and Toccet.

One notable yearling is Hip No. 58, a full sister to the multiple-stakes-winning sprinter Vaca City Flyer, a winner of $460,550. The yearling filly is consigned by Mary Knight, agent.

September 9, 2007

Cal-breds skipping Kentucky for local sales
By STEVE ANDERSEN
The mammoth Keeneland September yearling sale, which runs from Tuesday through Sept. 25 and comprises 5,553 yearlings, will be held largely without California-breds this year.

Last year, 35 California-breds were cataloged, with 20 selling for an average of $32,410. The most expensive yearling among the group was an In Excess filly purchased for $110,000. She has yet to start.

This year, there are only 14 California-breds in the sale and most are sired by stallions that stand in Kentucky. Only four California-based stallions are represented in the yearling group.

The lack of California-bred yearlings can be partially attributed to the schedule of yearling sales in California.

Over the next month, two major yearling sales will be conducted in California - the Northern California yearling sale at Pleasanton Sept. 25 and the California October yearling sale at Barretts in Pomona on Oct. 2.

Both sales showed growth in 2006 and may be prove to be more attractive to yearling owners who do not want their prospects lost in the flurry of activity in a major Kentucky sale. Buyers that attend the California sales are looking, in part, for California-breds. The same cannot be said of buyers at Keeneland.

In addition, the markets are completely different. The Northern California sale caters to buyers unwilling to spend as much as a Keeneland buyer. Some yearlings at the Barretts October sale would fit at Keeneland. The 2006 Barretts October yearling sale had an average of $25,362 and a sale-topper of $240,000, figures that would be suitable to the final days of the Keeneland sale.

At Keeneland, none of the 14 California-breds will be sold this Tuesday or Wednesday, the most prestigious days of the sale. The first California-bred through the ring may turn out to be the most expensive of the group.

An In Excess filly who is a half-sister to the millionaire Brother Derek, the multiple stakes winner Don'tsellmeshort, and the stakes-placed Swissle Stick is Hip No. 1126 and will be sold Thursday.

Consigned by Brookdale Sales, agent for breeder Mary Caldwell, the In Excess filly is also a half-sister to Mike and Leo, a winner of $202,489.

Cris Caldwell, Mary's son and one of Keeneland's auctioneers, said that California breeders should be more active at major sales such as Keeneland in an attempt to improve the statebred program.

"We think it's incumbent for California breeders to breed a horse that can sell back there in Kentucky," he said.

The filly's pedigree will attract attention.

Brother Derek, a winner of 6 of 16 starts and $1,593,458 for Cecil Peacock, was the champion 3-year-old California-bred male of 2006. He won the 2006 Santa Anita Derby and was fourth in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Brother Derek is being pointed for a 2008 campaign. He has not started since finishing third in the Strub Stakes at Santa Anita in February.

The other three California-based stallions with California-breds in the sale are Marino Marini, whose first foals are yearlings this year, and the veteran stallions Event of the Year and Beau Genius.

The Beau Genius colt sells as Hip No. 5382 on Sept. 25 and is out of Miss Lawless, a half-sister to Joey Franco, the 2003 California-bred horse of the year.

The Golden Eagle Farm of Betty Mabee and her son Larry is beginning the first phase of a massive reduction this fall, and is offering four yearlings at Keeneland. The Mabees have one California-bred in that group, a filly by More than Ready out of the unraced 10-year-old mare Jeweled Lady. Jeweled Lady is a full sister to General Challenge and Western Hemisphere. General Challenge earned $2,877,178, won three Grade 1 stakes, and was a two-time statebred champion.

August 31, 2007

Penpont's foals could have big weekend
By STEVE ANDERSEN
DEL MAR, Calif. - Penpont left the racetrack in 1999 as something of a dud. There really is no other way to describe a mare that managed only a victory in a $20,000 claiming race for maidens.

Apparently, she saved her brilliance for her offspring. Penpont's five foals, all sired by Unusual Heat, have earned $600,641.

That bankroll could grow considerably this weekend. Penpont's 3-year-old Unusual Suspect, a winner of $196,136, seeks his first stakes win in Sunday's $400,000 Del Mar Derby. On Monday, the 2-year-old Golden Doc A is entered in the I'm Smokin Stakes for California-breds.

It will be the second start in a week for Golden Doc A, who is co-owned by breeders David, Dyan, and Barry Abrams and Madeline Auerbach, the team behind Unusual Heat. Golden Doc A won Wednesday's Generous Portion Stakes for statebred fillies.

Penpont's other foals include the 4-year-old maiden Rushen Heat, a winner of $18,128; the 5-year-old Solid Fuel, a winner of $168,093; and the 6-year-old Master Heat, who has earned $152,084.

Deciding to mate her to Unusual Heat was something of a gamble, said Barry Abrams, who trained the New Zealand-bred Penpont for his brother David.

"We bred everything we had" to Unusual Heat, Barry Abrams said. "We never checked pedigrees."

Barry Abrams said that Golden Doc A is not a certain runner for the I'm Smokin Stakes because of the quick return.

"I'll wait until Monday and decide," he said.

The success of horses such as Golden Doc A and Unusual Suspect has vaulted Unusual Heat to sixth place among California stallions, with progeny earnings of $2,036,732. The leader is Bertrando with $2,926,435.

With a $15,000 stud fee, Unusual Heat is one of the more expensive stallions in the state. There is a possibility that the fee could rise, according to Auerbach, who co-owns Golden Doc A and is a partner in Unusual Heat.

"I think he's having an awesome season," Auerbach said of the stallion. "He was $15,000 last year and he'll probably go up. We've got the rest of the year to go."

Auerbach said that Unusual Heat, who is by Nureyev, was bred to a full book of mares last year.

"He's got all he can handle," Auerbach said. "We don't go begging."

Statebreds shoot for Debutante

There are three California-bred fillies in Monday's $250,000 Del Mar Debutante - Comical Vacation, Spring Awakening, and Treadmill. One of them could become the fifth California-bred to win a Grade 1 this year in the seven-furlong Debutante.

Comical Vacation, by Comic Strip, was a troubled third in the CTBA Stakes on July 20 and returned to win a maiden race for statebreds by an easy 4 1/4 lengths on Aug. 6. Trained by Jeff Mullins, Comical Vacation was purchased for $50,000 at the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training.

Spring Awakening, by In Excess, is making her stakes debut in the Debutante. Trained by Mike Mitchell for a partnership that includes breeder Jerry Frankel, Spring Awakening has one victory in two starts. She beat statebred maidens by 5 1/2 lengths in a 5 1/2-furlong race on July 23.

Her 3-year-old full-sister, Mary Ellise, won a six-furlong maiden race for statebreds by 2 1/2 lengths in Thursday's first race.

Treadmill leads the group in accomplishments. Owned by breeder Paul Reddam and trained by Craig Dollase, Treadmill has won 2 of 3 starts and $132,000. She beat maidens at Hollywood Park in her debut, finished second to Debutante entrant The Golden Noodle in the Landaluce Stakes, and returned to win the CTBA Stakes at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Those fillies are trying to become the first California-bred to win the Debutante since Batroyale in 1995.

August 19, 2007

She's an Eleven back at track
By STEVE ANDERSEN
She’s an Eleven, the winner of the 2006 Melair Stakes, has returned to training after showing no interest in being bred earlier this year, trainer John Sadler said earlier this week.

The 4-year-old filly was sent from Kentucky to Sadler’s stable in late June and has already worked a half-mile for an expected comeback. Owned by Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stables, She’s an Eleven has won 2 of 8 starts and $216,954.

A California-bred, She’s an Eleven has not started since finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Hollywood Breeders’ Cup Oaks at Hollywood Park in June 2006. She’s an Eleven was in training earlier this year when the decision was made to retire her.

She was scheduled be bred to Empire Maker at Juddmonte Farms earlier this year, but would not cooperate with the stallion, Sadler said.

“We didn’t get her in foal,” Sadler said. “She was too stubborn in the shed and she was in a good place with good people. We brought her back with the intent of racing this fall.”

Sadler said the $150,000 California Cup Matron over 1 1/16 miles at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting on Nov. 3 is a “short-term goal.”

Jet West retired to stud

Jet West, the winner of 7 of 22 starts and $554,345, has been retired and will stand the 2008 breeding season at Applebite Farms near French Camp, Calif.

A 6-year-old, Jet West won two stakes in his career – the 2005 California Cup Sprint at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting and the 2004 Earlene McCabe Derby at Cal-Expo in Sacramento.

Jet West was third in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen at Nad Al Sheba in 2006 and placed in two stakes at Santa Anita in January 2006 – third in the Grade 3 El Conejo Handicap and second in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap.

Owned for much of his career by Bruch Hochman and trained by Ted H. West, Jet West battled colic that nearly cost him his life in the fall of 2006. He returned to make two starts this year, finishing sixth in the Sam Whiting Handicap at Pleasanton on July 7 and 10th in a $50,000 claimer at Del Mar on July 30.

Hochman claimed Jet West for $62,500 at Del Mar in 2005.

Jet West is by Western Fame out of the stakes winner Jetinwith Kennedy, the 2005 California broodmare of the year. Jet West is a half-brother to the stakes winners Jetin Excess ($281,950) and Jetinto Houston ($282,885).

318 cataloged for October sale

The California October yearling sale at Barretts in Pomona, Calif., on Oct. 2 will comprise 318 yearlings, Barretts announced earlier this week.

The sale is co-sponsored by Barretts and the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. Catalogs are available online at Barretts.com. This will be the third year of the sale, which replaced the Del Mar yearling sale on the California calendar in 2005.

This year’s one-day sale has a slightly smaller catalog than in 2006, when 327 yearlings were offered. At that sale, 171 yearlings were sold for an average of $25,362, a figure that increased $51 from the 2005 sale.

The 2006 sale-topper was a California-bred Cape Town filly that sold for $240,000. She was purchased for $800,000 at the Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training by John Ferguson, acting on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed. The filly has yet to start.

This year’s sale includes yearlings by many of the state’s leading stallions as well as stallions based in other states.

August 12, 2007

Smaller Golden Eagle to focus on breeding
By STEVE ANDERSEN
DEL MAR, Calif. - Golden Eagle Farm, a mainstay in California racing since the late 1950s, is being downsized over the next year and will sell its flagship farm in Ramona, Calif.

But Larry Mabee, the son of the late founder of the farm, John Mabee, insists Golden Eagle is not abandoning horse racing. Earlier this week, Larry Mabee and his mother, Betty, announced the farm's future plans, which include an eventual relocation to a 29-acre farm in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., not far from Del Mar.

Golden Eagle, which has bred more than 150 stakes winners, will keep a small number of broodmares, focus on quality, and will have a small stallion roster, Larry Mabee said.

"I look at it as a new era and a continuation of being in the horse business, but on a different scale," he said earlier this week.

The plan is a massive change from the days when Golden Eagle Farm was among the nation's top breeders. Golden Eagle won Eclipse Awards as champion breeder in 1991, 1997, and 1998. Golden Eagle campaigned such popular horses as Best Pal, Dramatic Gold, Excellent Meeting, General Challenge, General Meeting, and many others.

Since John Mabee's death in 2002, Golden Eagle's presence as a racing entity has shrunk significantly.

"Dad had an agenda and he raced lots and lots of horses," Larry Mabee said. "If he bought a stallion, he'd buy some mares. Mother and I have talked on and off - why can't we have a few nice mares and not all the headaches?"

Mabee said he and his mother recently reached the decision to downsize the Golden Eagle holdings.

"I sat down with her and said, 'It's time,'" Mabee said. "She had a big grin on her face.

"It's not the end of an era. The Golden Eagle banner will still be out there. It's my desire to buy quality mares and quality stallions. If I can find another stallion, I'd look at that."

Mabee was at Del Mar on Aug. 4 to present the trophy for the Grade 1 John Mabee Handicap, won by Precious Kitten. He carried a digital camera and snapped pictures of friends and acquaintances to show to his mother, who did not attend.

"Mom is a little 86-year-old lady and I'd like to see her do better," he said. "We have 24-hour day care but she doesn't have the stamina to go to the races anymore."

The Ramona farm, in eastern San Diego county, covers 568 acres and was home to three stallions earlier this year. Last week, Golden Eagle announced that High Demand and Souvenir Copy had been sold, leaving Salt Lake as the family's only stallion. Salt Lake will relocate to the Rancho Santa Fe farm.

Mabee said the new property will have space to accommodate three stallions.

"You have to have the right one," Mabee said. "Just to have a stallion to have it, I'm not interested in that. I want to have quality breeding. It's a five-year program to prove one."

The Mabees purchased the new property in May and it includes a two-story house, a 21-stall barn, and housing for staff, Mabee said. It has not been occupied since the early 1990s.

"It's one of those things that come along once in a lifetime," Larry Mabee said. "I saw it and thought, 'I need to do this,' and I did."

The farm will sell 160 horses at various sales in California and Kentucky this fall, and more next year. The family will retain approximately 25 broodmares.

"This is not a dispersal, just a reduction," Mabee said. "I've said in the past, I'd rather be breeding than racing."

August 5, 2007

Small ranch bred a star in 'Laura'
By STEVE ANDERSEN
Allan Lilley admits that he and his wife, Antoinette, had more enthusiasm than expertise when they decided to become Thoroughbred breeders in the early 1990s.

The couple had a few mares retired from racing, and the intricacies of breeding initially escaped Allan Lilley.

"I didn't look at their pedigrees," he said earlier this week. "That's how we got our feet wet. I wouldn't think of doing that now."

Today, the stakes are much higher for their still small operation. The Lilleys, who live in Tracy, Calif., are on the verge of becoming the breeders of a millionaire in Somethinaboutlaura, who is entered in Sunday's $300,000 Clement Hirsch Handicap at Del Mar.

A winner of 15 of 27 starts and $913,315, Somethinaboutlaura would become the seventh California-bred female millionaire if she pulls an upset win in the Grade 2 Clement Hirsch, which is run at 1 1/16 miles.

The Lilleys have minimal ties with Somethinaboutlaura, occasionally attending her races when she starts in Northern California. They no longer own her dam, Crystals of Ice, who was one of their first racehorses when they launched a small stable in the late 1980s. Crystals of Ice died after the Lilleys sold her, Allan Lilley said.

The couple claimed Crystals of Ice at the county fair in Vallejo, Calif. Today, the couple has three broodmares boarded at Woodbridge Farm and a few runners based in Northern California.

There is no longer a Lilley Ranch. Allan Lilley underwent open heart surgery in 2004, and the couple decided that the physical work involved in raising horses would be too much of a burden.

They sold their farm on the outskirts of Tracy and moved into the town, Allan Lilley said.

"I have a mechanical aorta valve that works just fine," Allan Lilley said of his health. "It sounds scary, but they say it will last 50 years. That means it will work until I'm 110."

Lilley, 63, is retired from a job as the manager of a Wal-Mart and spends time focusing on the couple's horses.

"We just bought a filly that we're racing," he said. "When she retires, we'll turn her into a broodmare. We breed basically to sell. We don't breed to race."

Somethinaboutlaura was sold by the Lilleys as a weanling. By Dance Floor, she seemed to be anything but a millionaire candidate at the start of her career. After finishing 11th in a maiden claimer at Del Mar in 2004 in her debut, she won 5 of 6 starts in 2005, a sequence that ended with her first stakes win in the Palo Alto Handicap at Bay Meadows.

In early 2006, she was purchased for $375,000 by a partnership that includes trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Since joining his stable, she has run in 17 consecutive stakes, won nine of them, and never been worse than fifth.

Somethinaboutlaura has won her last three starts, a streak that includes a defense of her title in the Grade 2 A Gleam Handicap at seven furlongs at Hollywood Park on July 6.

Sunday's race is tougher, with the presence of fellow California-bred Nashoba's Key, who is unbeaten in five starts, and the three-time Grade 1 stakes winner Balance.

"She's in pretty tough," Lilley said. "That Balance will be tough to beat."

Somethinaboutlaura "is just something else," he said. "She's very, very competitive. They could see that when they were breaking her because of her competitive nature. That's exactly the way the mother was. She had a few physical problems, but she had the desire.

"I think 1 1/16 miles is a shade longer than she likes. She's won 1 1/16 miles, but not at this level. I don't sell her short."

July 22, 2007

With each generation, family's success grows
By STEVE ANDERSEN
DEL MAR, Calif. - Lewis Cenicola has found a way to keep a steady supply of top California-breds for his small stable.

Grow your own.

In Sunday's $100,000 Fleet Treat Stakes at Del Mar, Cenicola starts Cathrine's Hope, a 3-year-old filly who represents the fourth generation of his involvement in the family.

Cenicola trained Cathrine's Hope's third dam, Charmarita; her second dam, Dad's Penelope; and her dam, the graded stakes-placed Cookin Vickie. He even recalls riding Charmarita at the end of his jockey days in the late 1970s.

As the generations have passed, the results have gotten better for Cenicola and his wife, Donna.

Cookin Vickie, a winner of 4 of 28 starts and $232,627, was second in the Grade 2 Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup Handicap at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting in 1999. Owned by Cenicola and his wife, Cookin Vickie has produced two foals to race - Dark Nose, a winner of $111,940, and Cathrine's Hope, who has earned $115,660.

Cathrine's Hope is by In Excess and is seeking her first stakes win in the seven-furlong Fleet Treat Stakes for statebred fillies. She won her last start, an allowance race for statebreds at Hollywood Park on June 15.

"The only two bad races she's run was when she ran around two turns," Cenicola said. "She looks like a come-from-behind sprinter."

Cookin Vickie, who is by Far Out East, has a yearling full brother to Cathrine's Hope that Cenicola will have in training next year, and a weanling filly by Bertrando who is a full brother to Dark Nose. "She's a fantastic filly," Cenicola said of the weanling.

Cookin Vickie has been bred to Benchmark.

With Cookin Vickie, Lewis and Donna Cenicola have a foal-sharing agreement with clients Larry and Ann Jett. Lewis Cenicola said that Larry Jett, a commercial real estate developer, pays for the stallion fees and that the Cenicolas and Jetts share the ensuing costs.

Because of Cookin Vickie's success with her first two foals, the partners are considering sending her to Kentucky to be bred next year.

"We're going to Kentucky in September and we'll look at some farms," Cenicola said.

Cookin Vickie is one of three foals out of Dad's Penelope who have earned more than $100,00