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LEXINGTON, KY--The Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearling Sale opened its four-session run with a solid day of trade in Lexington Monday, during which 223 yearlings sold for $7,517,000 for an average of $33,709 and a median of $16,000. With 83 of 306 offered head failing to meet their reserves, the buy-back rate was 27.1%. Those figures were ahead of the sale's 2017 opening session, which saw 230 head gross $6,479,500 for an average of $28,172 and a median of $10,000, but Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. cautioned against making any hasty...

For the fourth consecutive year, and for the 12th time in 13 years, the number of reported mares bred (RMB) in North America has declined, according to year-to-date statistics through Oct. 16 released on Monday by The Jockey Club. The 30,274 covers reported thus far in 2018 represent a drop of 5% from the 31,863 reported in North America at this time last year. That reduction is similar in scope to the 5.6% RMB decline from 2016 to 2017. The number of active stallions also continues to fall. The 2018...

However the owners end up resolving their differences, everyone can agree on at least one thing. At Adena Springs, it must remain business as usual. With one of Kentucky's most influential and valuable stallions leading the roster, his stature as a broodmare sire freshly gilded by a Triple Crown winner, the team has an important job to do. And, after all, the timeless cycles of the breed transcend even the most excruciating ups and downs in the lives of horsemen. How fortunate, then, that Ben Walden is able to bring...

LEXINGTON, KY - The Fasig-Tipton October Fall Yearlings Sale will attempt to build on its record-setting 2017 renewal when it opens for a four-day run at the company's Newtown Paddocks Monday in Lexington. A total of 1,464 yearlings have been catalogued for the auction, with bidding scheduled to begin daily at 10 a.m. through Thursday. A broad cross-section of shoppers were out at the sales barn on a chilly, but sun-dappled day in Lexington Sunday. "We've had good steady traffic here at the barns the last two days," said Gainesway's...

Grade I winner Poseidon's Warrior (Speightstown), sire of GISW Firenze Fire, will relocate from Pleasant Acres Farm in Ocala, Florida to join the stallion roster at John Phillips's Darby Dan Farm in 2019, it was announced Sunday. The stallion will be offered as part of Darby Dan's "Share the Upside" program and will stand for a fee of $6,500 in 2019. "There's a lot to like about Poseidon's Warrior, and we are excited to add him to our roster," said Ryan Norton, stallion director at Darby Dan Farm. "He has...

Robert LaPenta, Madaket Stables, Siena Farm and Twin Creeks Racing Stables's Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) worked five furlongs in 1:02.60 Sunday morning at Churchill Downs in preparation for a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 3. "I thought everything went really well," said trainer Jonathan Thomas. "He broke off kindly from the pony. He started the work slowly but really picked it up from there. It was more of an endurance-building work this morning. He ran two tough races over the summer, so we didn't really need...

Rick Violette Jr., who achieved success on the racetrack as a trainer and off the track as a tireless and influential advocate for horsemen and backstretch workers, died Sunday after a lengthy illness. He was 65 and passed away at his home in Delray, Florida. To racing fans, Violette was known as a steady and long-time presence among the New York training colony. He began training in 1977 in his native New England. In 1983, he opened his own stable in New York and would go on to train major...

Aidan O'Brien issued a clean bill of health for all his Champions Day runners from Ascot on Saturday while also hinting that retirement could be on the cards for this year's G1 Al Shaqab Lockinge S. winner Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). The triple Group 1 winner who is out of a Classic winner in Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) finished fifth behind Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 QIPCO Champion S. Suggesting she may have run her last race her trainer said on Sunday, "Rhododendron might be left...

Belmont hosted an 11-race all New York-bred card Saturday with eight stakes races worth a total of $1.75 million. While the Empire-breds certainly put on a show, it was Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano who stole the spotlight, winning three races and scoring his 5,000th win in the process aboard Runaway Lute (Midnight Lute) in the Hudson H. He also piloted Mohawk S. victor Offering Plan (Spring at Last) and Ticonderoga S. heroine Fifty Five (Get Stormy). "I'm thankful to all the owners and trainers who have helped me...

Shamrock Rose pulled off the upset in the GII Lexus Raven Run S., scoring her first graded victory in Keeneland's Saturday feature. Breaking sharply from post 12, the 18-1 shot raced two-wide in mid-pack as Blamed blazed through opening splits of :22.27 and :44.83. Ranging up four wide turning for home, the $120,000 OBSAPR buy looked Blamed in the eye in mid-stretch for just a moment before confidently striding clear to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Blamed held second over a gutsy Take Charge Paula, who made an astounding late...