breeding and racing

OCALA, FL - With a colt by Early Voting topping the day's results, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded its first of three sessions Tuesday with an average and median ahead of last year's record-setting figures. During Tuesday's session, 163 horses sold through the ring for a gross of $9,066,000. The average was $55,620--up 26.5% from last year's opening session--and the median of $30,000 was up 15.4% from the corresponding 2025 figure. The cumulative average from last year's two-day June sale was $51,107 and the...

By the early 2000s, the commercial Thoroughbred breeding industry still resembled a relatively broad ecosystem. Elite stallions mattered enormously, but a wide range of sires maintained meaningful market share, regional programs remained viable, and biological limits naturally constrained how dominant any one stallion could become. That landscape has changed dramatically. A review of sire progeny earnings distributions from 2001 through 2025 reveals one of the clearest long-term structural shifts in modern Thoroughbred breeding: an increasingly small number of stallions now account for a growing share of the sport's economic output....

Fasig-Tipton's catalogue for The July Sale of selected yearlings, to be held starting at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, July 14, at Newtown Paddocks in Lexington, Kentucky, is available online, the company said in a press release on Wednesday. "We look forward to kicking off yearling sales season with a strong catalogue of selected yearlings in July," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "The quality of individuals on offer in this year's sale is perhaps the strongest we have had in recent years, and the sire power has improved as well."...

Susan Casner, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, accomplished owner and breeder, and treasured member of the Thoroughbred community, passed away May 27 following a battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was surrounded by the love of the family and friends who defined her life. Born in Grand Island, Nebraska, Susan's journey in racing began at Aksarben Race Track in Omaha, Nebraska, where she worked as a mutuel clerk. It was there that she met the love of her life, Bill Casner, who made a habit of placing wagers at the window...

Billionaire attorney John Morgan met with the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association (FTBOA) leadership at their headquarters in Ocala on Thursday to outline his vision for the sustainable future of Florida Thoroughbred racing and breeding, the organization said in a Friday press release. Morgan has formed a Delaware corporation to advance the state's last remaining permit owned by Ocala Thoroughbred Racing, a wholly owned subsidiary of the FTBOA. The entity is working with third parties to identify business models that will anchor robust purses and awards in Marion County...

Keeneland has named Reed Ringler to its sales team beginning May 1, the auction house via a press release on Wednesday. In this new role, he will focus on client services, global recruitment and sales development. Ringler brings a wealth of experience and deep industry relationships to Keeneland, having built a respected career across multiple facets of the Thoroughbred industry. A California native, Ringler began his career in the Thoroughbred industry on the nominations team at Darley America. Following his time at Darley, he joined the auction team at Fasig-Tipton,...

We know that the majority of stallions, in this day and age, get their biggest and best books precisely when we know least about their competence. But the other side of the same coin is that very few breeders stick around should a stallion fail to seize that first, fleeting opportunity. Just as well, then, that a historically underachieving group of rookies has got its act together with its maturing first crop, to the extent that four have managed to get a son into the GI Kentucky Derby gate. Collectively,...

The 2026 Fasig-Tipton April Digital Sale closed Tuesday evening with gross sales of $2,056,000 for 94 horses sold and a clearance rate of 83%. The auction topper was the half-sister to GISW Percy's Bar (Upstart), Fasig-Tipton said in a press release Tuesday evening. The online sale opened Thursday, Apr. 16. Offerings included horses of racing age, racing/broodmare prospects, broodmares--including mares with foals at foot--2-year-olds in training, and 'short' yearlings. Citizen Judy (hip 15), a half-sister to recent GI Central Bank Ashland Stakes winner and GI Kentucky Oaks hopeful Percy's Bar,...

Brazen Persuasion, whose 2-year-old Jackie's Warrior filly sold for $2.3-million earlier this week at auction, has been supplemented to Fasig-Tipton's April Digital Sale, according to a press release from the sales company on Friday. Bidding for the online auction opened Thursday and will close starting after 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Apr. 21. Brazen Persuasion (hip 16), a graded stakes winning daughter of Indian Charlie, is consigned by Housatonic Bloodstock, agent for C J T Stables. She is offered with her 2026 Bucchero filly foaled April 16. Winner of the...

Just finished reading the top picks for the juvenile sires (Who Will be the Leading Freshman Sire of 2026? and More Predictions), and rubbing more than two nickels together over calling Essential Quality as top second-crop sire and having clients with mares already under that horse, I thought I would take a crack at the 2023 sires. Top Pick: Life Is Good ($60,000, WinStar) The classic Into Mischief-over-Distorted Humor has proven to be a winner and that nick will unabashedly continue to produce runners. The horse was fast, and his...

4th-KEE, $110K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 2:36 p.m. ET. PHANTOM BLUE (Ghostzapper), a Resolute Racing purchase for $1.2-million during the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, was sent to trainer Brendan Walsh. Out of the winning Seeking the Blue (Arch), the filly is a half-sister to MGSP Janis Joplin (California Chrome), MSP Vino Rouge (Vino Rosso) and as of Mar. 27 she has a new half-brother by Not This Time. Phantom Blue's third dam is MGSW Atlantic Ocean (Stormy Atlantic). On the same Speightstown-Medaglia d'Oro cross that yielded current sires...

With the first major 2-year-old sale, OBS March, now in the books, and the next round, the OBS April sale, right around the corner, it's time for some predictions. We asked the experts who their pick is for leading freshman sire and also asked them for a "sleeper pick," or a stallion that will perform beyond expectations. Here's what they had to say: STEVE VENOSA Top Pick: Jackie's Warrior (Spendthrift Farm, $25,000) Training them this year, I think the obvious two horses are Jackie's Warrior and Drain the Clock. They...