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With all the scratches in the Keeneland April 2yo sale, the sessions are so short that; They could have halted all selling during ''American Idol'' the first night and still have been done by 10 p.m. You don't need a bathroom break, but if you did, you'd miss half the night's horses. The droning of the auctioneers doesn't have time to hypnotize ...

The early results from anabolic steroid testing at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s 2-year-old in training sales have been both interesting and encouraging. They're interesting because, based on the low numbers of horses tested at the request of their buyers, there's not an overwhelming concern among shoppers about steroids. But they're also ...

  For people who would like to see workout times slow down at sales of 2-year-olds in training, there was some good news at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. March select auction. One of the big sellers, a $500,000 Dixie Union - Open Flirt filly, worked an eighth of a mile in :10 3/5 (significantly slower than the fastest time for that distance ...

  Pinhooking horses is a lot like American Idol, where you take raw talent and try to mold it into a superstar. Now you might argue that some of American Idol's competitors this season are very polished and have professional experience, but that's about the same as buying a Storm Cat yearling for a million dollars and trying to resell it as ...

  The OBS March 2-year-old sale was like a breath of fresh air in a marketplace that has been struggling this year, especially at the very top. Sellers were getting more than they expected for their horses, and buyers were happy with the prices they paid and the quality of the stock. Shoppers were numerous and they came from a variety of ...

  In an interesting twist at this year's Adena Springs sale of 2-year-olds in training, Frank Stronach gave away three new catalogs. Personaly, it was really a bummer because I wasn't eligible to win; you had to buy a horse. There were some that sold for $3,500, but even they were beyond my budget.  But the people who took home the big ...

Ryan Mahan is the MC Hammer of the North American Thoroughbred marketplace. He heads the auction crews for Keeneland,  Barretts, the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co., the Ontario division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, and the New York Breeders' Sales Co. Here's what he had to say during a short visit with ''Hammer Time:'' How do ...

  He wasn't the most expensive or best-bred horse in the Fasig-Tipton Florida select of sale of 2-year-olds in training. But he might have been the toughest. The Stormy Atlantic - Deep South colt is so tough that he once, apparently, tried to eat wood. One day, when he was a yearling, the people taking care of him found a chunk about the ...

  When you go to a sale, you pretty much are part of a captive audience when it comes to dining. You eat what's available. Sometimes that's a good thing, and sometimes it's not. My favorite sale dining experience has been at the outdoor bar on the Fasig-Tipton sale grounds in Saratoga Springs. I love the corn on the cob and the thin, ...

The Fasig-Tipton Florida select sale of 2-year-olds in training, with its fancy pedigrees, is the best gauge of the health of the top of juvenile market. For the second year in a row, there was no significant skirmish between John Ferguson and Demi O'Byrne, nor was another buyer, such as the flamboyant Fusao Sekiguchi,who was willing to take them ...