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Keeneland's April sale of 2-year-olds in training will start in about 10 days (previews on April 7, followed by sale dates April 8-9). While I'm still not in the market for racing stock, I'm always eager to see what's being offered. This year's catalog had some interesting pedigrees. I dog-eared about a dozen hips to watch, and I'll ...

You've invested more in the stud fee than most Americans spent on the car they're currently driving.  You've provided top-notch care, with regular vet visits and a quality nutrition program. Whether it's your own time and effort or you're paying hired help, a whole lot of hours have been spent in catering to your mare through her pregnancy. ...

Last week we looked at the Domino sire line. As a few readers have pointed out, Domino represents only one branch of the Himyar (pedigree) bloodline. Even stepping back in the pedigree and looking at Himyar's larger line, there's only one additional source in most breeding populations, coming through his son Plaudit. Rough'n ...

In a recent poll, readers responded to  the question ''Do you anticipate fewer mares bred in 2008 due to the market downturn?''  By a small majority, the answer was ''No.''  28.95% of responses indicated ''No, the market really isn't so bad,'' which was punctuated quite nicely by last weeks' record-setting OBS sale of ...

Over the weekend, I took a short road trip to look at a potential mate for one of my broodmares.  This is the first time that I'm contemplating a ''breed to race'' mating instead of a commercial match, and considerations certainly differ between the two end goals.  I've tended to support less-mainstream sire lines when breeding for the ...

In my last post, I discussed some of the hips offered at the OBS March Selected Sale of 2-Year-Olds In Training. If you're a subscriber to The Blood-Horse, you probably already know about the Data Digest. This publication comes out about a week before major sales and gives buyers useful information about the horses being sold.  It includes ...

I'm not in the market for a 2-year-old. My interest lies in breeding; when I get to the point of bringing a horse to the track on my own, it'll probably be one that I've bred. No, I'm not in the market for a 2-year-old.  But if I were, and the OBS select sale was my venue, I think I'd have to look towards Pulpit this year. It's not ...

I mentioned the Equibase Virtual Stable in a recent post and have received several emails asking for more information about the service.  For those of you who don't use it already, here's a great opportunity to learn about a genuinely useful tool that's offered free to users.  The tool is simple:  you identify horses you'd like to ...

A signifcant plurality of readers -- 47.62%, to be specific -- responded to my recent poll that the dam or female family is the most important ''weed-out'' data when examining a sales catalog. It's sure the way that I go myself.  I actually keep a list of mares that I watch for each time a new catalog comes out. Most of the mares that ...

Around the beginning of February, my wrists are ready for springtime. By that part of winter, I've gotten my hands soaked, breaking ice from the thermal waterers, in the frigid cold and biting wind, more times than I can count. I've pitched hay, swept hay, stacked hay, and tossed hay twice a day for about three months. I've wiped slick, ...