Yearlings

Representatives of the Maryland horse industry and the state Department of Agriculture left last week on a 12-day trip to Russia. The primary goal was to secure Russian buyers for Maryland horses. The Marylanders hope that Russians will attend the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic yearling sale Oct. 1-3 at Timonium to buy thoroughbreds for upgrading their racing and breeding operations. That could begin a relationship in which Russians buy Maryland thoroughbreds and standardbreds and even veterinary medicine and feed, and Marylanders perhaps buy Russian show horses.

The 67th Maryland Horse Breeders Association yearling show will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at the state fairgrounds in Timonium. Six classes - four for Maryland-sired and two for out-of-state sired horses - total 152 state-bred yearlings that will compete for nearly $10,000 in cash prizes. In addition, the yearlings that win the most money as 2- and 3-year-old racehorses will divide an additional $40,000 in prize money. New York trainer Linda Rice will judge the show. She follows a long line of well-known trainers, including 19 in the Hall of Fame, who have served as judges since the show's inception in 1932.

Fewer quality horses than usual resulted in lower prices at the Midlantic winter mixed sale Sunday at the Timonium fairgrounds. Some 145 horses sold for $896,800, an average of $6,185 per horse. At the same sale last year, 189 horses sold for $1,725,500, an average of $9,130. "The difference was in the quality of the horses," said Mason Grasty, executive vice president of Fasig-Tipton Midlantic, the sales company. "It doesn't signal a downturn in the market." The most significant weakness was in yearlings.

Maryland moved closer to its first $10 million horse auction yesterday as 179 yearlings sold for a total of $3,872,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearlings Sale at the Timonium fairgrounds. After two days of the three-day sale, 376 thoroughbreds have sold for $8,167,300. The average sale price of $21,722 is well ahead of last year's three-day average of $19,114. Six more yearlings sold yesterday for $100,000 or more, raising the two-day total of six-figure horses to 16. During the entire sale last year, 15 yearlings sold for $100,000 or more.

The first thoroughbred through the ring sold for $130,000 at Timonium yesterday as the three-day Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale kicked off with sizzle. "The atmosphere was pretty electric," said Mason Grasty, executive vice president of the sales company. Purchased by Maryland trainer Tony Dutrow, the Maryland-bred son of Two Punch and Quality Gal named Derby Drive ended up being one of 10 yearlings sold for $100,000 or more on the auction's first day. Last year, 15 sold for $100,000 or more the entire three days.

LIGHTNING struck at 2 p.m. Aug. 7, igniting two fires that eventually consumed 137,600 acres of the 300,000-acre Padlock Ranch in central-western Wyoming. It took 11 days before the fire was declared 100 percent contained. On Day 8 of the fire, Dava Bleak wrote an e-mail describing the view from the porch of her parents' home: "My home is burning - not my house - but my home, the land I have watched and treasured since my birth. We cheered when the fire went around a huge old pine tree that is wedged between two rocks and it didn't burn.

Melissa Ann Tokarz remembers the filly in the auction ring last December at Timonium. "She had a lot of presence, a very sharp look in her eye," Tokarz said. "She bounced around the walking ring like she thought she was somebody." She was. The chestnut filly by Eastover Court out of Beware of the Ace was judged grand champion last Sunday at the 2000 Maryland Horse Breeders Association's yearling show at the state fairgrounds. Bobby Frankel, the Hall of Fame trainer, considered 108 Maryland-bred yearlings before settling on the lively chestnut.

After saddling the runner-up in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont, Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel will venture to Maryland this weekend to judge the Maryland Horse Breeders Association's annual yearling show. Scheduled for 10 a.m. tomorrow, the show will feature more than 100 Maryland-bred yearlings competing for cash, trophies, and prestige. It will take place in the horse-show ring at the Timonium Fairgrounds. Although 132 yearlings have been entered, slightly more than 100 are expected to compete in various classes.

The record-setting sales of thoroughbred yearlings, which have swept the country this year, left their mark on Maryland yesterday as the state's first three-day horse auction concluded at Timonium. Known as the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall yearling sale, the auction at the state fairgrounds set standards for horses sold (514), total sales ($9,849,700) and average price ($19,163). The total was up 23 percent from last year, when fewer horses sold over only two days, and the average was up 2 percent.

Alice and Larry Wolf sat down, stood up, walked around, sat down again, got up and stood this time in a different place. They were as nervous as prospective parents.Their year-old colt from their 8-year-old mare was about to enter the ring yesterday at the Timonium sales pavilion at the state fairgrounds. Alice, 47, took deep breaths. Larry, 64, chewed gum.Residents of Columbia, they have owned a few horses over the years with modest success. But this was the first horse they'd ever sold at auction.