Deirdre Biles

Deirdre Biles is the Bloodstock Sales Editor for The Blood-Horse magazine.

Articles by: Deirdre Biles

Zenyatta Adapting Smoothly to Farm Life

Zenyatta’s transition from superstar racehorse to broodmare is going smoothly, according to William S. Farish, owner of Central Kentucky’s Lane’s End Farm, where the champion is now being boarded. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta arrived at Lane’s End by van the night of Dec. 6 following a flight from Southern California and an appearance at Keeneland Race Course that attracted more than …

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Uncertain Times Concern July Thoroughbred Sale Consignors

As she heads into the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select sale, which is the first major auction of the yearling selling season, consignor Kitty Taylor of Warrendale Sales said she feels like the manager of a baseball team. The sale is scheduled for July 13-14 in Lexington and has 494 horses in its catalog, many of which fit into the middle market range.

“It’s kind of like

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Rider Injury Database a Horse Racing Summit Priority

The third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit ended June 29 in Lexington with a commitment to create a national rider injury database, something that Keeneland president and CEO Nick Nicholson said was his No. 1 priority going into the meeting. “I think we need it, and I was going to be very disappointed if we didn’t get (an agreement to pursue) it,” said Nich

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Nicholson: Expand Safety and Welfare Efforts in Horse Racing

Nick Nicholson, the president and chief executive officer of Keeneland, called for the Thoroughbred industry to expand its efforts to protect its participants – both human and equine – from injury on the opening day of the third Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit June 25 at the Lexington track. The Keeneland executive also said tracks should release, on an indi

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Keeneland Thoroughbred Sale Sees Slight Comeback

The Keeneland sale of 2-year-olds in training, scheduled for April 5 in Lexington, will wrap up the select juvenile selling season, which has enjoyed some modest rebounds following 2009’s major setbacks.

“I don’t know if

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Colic: In-Depth Discussion by Vets at AAEP

Almost all horses with colic can be saved if the problem is recognized quickly and treatment is instituted rapidly, said Anthony Blikslager, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, of North Carolina State University, during the “In-Depth: Colic” portio

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Lameness in Racehorses, AAEP 2009

When a racehorse is injured, one of the biggest concerns an owner has is whether or not the animal will be able to race again. The owner also wants to know if the horse will be able to perform as well as it did prior to being hurt. Travis Tull, DVM, and Hannah Wellman, BVSc, of Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., presented studies that addressed those questions during the La

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Vet: Rachel Alexandra’s Break ‘Good Management’

While many racing fans were hoping Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta would square off in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, prominent equine surgeon Larry Bramlage, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, said recently that Rachel Alexandra’s connections did the right thing when they ended her 2009 campaign following the 3-year-old filly’s Sept. 5 victory by a head over Macho Again in the Woodford Stak

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Horse Market Rebound Unlikely at Keeneland Thoroughbred Sale

The Keeneland November breeding stock sale was hammered last year by the global financial crisis, suffering alarming downturns of 45.5% in gross, 39% in average price, and 42.9% in median price after a record-setting run in 2007. This year, consignors and sale company officials are hoping that–at the very least–the declines will slow down, but the odds are against a rebound during the

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Dam of Top Keeneland Opener Yearling Battling Laminitis

When Goulash’s Unbridled’s Song colt brought $925,000 to top the opening session of the Keeneland September yearling auction Sept. 14, the prognosis for the Mari’s Book mare looked grim. She is battling laminitis, and there were concerns she would need to be euthanized just days after her son had been sold.

But Frank Taylor of Taylor Made Sales Agency, which sold the colt, had some good

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Mine That Bird Headed to the Preakness

Mine That Bird, the surprise winner of the May 2 Kentucky Derby, will run in the May 16 Preakness Stakes, according to Pimlico spokesman Mike Gathagan.

Gathagan said Mine That Bird’s trainer, Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. informed him of the decision to come to Maryland in a telephone conversation about 11 a.m. (EDT) May 4.

“He (Woolley) also talked to our horsemen’s relations person

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Alysheba Remembered at Memorial Service

Preston Madden, who bred Alysheba, called the 1988 Horse of Year and racing Hall of Fame member “a gift from heaven” during a memorial service for the pensioned stallion at the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington April 29.

The bay son of Alydar was euthanized March 27 after he fell in his stall at the Horse Park, injured his right hind femur, and was unable to get up. A chronic

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