JUST HORSIN' AROUND: YEARLING SALE BRINGS IN OVER $71M

          The Keeneland Sales Pavilion in KY held its '98 July
     Selected Yearling Sale last week and 149 yearlings were sold
     for a total of over $71M during the two-day event.  The
     final gross figure is up 15% from '97's total of $62.5M,
     despite the fact that 26 fewer horses were sold this year. 
     In the two days, 15 yearlings were sold for $1M or more --
     the most since '89.  The highest bid of the event was for
     the son of Mr. Prospector, who sold for $4M to Japan's Fusao
     Sekiguchi. The leading buyer by gross was Satish Sanan's
     Padua Stables, which bought 14 horses for $13.35M (NTRA).
          AIN'T NO PLACE I'D RATHER BE: The Saratoga Race Course
     drew nearly 20,000 people to its 18th annual open house on
     Sunday, breaking all records (ALBANY TIMES-UNION, 7/27).
     ...NTRA Commissioner Tim Smith announced the formation of
     two task forces -- one devoted to Fan Education and Customer
     Service, and the other to Product Enhancement.  Smith also
     said that the NTRA would implement plans for a Thoroughbred
     Industry Council within the next month (NTRA).