In early October, it was announced that multiple Grade 1 stakes winner Smiling Tiger had been consigned to the November 6, Fasig-Tipton The November Sale in Kentucky through Archie St. George's St. George Sales. The four-year-old colt, a $40,000 graduate of the 2008 WTBOA Summer Yearling Sale - and the leading earning sale horse of all-time - has been one of the top sprinters in the country for the last two years.

  According to St. George, "The horse is tall and athletic and has the right sire line to appeal as a stallion prospect. His good looks will carry him a long way and, with so many international racing opportunities ahead, there's no reason he shouldn't add a lot more to his current earnings of $1.2-million.

Only off the board in one of his 18 career starts for trainer Jeff Bonde and owners Alan Klein and Philip Lebherz, Bonde feels that "Smiling Tiger is the best horse I've ever trained . . ."

    On October 21, word came that Smiling Tiger would bypass the Breeders Cup Sprint (G1), a race he in which he finished third in 2010, because of lost training time due to a bruised foot and abscess which were noted after a September 28 work.

  While Smiling Tiger may still be offered at the Fasig-Tipton sale, it is more likely that the colt will now be pointed to the December 11, Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin, a race to which "He was invited to go to. . . so that's our focus now," according to Mersad Metanovic, the racing manager for Klein and Lebherz.

  There are also plans for the colt to continue his international career with a start in the Dubai Golden Shaheen in at Meydan Racecourse next spring.

"Also, we really want to give him the opportunity to show his best around the world. He's sound, still has a lot of run in him, and he travels well," said Metanovic.

  Mickey's Hot Corona, a Montana-bred son of graded stakes-placed 1996 WTBOA Sale graduate Son's Corona, placed second in the B Cup Three-year-old and Up Classic Stakes at Lethbridge on October 1.

  Coal Creek Farm's homebred For You My Heart, who was a $13,500 RNA at the 2009 WTBOA Summer Yearling Sale, won a $20,000 claiming race at Santa Anita Park on October 13. The Kentucky-bred three-year-old daughter of Kafwain-One for You, who had finished third in the Irish Day Handicap at Emerald Downs in June and has earned $45,445, was claimed out of the six-furlong race by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and Dr. George Todaro.

  Mark DedomenicoLLC and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's stakes winner Washington Bridge, a four-year-old daughter of Yankee Gentleman out of stakes winner and WTBOA September yearling graduate Stirling Bridge, finished third in the $69,950 Swingtime Stakes ran at Santa Anita on October 8, pushing her earnings to $273,502.

  Portland Meadows 55-day 2010-11 live meet began on Monday, October 17 with a new 12:00 noon first post. The 2010 portion of the meet will feature a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday schedule which will change to Monday-Wednesday racing from January 2012 through their March 14 closing.

  The featured race on the opening card was a $10,000 Overnight Handicap for three and up runners going 5 1/2 furlongs. Trainer Tawnja Elison and Ian Moyes' So Gone, a $12.90-to-one longshot ridden by Rocco Bowen, went gate-to-wire to record a 1 1/4 length win in 1:04.41. It was the eighth victory for the five-year-year-old gelded son of Came Home-So Fortunate, by Garthorn, who was making his Portland debut after last racing at Assiniboia Downs. Preston Boyd-owned and -trained Chaching Pete, a four-year-old Washington-bred son of Petersburg-Vying Victor finished second, 2 3/4 lengths in front of Ron Crockett Inc.'s seven-year-old Carry On John, a Kentucky-bred son of Boundary-Carrie Can, in the field of nine. Total handle on the nine races was $353,201.

  Among the new items this season are the $25,000 Ultimate Show Vivor Online Contest and the McFadden Memorial Sprint Claiming Series (five, 5 1/2 and six furlongs), which will offer three races beginning on November 2, with the third leg to be run on December 11, Oregon Championship Day. Later in the meet, the track will offer a three-race Portland Meadows Route Claiming Series (mile and 70 yards, nine furlong and ten furlongs).

The Thoroughbred stakes schedule will offer an estimated $164,600 in purses, while Quarter Horse stakes runners will vie for races valued at $87,000.

  A silent charity auction to raise funds to support a race named to honor late horsewoman Charlynn Taketa and to benefit local horsemen in need will be held at Portland Meadows on November 4 and 5, during the simulcasts of the 2011 Breeders' Cup World Championships.

  Among the items already donated are: halters worn by Storm Cat, Giant's Causeway, Fusaichi Pegasus and Thunder Gulch; handcrafted Old Gringo western boots; a Northern Dancer "Memories of Roses" gallery-stretched canvas donated by its artist, the Taketas' longtime friend Fred Stone; the painting "Wildcat Trust," by artist Jean Requa Lubin; and a horsehair charm bracelet made and donated by Lisa Price's Lame Horse Hollow Jewelry; as well as other prints, photography, books, event tickets and racing packages from major tracks.

  With two runners, Ben's Cat and Sloane Ranger, winning stakes on the October 2, Maryland Million Day card and the additional stakes win of Pagan Cat on October 15, the progeny of Gibson Thoroughbred Farm's Parker's Storm Cat have now earned $1,646,857 through October 16. The 11-year-old son of two-time leading national sire Storm Cat has had 32 winners among his 62 starters this year. Nearly a third of those earnings have come via his top turf sprinter Ben's Cat.

  El Dorado Farms LLC's four-time leading state sire Matty G ranks second with $728,220 among his 98 starters and 42 winners. Thanks Be to God, with $62,212, is his top earner so far this year.

  Tribunal, who died in 2008, holds the third spot with earnings of $565,333. The son of 1997-98 national leading sire Deputy Minister has two stakes winners and four stakes-placed runners among his 65 starters and 39 winners. Three-time Washington champion and 2011 stakes winner Atta Boy Roy leads his offspring with current earnings of $66,884.

  St. Hilaire Thoroughbred's Polish Miner ranks fourth with $553,772 earned among his 41 starters and 17 winners. The leading 2011 earner for the graded stakes-placed son of Danzig is Centripetal Motion, with $83,380. Polish Miner's Ham and Ernie recently ran third in a Maryland Million race.

  Pensioned You and I leads all Washington sires in number of stakes winners this year with four, and the son of Kris S. currently ranks fifth on the leader board with $508,042. Half of his 54 starters are winners and they are led by 2011 Emerald Downs top older mare You Me and Ema B, who has contributed $74,980 to his totals.

  Rounding out the top ten are: deceased Cahill Road ($473,886, with 34 winners from 66 starters), Sherri Mellot's Liberty Gold ($473,886, 22 winners from 42 starters), El Dorado Farms LLC's Private Gold ($425,776, 24 winners from 48 starters), and Woodstead Farm's He's Tops ($393,337, 25 winners from 54 starters) and Delineator ($249,785, 16 winners from 43 starters).

  El Dorado Farms LLC's Raise the Bluff is the leading freshman sire with three winners from five starters and earnings of $29,674. Two of his juveniles, Orlando Xpress and He's a Cruiser, were stakes-placed at Emerald Downs this season.

  On October 20, The Jockey released Report of Mares Bred (RMB) statistics for the 2011 breeding season. Based on RMBs received through October 12, 2011, The Jockey Club reports that 1,935 stallions covered 36,504 mares in North America during 2011.

  The annual statistics include the number of mares bred to each stallion and represent approximately 90 percent of the mares that eventually will be reported as bred in 2011. According to historical trends, The Jockey Club expects to receive RMBs representing an additional 3,500 to 4,000 mares bred during the 2011 breeding season.

 The number of stallions declined 11.5 percent from the 2,186 reported at this time in 2010, while the number of mares bred fell ten percent from the 40,576 reported at this time last year.

  RMB statistics for all reported stallions in 2011 are available through the Publications & Resources section of The Jockey Club's website at jockeyclub.com. Individual state or province statistics will be available when the State Fact Books are updated.

  The number of stallions covering 100 or more mares increased from 82 in 2010 to 84 in 2011. These stallions accounted for a greater percentage of the total mares reported bred this year - 30.6 percent of all mares bred in 2011 versus 26.8 percent of all mares bred in 2010 as reported at this time last year.

  Further book size analysis shows a 2.5 percent increase in the number of mares bred to stallions with a book size of 100 or more in 2011 when compared to 2010 as reported at this time last year; a 32.2 percent drop in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 75 and 99; a 17.8 percent decline in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 50 and 74; an eight percent decrease in mares bred to stallions with a book size between 25 and 49; and an 11.4 percent decline in mares bred to stallions with a book size fewer than 25.

  In 2011, Congrats led all stallions with 205 mares bred. Rounding out the top five were Giant's Causeway, 198; Bellamy Road, 192; Scat Daddy, 191; and Henrythenavigator, 189.

  Thoroughbred breeding activity in Kentucky traditionally leads North America. During 2011, Kentucky's 228 reported stallions covered 15,714 mares, or 43 percent of all of the mares reported bred in North America. The number of mares bred to Kentucky stallions declined 9.2 percent against the 17,303 reported at this time last year.

  Of the top 10 states and provinces by number of mares reported bred in 2011, only Ontario stallions covered more mares in 2011 than in 2010, as reported at this time last year. The following table shows the top 10 states and provinces, ranked by number of mares reported bred in 2011 through October 12, 2011:

Note: Each incidence in which a mare was bred to more than one stallion and appeared on multiple RMBs is counted separately. As such, mares bred totals listed in the table above may differ slightly from counts of distinct mares bred.

Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.)

 The Jockey Club announced on October 13 the launch of the Thoroughbred Incentive Program (T.I.P.), which will recognize and reward the versatility of the Thoroughbred through sponsorship of Thoroughbred classes and high point awards at locally, nationally or internationally sanctioned horse shows. The Jockey Club has committed $100,000 to the Thoroughbred Incentive Program for a pilot program in 2012.

"Thoroughbreds are versatile athletes, which makes them ideally suited for any number of disciplines beyond the racetrack," said Dell Hancock, a steward of The Jockey Club, longtime Thoroughbred owner/breeder and a former horse show competitor. "The Thoroughbred Incentive Program will help showcase and reward the breed's many talents at all levels of competition and will encourage the retraining of Thoroughbreds once they have finished their racing or breeding career."

   Horse show organizers that would like to offer a T.I.P. Thoroughbred class and/or high point award at their show in 2012 should complete the T.I.P. application T.I.P. sponsorships are available for a variety of disciplines, including eventing, dressage, hunters, jumpers and western and English pleasure, and will include ribbons, prizes and in some cases, purse money. The deadline for applications is November 30, 2011.

In addition to class and award sponsorships at shows, T.I.P. will also offer two annual awards in 2012:

  The T.I.P. Thoroughbred of the Year Award will recognize a Thoroughbred that has excelled in a non-competitive career, such as equine-assisted therapy or police work. The award will include a $5,000 grant to the non-profit organization associated with the horse or, if not associated with a non-profit organization, to a horse-related charity chosen by The Jockey Club.

  The T.I.P. Young Rider of the Year Award will recognize a young rider, 18 or under, who owns or leases a Thoroughbred for use in 4-H, Pony Club or other activities. The winner(s) will be determined through an essay contest with a total award of $5,000 annually that can be applied to the college of their choice or to their participation in an event that furthers their involvement with horses. Applications for the T.I.P. Thoroughbred of the Year Award and T.I.P. Young Rider of the Year Award will be made available in 2012.