Racing Diary

Hats off to the 46 stallions who make up horseracing's exclusive '90+ club'. The breeding season for thoroughbreds started last Thursday and this elite group can view their six months duration ahead with supreme confidence having achieved 90 per cent or higher fertility rates in 2000.

Deserving of special mention are Petoski, Polar Prince, Puissance, Synefos, and Warcraft who recorded a magic 100 per cent conception rate last year with as many as 36 mares. And, with a name that is perfect for the months ahead, well done Primitive Rising for his 92 per cent effort in 2000.

BOOK BARGAINS galore at the racecourse. Coming to the Last, by Sir Peter O'Sullevan, is going for a knockdown £10 in hardback - that's a signed copy, too. Only a return to television commentary can keep the price from dropping into pride-denting single figures.

PITY the citizens of Florida for whom it goes from bad to worse. First sunshine state jockey Shane Sellers, who is injured, used his recuperation time to perform a country and western set live at Gulfstream Park racecourse this month.

Now, the album he threatened to release is ready for delivery to record shops. The title? A heart-wrenching God's favourite Angel. Sellers admitted before the live performance: "I was a bit nervous." He wasn't the only one.

EVEN THOUGH horses without heart are the curse of punters, there should be no begrudging any of them some cardio-assistance, especially those pregnant with foals. So, good luck to Xena, due to deliver in July, who has been fitted with her own pacemaker after a heart murmur was detected during an examination of the broodmare.