Flightline | Horse Racing Free Tips

Mating Plans: Flightline’s Second Book

It's safe to say that no horse has retired to stud in recent memory with the fanfare of Flightline, who won all six of his starts by a combined 71 lengths, including four Grade Is. He was the world's highest-ranked racehorse of 2022, and earned triple-digit Beyers in all six of his starts. With an initial fee of $200,000, Flightline covered just over 150 mares in 2023 in his initial book, and those in-foal mares averaged $1,074,431 at the sales, the highest average for a first-crop covering sire in 15 years.

For 2024, his fee was reduced to $150,000, and he is expected to cover around the same number of mares this year. Bill Farish talked to us about his second book of mares.

“It is fascinating how evenly spread out it is with different sire lines. He's got five Dixie Union mares, five Into Mischief mares, six Candy Ride mares, six Medaglia d'Oro mares. He's got eight either by Empire Maker or Pioneerof the Nile, which is kind of interesting. He's got two La Brea winners, Fair Maiden (Street Boss) and Fun to Dream (Arrogate). Almost every one of his mares is either a graded stakes winner or has produced a graded stakes winner or is a half to a Grade I winner.

It's fun to go down and just see the people who are supporting him: Juddmonte, heavily, St. Elias; WinStar; Phipps Stable; Whisper Hill. There is quite a bit of Japanese participation. And we've got 10 (Lane's End) mares going to him.

He'll be right at 150 again this year. We bred him to 152 last year, just because we had a couple of people we couldn't say no to. But the goal was always to keep him right around 150.

He really is kind of funny. Last year, he walked right off the van and sort of took a look around and let the other guys know that he was there and then he really never had turned another hair. It's incredible. From the first time he was turned out to the way he handles himself in the breeding shed, he's just a very smart, very relaxed horse. I wish they were all this way. He is a very good breeder, very fertile and he's certainly one that if we wanted to go to these huge books that other people are breeding, he certainly could. I mean, he does it all, does it all very, very easily and kind of on demand.

It's really becoming the norm to drop a stallion's fee in the second year. With these larger books going to the first-year horses, they're taking so many mares out of the market that they might normally go to these types of stallions. And they're also taking, I think, a lot of mares that would go to made stallions. There's such a bonus in the yearling market when you go to sell a first-year stallion that people are opting for the lower fee and a first-year horse than the proven stallion that probably has a much better chance of getting him a runner.

But look at Into Mischief and others. It's not all about how good their book is, it's how good they are as stallions and the good ones, no matter how they start out, are going to rise to the top. I think that right now, there are fewer mares in that top-end category and more stallions in that category. So the combination of those two things, with many mares that have been bought and taken overseas that might be in that category, definitely hurts these higher price tags, the made ones.

For his second book, going down the list, we have Reunited (Dixie Union), who is the dam of Code of Honor, who won the Travers. Royal Flag (Candy Ride {Arg}), who won the Beldame and is a half-sister to Catalina Cruiser and a full-sister to Eagle (who won the GIII Ben Ali S. and was runner-up in the GI Stephen Foster) and she's a Candy Ride mare that we're breeding to him.

I think he fits a lot of mares physically because he's not a overly big horse or a small horse. He is a real kind of ideal-size stallion, so you wouldn't hesitate to breed a smaller mare to him and you also wouldn't mind breeding a larger mare to him. So physically, he fits a lot of different mares. He's got great length and conformationally, he's awfully ideal.

From a physical standpoint, I think he's open to a lot of mares. Pedigree-wise, not it's not unique to us, but with a young stallion, you want to try a lot of different things. Dirt, turf, European mares, and just all sorts of different sire lines. So, he has Ghostzapper mares, Lemon Drop Kid mares, quite a few Into Mischief Mares. And the breeders are pretty savvy about what they're breeding to them, so it's not something we really have to overly manage.

Technical Analysis (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), for instance, who won the GII Ballston Spa, GII Lake Placid, and the GIII Gallorette and was ssecond in the GI Diana and Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup, is owned by the JS Company, Japanese interests, and she's going to him. Defining Purpose (Cross Traffic), who won the Ashland, she's owned by Northern Racing, and she'll go to him. Midnight Lucky (Midnight Lute) won the GI Acorn, and she's going to him. She's Juddmonte breeding. Mexican Gold is a Medaglia d'Oro mare. She's a group three winner, and she's a half-sister to Announce who won the Romanet.

Juddmonte's also breeding Sun Path (Munnings). She's a full-sister to Bonnie South who won the Fair Grounds Oaks. WinStar is breeding So Darn Hot (Ghostzapper), who's the half-sister to Come Dancing who won the Ballerina.

He's also covering one of the exciting kind of older mares, Justwhistledixie (Dixie Union), who's the dam of New Year's Day and Mohaymen.

We've got the GI Jaipur winner that Team Valor is breeding. She's by Animal Kingdom, and a very different kind of mare for him.

Her name is Oleksandra. We have A Song of Mine, another Ghostzapper mare who is a half-sister to Songbird.

As I said, Lane's End has 10 mares going to him, who are either ours or who we own in partnership. Among them are Salty As Can Be (Into Mischief), a full-sister to Salty.

We have Finding Fame (Empire Maker), who is a full-sister to multiple stakes winner Mei Ling.

We are breeding High Opinion (Lemon Drop Kid), who was second in the GII Ballston Spa. She is a stakes winter, and multiple graded placed. And then we're breeding a Blame mare named Acting Out who's a Listed stakes winner and graded placed. We also have a Kitten's Joy mare named Adorable Miss, who is the dam of the Battle of Normandy. There's Exotic West, a Hard Spun mare who's a stakes winner and graded placed. And there are the older mares, like Lemons Forever (Lemon Drop Kid) who won the Kentucky Oaks and who is the dam of Unbridled Forever and Forever Unbridled. And Forever Unbridled (Unbridled's Song) herself is also coming too. She was the (2017) Champion Older Dirt Female.

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Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Newtownanner Stud

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Hanzly Albina of Newtownanner Stud.

“I don't take this lightly at all,” said Albina, who is both general manager of Newtownanner's Kentucky farm and North American bloodstock manager of the operation. “It's a ton of fun when it works out. For me, the physical is what I'm shooting for as I can't predict performance. We want to produce what we would buy in a sales ring, want to produce as nice a horse as we can, whether it's to sell or to race. We raise them all as if we were going to race them all, then if we sell, we're confident we're selling the best product we can.

“Some people are traditionalists and breed to race or breed to sell, but there's not really a difference anymore. At the end of the day, everyone is technically a seller–unless you keep every single foal, you're going to see the marketplace, and that goes for either a filly or a colt. You'll eventually either breed your mare or market your stallion, so you must consider these things. I find there's a lot of commonality among the guys who do the best with this.”

Wamathaat (8, Speightstown–Special Me, by Unbridled's Song), to be bred to Into Mischief

We bought her from Tattersalls (220,000gns) in 2019 and brought her over here. At the time we bought her, I thought it was a family that was on the uptake and it has rewarded us. She's a half to Gina Romantica, Gift Box, Stonetastic, Special Forces. It looked like a family that was exploding. She's a very good-looking mare. She has a 2-year-old Twirling Candy filly we sold to Mike Akers last year (FTSAUG, $385,000) and a Candy Ride (Arg) colt that is very nice.

She went to Into Mischief last year and this year is going to go back to him. It's hard to go wrong with Into Mischief. (MGISW) Gina Romantica obviously has continued to run very well and so we kind of wanted to bring that out of her. We tried the Candy Ride with her and there will probably be more of him in her future, maybe some Gun Runner in there, but for right now we went to Into Mischief and we'll see what happens.

Toni Tools (10, Roaring Fever–Patine, by Smart Strike), to be bred to Gun Runner

We bought her for $330,000 at the (2023) Fasig-Tipton Mixed Sale. She is the dam of Candied, a Grade I winner of the Alcibiades. She's going to Gun Runner. It's a natural inclination from a body perspective, plus we get a little more consistency from Gun Runner than Candy Ride (sire of Candied). She's a young mare and deserves to be bred to the best sire out there; she warrants the money. This is her time.

Toni Tools as a 2-year-old on the track | Sarah Andrew

Flourish (17, Distorted Humor–Viviana, by Nureyev), to be bred to Into Mischief

She's the dam of (MGSW & GISP) Fulsome, an Into Mischief millionaire. She's going back to him for obvious reasons. She has an Into Mischief sister to Fulsome on the ground and basically this is the third year in a row we've gone to him with her.

Kosmo's Buddy (19, Outflanker–Vaulted, by Allen's Prospect), to be bred to Gun Runner

She's the dam of (Horse of the Year) Knicks Go. She recently had a Paynter colt and will be going back to Gun Runner. It was more of a physical match for us. She's not the biggest mare in the world, but she transfers a lot of the stallion through. I think if you breed her to a strong stallion, that is pretty bulletproof for her. Gun Runner is the horse for me and is the hot stallion right now. This mating was more of a physical one than from a pedigree perspective. In the past we'd bred her to Justify and Ghostzapper, trying to follow the Awesome Again, but we think Gun Runner makes a lot of sense as she brings out a lot of the stallion. We all try to figure it out; you develop your theories and see what has validity or not.

Kadira (19, Kafwain–Raw Gold, by Rahy), to be bred to Tapit

This is the dam of Paola Queen, winner of the Test. She is going to Tapit. We loved Flatter (sire of Paola Queen) and he was very generous to us, but he's gone. We sold one Flatter filly out of Kadira and retained another. She's in foal to Tapit and going back to him, because of the Pulpit/A.P. Indy factor. She has very beautiful foals and he will be a good match. When the mare has already proven herself, it makes my job easy.

Malibu Pier (17, Malibu Moon–Blue Moon {Fr}, by Lomitas {GB}), to be bred to Forte

She's the dam of Malibu Stacy, who was Grade II placed, and Coasted, who was Grade-I placed in the Breeders' Cup. She's an older mare, but we bred her to Medaglia d'Oro and got a nice filly. She's in foal to Jackie's Warrior now and is going to be bred back to Forte. I thought the body types matched well. We like the Medaglia d'Oro (yearling) filly very much and with Forte a first-year sire we wanted to breed to and it being a very hard season to get a hold of, we wanted to make sure we used it well.

Meg Fitz (9, Tapit–Meguial {Arg}, by Roy), to be bred to Justify

This is a Tapit mare we bred. She's in foal to Olympiad right now; we'll go back to Justify because she's a half-sister to (GISW) I Want Revenge, more than a half-sister. Her first foal is a Mendelssohn, who was second in the Kentucky Jockey Club (Real Men Violen). We're excited about the Olympiad. She had a Speightstown sell for $600,000 at Saratoga last year and has been very generous to us so far, so we're going to Justify since that's a Scat Daddy line. She brings the best out of every stallion we've bred her to and has beautiful foals.

Kateri (12, Indian Charlie–Sue's Good News, by Woodman), to be bred to Cody's Wish

She's a mare we've had her entire career; again, very generous to us. She's a stunning mare, an Indian Charlie mare. We sold a Tiznow out of her for $420,000 as a 2-year-old, a Curlin for $725,000. Obviously, her best racehorse to date is (GSW & GISP) Souper Sensational (by Curlin). We bred her to Curlin again and are retaining that 2022 colt to race. He's in training with Robbie Medina. She has a yearling filly by Curlin and went back to him again. That would have been four years in a row to Curlin if we went this year, so we're going to Cody's Wish. She puts a great body on a horse and we thought he was a standout physically. If you went to see that horse, you bred to him.

Shopit's 2021 colt in the sales ring | Fasig-Tipton

Shopit (9, Yes It's True–Shop Here, by Dehere), to be bred to Into Mischief

Dam of (SW & MGISP) Shoplifted. It's probably not that interesting, but we just breed her to Into Mischief every year since it already worked. She has amazing foals.

Afleet Maggi (17, Afleet Alex–Mindset, by Coronado's Quest), to be bred to Nyquist

Dam of Grade I winner Dream Tree. We bought her, have an Uncle Mo filly out of her that I was pretty happy with. She went back to Uncle Mo, but aborted. This year, we went to Nyquist. With him taking off last year, we think he's now done enough to warrant being bred to her.

Fancier (13, Bernstein–Princess Pegasus, by Fusaichi Pegasus), to be bred to Flightline

She is the dam of (GISW) Get Her Number by Dialed In, which is the Mineshaft/A.P. Indy line. She has a Tapit colt and is back in foal to Tapit, but this year we'll be breeding her to Flightline. We typically wouldn't breed a mare of this caliber to a second-year sire; we'd go to a proven or a first -year sire, but he's going to defy the odds. He has a lot of buzz, a lot of industry support, and looks exactly what you think a horse of his race record is going to look like. I think he'll defy the trend; I don't think he'll have the usual slump of a second and third year. We're seeing if we can improve the Tapit we have with him. We think he's a good fit for this mare.

Go Go Princess (4, Justify–Kosmo's Buddy, by Outflanker), to be bred to Mage

She's more than a half to Knicks Go and we're going to breed her to Mage. The reasoning is she's a very typical Justify, she's an even leggier version of him. I think from a body perspective, she is a beautiful mare and we had a little flexibility on who to breed to. We're very excited about Mage at Airdrie. A first-year Derby winner is one of the soundest bets in our sport. We're actually sending two to Mage.

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Mating Plans, Presented by Spendthrift: Machmer Hall

The TDN's popular annual series 'Mating Plans, presented by Spendthrift,' continues today in a conversation with Machmer Hall's Carrie Brogden.

Becca's Rocket, 6, (Orb-Idoitmyway, by Unbridled's Song). To be bred to Elite Power.
Becca's Rocket is currently in foal to Jackie's Warrior. We bred this Orb filly and after the untimely death of her Unbridled's Song dam in a paddock accident, I vowed to buy this beautiful stakes mare back after her racing career. When she was born, I had such high hopes for her because she was just a super model from day one. Even though Orb tanked as a stallion, I was thrilled that she ran to her looks to become a four-time stakes placed mare of over $250,000. I drove the people who owned her so crazy for over a year to buy her upon her retirement. I saw Jackie's Warrior and thought he was beyond stunning so she went to him the first year, figuring the horse version of Angelina Jolie to Brad Pitt certainly has the chance to make a beautiful baby! So, who to breed her to this year? When I was at the Breeders' Cup this year after losing my butt all day since I refused to bet the chalk, and about six drinks in, Elite Power's race was up. I was watching the post parade and all of a sudden Elite Power gallops away from the pony horse like a machine, giving me goose bumps (which I just got again thinking about it!) I turned to my husband and said, `whatever cash or betting funds we have I am putting on Elite Power.' I literally was putting in a dozen single dollar bills into the auto teller at the Little Red Feather suite with two minutes to post. Ha! He wins and happy, happy! How could one of my favorite homebred yearlings not go to one of my favorite racehorses? Becca's Rocket is booked to Elite Power.

Life Well Lived, 17, Tiznow-Well Dressed, b Notebook. To be bred to Constitution.
She is in foal to Constitution and my thoughts are, `if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' We were so lucky to buy this fabulous older multiple stakes producer the morning before her son, Parchment Party (Constitution), became a TDN Rising Star. I'm a huge, huge fan of Stone Farm who had her and raised all her runners, so I knew he had a great chance of being raised big and sound. Valerie de Meric, whose family broke and trained him, had texted me the morning she sold about his incredible talent. My mom and I were in the back ring with a tentative budget of $250,000 to purchase her. As her price climbed, I said to my mom that I did not think our original budget was going to cut it at all. We bid $340,0000 and the bid was returned slowly at $350,000 from whom I found out was her breeder, WinStar Farm. I looked at my mom as Stan the bid spotter is asking me with his gestures from his back ring post, `What do you want to do?' Mom looked at me and I asked her, `What do you want to do?' She said, `I am 76 and I can't take it with me, and I want to buy this mare.' The reference to her being 76 was not lost on me as my mind instantaneously was flooded with the memories of my beloved grandmother (my second mom) and her mother, Betty Machmer, who died in perfect health at 76 asleep on the sofa. Her loss 30 years ago still hurts. Her love, her personality, her life of supreme kindness inspired the name and spirit of what is Machmer Hall.
So we bid again. That afternoon at Keeneland, when his allowance race went off at Churchill Downs, I am sure they heard me cheering him in Louisville. The grand old gal is happily living at Machmer Hall now, a stone's throw from her former home of Stone Farm and, to top it off, I got the most wonderful and amazing congratulatory text from my favorite chef on Beat Bobby Flay after her purchase. Lynn Hancock asked me what I was going to do if he won the Derby and I told her I was going to get drunk. What a life we lead. Hope is the most valuable commodity. She is booked back to the next super stallion in Kentucky, Constitution.

Bunskie, 4, (Speightstown-Layreebelle, by Tale of the Cat). To be bred to Into Mischief.
Many years ago, we bought a top-class older mare when she was 19 years old. She was carrying a Tale of the Cat filly at the time. That mare was Voodoo Lily, who became the granddam of Justify. The resultant Tale of the Cat filly unfortunately injured her shoulder in a field accident so we kept her as a broodmare and named her Layreebelle (after my kids Layne, Reece, and Isabelle). Layreebelle has gone onto be a triple-graded-stakes producer with her most recent filly, Three Witches (Into Mischief) running third in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and selling for $1.7 million at Keeneland November.
We retained the now four-year-old Speightstown daughter out of Layreebelle named Bunskie, my youngest brother's childhood nickname. She foaled a fancy Bolt d'Oro filly just last night! In deciding where to go next, we looked to our favorite super sire, Into Mischief. His live-foal stud fee is out of our comfort zone, so we did a package of no-guarantee seasons in him with Spendthrift and she is booked on one of those seasons. We cannot wait to have a handful of Into Mischiefs back on the farm next year!

Stonetonic, 6, (Candy Ride {Arg}-Stonetastic, by Mizzen Mast.) To be bred to Flightline.
We were lucky enough to breed Grade II winner Stonetastic out of our super mare, Special Me. We were anxious to have a filly from that family, so when her first daughter Stonetonic came to auction in foal to Yaupon, we paid an outrageous $400,000 for her. Well, we looked pretty damn crazy until I was in Keeneland November seeing all of these fancy Yaupon babies with incredible physiques selling for big bucks! She has a lovely filly foal and when it came to make a choice of who to breed her to last year it was not lost on me that Flightline's purchaser, David Ingordo, bought Stonetonic's half-sister by Gun Runner for $925,000. David also bought Special Me's Grade I winner, Gift Box, off of us as a weanling so we're thinking it might be a lucky mating to send her to the stellar racehorse Flightline for her second baby, which she is expecting. Figuring that it was a no-brainer to send her first year mating, why not repeat it for $50,000 less for second year? Stonetonic is booked back to Flightline for 2024.

Hailey's Melody, 6, (Can the Man-Miki's Melody, by Aptitude). To be bred to Two Phil's.
Since we have a ridiculous number of mares due to yours truly having a major horse addiction, we have really tried to limit our new acquisitions to stakes mares. I first saw this mare on a Fasig-Tipton digital sale and even though Can the Man fizzled out at stud, she was a gorgeous, stakes-placed mare who failed to meet her reserve at $48,000 as a breeding or racing prospect. I messaged her owner that when she was done racing we would be interested in buying her as a broodmare only. Fast forward five months, and I got a text that her owner would sell her for a price so reasonable I think I choked on the Diet Coke I was drinking. She shipped in and this stunning 16.3 Adonis gets off the van. So, who to breed her to first year for good value but a great physical and price? Two Phil's: what a great price at $12,500! His speed figures were off the charts and he is by such a great, underrated stallion in Hard Spun. She has the big stretchy frame to lengthen out his Quarter Horse type physique and they are both correct with plenty of bone.

Rumandice, 8, (Congrats-Chasethegold, by Touch Gold). To be bred to Practical Joke.
I was walking in the back ring in Keeneland January, 2020 and happened to glance over and see this statuesque Congrats filly literally in the chute to go into the ring to be sold. We had actually had great luck in past with her family both in the sale ring and on the racetrack (which is the holy grail for any Thoroughbred commercial breeder). I decided to watch her sell and see where she went. She waltzes into the ring and I hear music to my bargain-shopping ears: `this mare is a cribber.' `OH!' my brain says. `There might be a chance here!' I bought her for $65,000 as a broodmare prospect and happy! Her second foal turns out to be a magnificent son of Practical Joke we sold to Winstar farm for $500,000 at this year's Saratoga sale. We bred her back to Authentic in 2023. Elliott Walden was kind enough to send me a video last month of said Practical Joke colt training, now named Social Hour, and so far so good! Seemed like a no brainer to us to repeat that mating and hope for maybe a happy hour next time! Her 2024 mating is back to the proven and great value sire in Practical Joke.

Line of Vision, 9, Court Vision-Gold Lined, by Numerous). To be bred to Maximus Mischief.
Line of Vision is a small mare but was a multiple stakes-winning two-year-old with 20 starts under her belt and earnings of almost $250,000. We used to have a rule in our band that all mares had to be at least 16hh but as the years passed we realized that rule needed to be changed with so many big stallions in Kentucky. We bought this mare on the Wanamaker's digital sale platform and bred her in 2023 to Mo Donegal, who is a big, strong horse. She was actually booked to Bolt D'Oro, but that day he was chock a block so we had to call an audible and change stallions last minute. Hopefully it works out like it did when the same thing happened with Vyjack's mating. In deciding where to send her for 2024, we turned to a former Machmer Hall pinhook, Maximus Mischief. What a magnificent foal he was and we have supported him since he went to stud including purchasing multiple breeding rights in him. He seems to throw leg and stretch no matter what mare he goes to. I think that he has had literally three maiden special weight winners in the past two days alone. We are hoping this sound young mare will be a great match with him physically and on the track! 2024: booking Maximus Mischief

Warm Sunshine, 10, (Unbridled's Song-Carolina Sunrise, by Awesome Again). To be bred to Cody's Wish.
We bought Warm Sunshine as a yearling on my never ending quest for Unbridled's Song mares. We already had claimed her full-sister, who became the dam of Grade III winner Fore Left and her other half-sister, Little Miss Macho, who was a Keeneland September session topper. We raced her and even though she is small, Bart Hone told me she “had a heart the size of Texas.” When we were looking who to breed her for a first foal, Constitution was in the middle of the dreaded bubble year as a stallion. I was challenged by Winstar to book five mares to him and get a bonus season. I actually found eight mares for him and we decided to send Warm Sunshine to him. Fast-forward from that 2018 mating; a case of sesamoiditis derailed our vision of a yearling sale. On to the two-year-old sale, where he promptly bucked his shins. So now, we race him. Steal Sunshine (named after the Len song) has now won two stakes and over $350,000 for us and is running in the GIII Hooper on Pegasus day this weekend! His mother is in foal to two-year-old champion Essential Quality on a 2023 breeding and booked to a horse that more happy tears have been shed over then I can remember in my lifetime, Cody's Wish, for 2024.

Vino Rosso is booked for Breakfastatbonnies | Sarah Andrew

Breakfastatbonnies, 6, (Laoban-Right Prevails, by Successful Appeal). To be bred to Vino Rosso.
Breakfastatbonnies is another one of my infamous walking in the back ring and `what on earth is that?' buys. (Better to ask forgiveness than permission from the hubby and mom.) This stakes-placed Laoban mare is the sh$t. I mean big and beautiful in every way of the word. A little flat in her knees if you want to be critical but I think that was found in a lot of the Laoban progeny. Full-sister to a stakes-winner of over half a million, I bought her as a broodmare prospect for $90,000. For a first year foal, we bred her to Cyber Knife. I try to call the people that know those horses best when they were yearlings or two year olds and Susan Montayne had broken and trained him for Al Gold. After speaking to her, I felt this would be a great physical match, but, truth be told , this mare is so good-looking she could probably get bred to a Welsh Pony and have a Pony Finals champion. When looking to breed her for 2024, my eyebrows have been raised at the incredible accomplishments so far of Vino Rosso. We booked three mares to him for the 2024 season and Breakfastatbonnies is one of those mares going to him.

Fancy Kitten, 10, (Kitten's Joy-Endless Fancy, by Ghostzapper). To be bred to Justify.
Fancy Kitten was originally claimed by James Keogh to resell as a broodmare prospect. He called me for a reference on someone who could claim this stakes-placed daughter of Kitten's Joy for him. I told him I knew the perfect person-a 4H conformation judge in a former lifetime and now a hard-working trainer. James calls her and the claim is dropped on `the correct and good-sized filly.' `Grand, grand,' you can imagine James saying in his best Irish brogue. Wait a minute, the phone rings again and the trainer says, `I was so busy making sure she was correct that I might have missed that she is a wee weak in the topline.' James is like, `how weak are we talking?' Too late, claim dropped. I am dying of laughter typing this because to hear James tell the story is side-splitting. James calls me after the mare gets to his farm and he is like, `so much for your former 4H judge!' Fancy Kitten goes to the Fasig-Tipton February sale and if you ever had the Breyer horse as a kid like I did , Fancy Kitten was the chestnut version of the old grey mare Glossy.
She is at the sale and as everyone knows it is impossible to sell a swayback (even though I have never seen a swayback throw a swayback) and she fails to meet her modest reserve. My mother, of course, has heard the entire story of the claim and James is desperately wanting to get her off the books as one of the rare times he does not make a fabulous claim, so we buy her for $10,000. Her first foal is the graded-stakes winning Jasper Krone (Frosted) who ran in this year's Breeders' Cup and her second foal, Ngannou (Mendelssohn) was a graded-stakes-placed two year old of last year. She has never thrown a swayback and throws a lovely baby that can run! She is currently in foal to the beautiful Jackie's Warrior and is booked back to the rising-star stallion Justify. You just cannot make this stuff up and that is why you never know where they are going to come from!

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Taylor Made’s Foaling Season Starts with Flightline’s First Foal

Foaling season is off to a flying start at Taylor Made Farm as they're already up to nearly a dozen foals on the ground. Everything has gone smoothly so far, but a real showstopper came early when they welcomed the first foal by Horse of the Year Flightline. A star-faced bay filly with a bit of chrome on her hind legs, the new arrival is also the first foal out of Grade I winner Juju's Map (Liam's Map).

“It's really a blessing to have such a well-bred horse here,” said Frank Taylor. “She's got a great attitude and she is strong and healthy. Everything is going great so far. The mare is by Liam's Map, who is a half-brother to Not This Time. Those are two of the best horses we ever raised, so it's really exciting to have this filly on the farm.”

Bred by Fred W. Hertrich III, Juju's Map was a $300,000 Keeneland September purchase for the Albaugh family. She broke her maiden in her second start for Brad Cox and went on to claim the 2021 GI Darley Alcibiades S. and run second to Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. A winner and three times graded stakes placed at three, Juju's Map was sent through the ring at the Keeneland November Sale in 2022, but she RNA'd for $1.9 million and stayed with the Albaugh family.

Taylor said the mating of Flightline and Juju's Map produced a good blend of both Grade I-caliber horses.

“The filly has the looks of Flightline, but she also has some of the mare,” he explained. “The mating matches up well physically and pedigree-wise, and you're just breeding the best to the best and hoping for the best.”

Taylor added that Juju's Map will visit Curlin in 2024.

Sara Gordon

As for the foal, Taylor hypothesized that for now, it's a coin toss as to whether the youngster would one day see the sales ring or race in the Albaugh silks. The filly's broodmare sire and his family carry a well-known story on just that subject.

“We had Liam's Map here as a yearling and the Albaughs really never sold many of their horses,” Taylor recalled. “He was by Unbridled's Song and he was the best yearling on the farm, so we talked them into selling him. He brought $800,000 and we were all very excited about the way he sold until he won the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and they syndicated him for a lot more than $800,000. Then fast forward and Mr. Albaugh was back here and we were showing him the Giant's Causeway colt out of same mare and we said, 'Man, this one could bring maybe $1 million or $2 million.' His response was,' Not this time.'”

Not This Time, who was runner-up in the 2016 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile for Dennis Albaugh and his family, stands for $150,000 this year as a fifth-crop sire at Taylor Made and is now embarking on a career as a sire of sires with 3-year-old champion Epicenter beginning his second year at Ashford Stud and MGISW Up to the Mark debuting at Lane's End.

Plenty of superbly bred horses will hit the ground at Taylor Made in the coming weeks, but Taylor said there is no denying that having the first foal by a horse like the undefeated Flightline–who stood for $200,000 and covered 152 mares in his debut season–is a special honor.

“You dream about these horses become great racehorses and this filly is really bred to go a distance, so maybe someday we'll see her in the Oaks,” he said. “That'd be a dream come true.”

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