Sept. 5 Insights

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HALF TO BOBBY'S KITTEN DEBUTS IN KY

2nd-KYD, $135K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:53 p.m.

Joe Sharp unveils MISTHAVEN (IRE) (Candy Ride {Arg}) in this first baby race of this boutique meet. SF Bloodstock purchased Celestial Woods (Forestry) for $350,000 with this filly in utero at the 2018 FTKNOV sale. She is also the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner and millionaire Bobby's Kitten (Kitten's Joy) and MGSW Camelot Kitten (Kitten's Joy). TJCIS PPs

PLETCHER UNVEILS PRICEY CLASSIC EMPIRE FILLY AT THE SPA

7th-SAR, $85K, Msw, 2yo, f, (S), 5 1/2f, 3:53 p.m.

Robert and Lawana Low went to $550,000 for CLASSY EDITION (Classic Empire) at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Old Sale after she breezed in :10 1/5 and she debuts for Todd Pletcher here. Bred by top New York breeders Chester & Mary Broman, the bay is a half-sister to the fleet-footed Newly Minted (Central Banker), who was a four-time stakes winner for trainer Linda Rice. She is also a half to MSP New Girl in Town (Boys At Tosconova). TJCIS PPs

HALF TO ACCELERATE MAKES CAREER BOW

8th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, 4:27 p.m.

Crawford Farms Racing and Stonestreet Stables' MALIBU KENDALL (Curlin) makes her first trip to the post in this event on the second to last day of the Saratoga meet. Out of SP Issues (Awesome Again), the $335,000 FTKSEL buy is a half-sister to champion and five-time Grade I winner Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky); SW & GISP Daddy D T (Scat Daddy); and SW & GSP Amarish (Scat Daddy). Bill Mott also saddles a first timer with a big pedigree in Summer Wind homebred Handbelle (Tapit). Summer Wind's Jane Lyon went to $800,000 for Amazing Belle (Midnight Lute) with this filly in utero at the 2018 FTKNOV sale. Amazing Belle is a daughter of MGSW Queenie Belle (Bertrando), who is also the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic heroine Unrivaled Belle (Unbridled's Song). That millionaire mare topped the 2016 KEENOV sale when bringing $3.8 million from Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm. She was carrying a full-sibling to her two-time champion daughter Unique Bella (Tapit) at the time. TJCIS PPs

FLIGHTLINE RETURNS AT DEL MAR

8th-DMR, $72K, Opt. Clm. ($40K), 3yo/up, 6f, 8:00 p.m.

'TDN Rising Star' FLIGHTLINE (Tapit) makes his long awaited second start Sunday while facing older at Del Mar. The $1-million FTSAUG buy dazzled the racing world when running away to a 13 1/4-length tour de force in his six-panel debut at Santa Anita Apr. 24, earning a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure. The bay was originally being aimed for a race at the start of the Del Mar meet, but was thrown off course by a foot abscess and instead landed here. He has been working well in preparation for this first try against winners, most recently breezing five furlongs in :59 3/5 Aug. 30 (3/44). Bred by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm, which retained a piece of the colt, Flightline is out of GSW & MGISP Feathered (Indian Charlie), who Lyon acquired for $2.35 million in foal to War Front at the 2016 KEENOV sale. TJCIS PPs

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Siblings of Successful Saratoga Grads on Offer at Fasig

There have been several horses over the past 100 years of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale to summon big price tags, eclipsing the $500,000 mark, in the Humphrey S. Finney pavilion and then go on to be quite successful on the racetrack. The siblings of four such Thoroughbreds are part of the catalogue for the famed auction's centennial edition to be held at the Spa Aug. 9-10.

The 2017 GI Belmont S. winner Tapwrit (Tapit) summoned $1.2-million at the Saratoga Sale back in 2015 from a partnership comprised of Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbreds and Robert LaPenta. Prior to the Belmont, the gray captured the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and retired with a record of 13-4-1-1 and earnings of $1,362,402. He retired to stud at Gainesway and is represented by his first yearlings this season.

Tapwrit's Grade I-winning dam Appealing Zophie (Successful Appeal) is also the dam of MGSW & GISP Ride a Comet (Candy Ride {Arg}) and SW Inject (Frosted). Barronstown Stud purchased the mare for $1.2 million carrying a foal by Tapit at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Appealing Zophie's most recent foal is a colt by Justify, who is offered as Hip 41 with Eaton Sales.

“He is beautiful. What I have found pretty unique about him is he has a great, long, well-angled shoulder and incredible depth up front, much like his brother,” said Eaton's Reiley McDonald. “The mare is by a really underrated broodmare sire in Successful Appeal. She has been outstanding with a very limited pedigree, but she could run herself. She has two graded stakes winners, including a Belmont Classic winner. When I looked at this one on the farm back in April, I wrote down two things: an A and Saratoga.”

MGSW Travel Column (Frosted) sold at the most recent edition of the Saratoga Sale in 2019, bringing $850,000 from OXO Equine's Larry Best. She justified her price tag pretty quickly, earning the 'TDN Rising Star' moniker for her impressive debut win at Churchill in September and was third in the GI Darley Alcibiades S. next out. Closing 2020 with a win in the GII Golden Rod S., the gray was second in the GII Rachel Alexandra S. in February and won the GII Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks in March. She was fifth in both the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Apr. 30 and the GI Acorn S. June 5.

Fasig-Tipton's Bayne Welker and his wife Christina purchased Travel Column's MSW dam Swingit (Victory Gallop)–who is also responsible for MGISP Neolithic (Harlan's Holiday)–for $50,000 in foal to Bodemeister at the 2016 KEENOV sale. The resulting colt brought $310,000 from LaPenta's Whitehorse Stables at the Humphrey S. Finney pavilion in 2018.

Travel Column summoned almost three-times that the following year in Saratoga and her year-younger brother would have eclipsed that number if the 2020 renewal of the sale had not been canceled due to COVID-19. The son of American Pharoah, now named Corton Charlemagne, was re-routed to Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase–a combination of the Saratoga, New York-Bred and July Sales held in Lexington in September–where he sold for $1.25 million to Speedway Stables. Swingit's 2020 colt from the first crop of City of Light will be the second-to-last horse through the ring in Saratoga this year as Hip 209.

“This colt is a very typical Swingit in that we think he is a pretty special horse,” said Conrad Bandoroff of Denali Stud, which consigns the colt. “Bayne and Chris Welker, who are two very high-caliber horsemen, think he is the best foal Swingit has given them. That is pretty high praise and I would have a hard time arguing with them. He is just a very forward, very attractive, well-balanced, strong individual. Corton Charlemagne, the horse we sold for $1.25 million at the Fasig-Tipton Yearling Showcase [in September], was a May foal. This colt is a little more progressive and forward-looking than he was.”

He continued, “Obviously, Travel Column was a great success. By a freshman sire in Frosted, she sold for $850,000 at Saratoga two years ago. There is a little bit more to this colt in terms of substance and strength, but he has that fluid walk and athleticism Travel Column had. What was great about her whole story was there were people shopping the sale, who, before the sale, said they were looking for colts by proven stallions, but every time they came by the consignment, they kept seeing this gray filly and fell in love. That is what happened with Larry [Best]. We are thrilled that it worked out and we are hoping this colt is going to come up here and continue Swingit's Saratoga success. We sold Travel Column up here. We sold a Bodemeister very well up here, and, had there been a Saratoga Sale up here last year, the American Pharoah would have come up here and been the sale-topping colt.”

Four Wheel Drive, a colt from the initial crop of Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, proved quite popular at the 2018 edition of the Saratoga Sale, bringing $525,000 from pinhookers Randy Hartley and Dean DeRenzo, who were acting on behalf of Breeze Easy. He RNA'd for $825,000 the following March at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale, but made up for it on the racetrack. Opening his account with a win in the Rosie's S. at Colonial Downs, the bay followed suit with a victory in Belmont's GIII Futurity S. and won the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint S. to take his juvenile record to three-for-three.

His stakes-winning dam Funfair (More Than Ready), a 'TDN Rising Star', did not produce foals in 2018 or 2019, but her 2020 foal, a full-sister to Four Wheel Drive, is Hip 102. She sells under the same Paramount Sales banner that her brother did.

“We are very pleased to have the full-sibling to BC Juvenile Turf Sprint and Futurity S. winner Four Wheel Drive,” said Paramount's Lesley Campion. “She is from an incredibly fast family with two siblings having set new course records [Four Wheel Drive and Born Great (Scat Daddy)], the family is hugely precocious and this filly looks to have that same physical forwardness to her. Four Wheel Drive got that clever name when Dean DeRenzo commented, here at the Saratoga sale, on his walk being like a four wheel drive, powerful action from each limb, and his sister shows the same. She has quality, strength and balance, coupled with a cool head, a filly anyone would love to add to their stable.”

While 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) has not won a stake yet, most people would agree it's only a matter of time. Purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds for $1 million at the 2019 Saratoga Sale, the bay has made just one start so far, but he made it count, romping by 13 1/4 lengths and stopping the clock for six furlongs in 1:08.75 at Santa Anita in April. Trained by John Sadler, the bay races under a partnership that, in addition to West Point, includes Hronis Racing, Siena Farm and breeder Summer Wind Equine.

Summer Wind owner Jane Lyon purchased Flightline's Grade III-winning and MGISP dam Feathered (Indian Charlie) for $2.35 million in foal to War Front at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. Flightline is her second foal and second winner from two foals of racing age. Her fourth foal is Flightline's yearling full-brother, who is Hip 92 in the Lane's End consignment.

“This colt is very well put together,” Lyon said. “I think he is stockier and has a little more bone than Flightline had. We are hopeful that the buyers will like him for his own physicality and will appreciate that the mare if capable of producing a runner.”

The 100th edition of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale gets underway Monday at 6:30 p.m.

The post Siblings of Successful Saratoga Grads on Offer at Fasig appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Phenom Flightline Gearing Up for Del Mar

It's been a quiet 10-plus weeks for 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit), who has not been heard from since his electrifying debut on Apr. 24 at Santa Anita. But that's about to change. He's had four workouts since June 9 and trainer John Sadler says the 3-year-old colt is almost ready to go and will reappear sometime during the upcoming Del Mar meet.

Flightline left little doubt in his debut that he is as talented as anyone in the 3-year-old male division. Ridden by Flavien Prat, he won the six-furlong race by 13 1/4 lengths and earned a 105 Beyer figure, despite being geared down in the lane. Among the current 3-year-old crop, only Essential Quality (Tapit), Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) and Life Is Good (Into Mischief) have run faster this year.

“This horse has all the potential in the world,” Sadler said.

With Flightline having debuted at six furlongs in late April, Sadler knew he didn't have enough time to get the horse ready for the Triple Crown races, but it appeared that he might be able to make a race like the GI Runhappy Travers S. on Aug. 28 at Saratoga. But Sadler had other ideas. With a horse that had this much talent but was so lightly raced, the trainer decided the best approach was to be extra cautious. Between April 18 and June 9, he did not have a published workout.

“The time off was by design,” Sadler said. “It was a super effort first time out and I felt strongly that he needed time to recuperate from that race, even though he had gotten to the races late. You talk to the numbers guys and they'll tell you that when you run that brilliantly the first time you shouldn't be in any hurry to run them back. So, off that big effort, we decided to give him a little time off.”

Should Flightline race some time during the early weeks of the Del Mar meet, it would seem plausible that he could be pointed for the Travers or, perhaps the GI Pennsylvania Derby. But Sadler isn't looking at those races. After being so patient for so long, he's not about to rush things.

“My thinking is that we have a horse that has so much ability that we should take it one day at a time,” he said.  “We are not going to be in a hurry.”

Flightline was a $1-million purchase from the Lane's End consignment at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and is owned by the partnership of Hronis Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine and West Point Thoroughbreds. Summer Wind is also the horse's breeder. Last year, he was a week or so away from being sent to Sadler's barn when he had an accident that delayed his debut.

“He had an accident in the paddock and has this big huge scar on his butt,” the trainer said. “It wasn't a major setback, but it was a setback.”

Sadler has never won a Triple Crown race or the Travers, but said he has never been tempted to rush Flightline. A trainer who has had a number of top older dirt males, he'll be perfectly content if Flightline doesn't have his coming out party until late December or even next year. Sadler said that if the colt continues to progress the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S. could be a possibility.

“To me, with horses, you've got to roll with the punches,” he said. “You can't force it. He had some setbacks at two and we had to wait to get him to the races, so the Triple Crown races were out. That's just the way it is. It's always tempting, but I'm an old-school guy. The idea is to win the right races when the time comes. If he's as good as we think he is we will be fine.”

 

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With Triple-Digit Beyer, Sky’s The Limit for Flightline

The fastest 3-year-old in training will not be found in the field for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby.

In one of the most impressive debuts turned in by a 3-year-old colt in years, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) not only won Saturday's maiden special weight at Santa Anita by 13 1/4 lengths, he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure (video). Based on the numbers, that makes him faster than any of the 20 horses lining up for the Derby. His stablemate, Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), earned a 100 Beyer when winning the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, which gives him the only triple digit Beyer number in the expected field. Life Is Good (Into Mischief) earned a 107 when winning the GII San Felipe S., but has been sidelined.

“We really thought the world of him, but you never really know until they get on the racetrack,” said co-owner Kosta Hronis. “He travels really well. He makes it look really easy and he kind of floats over the track. He does things effortlessly. We think he has a bright future and looks like a special colt.”

Flightline broke on top in his debut and reeled off an opening quarter-mile in :21.59 seconds, but seemed to be going easily. With Flavien Prat aboard, he started to draw away on the turn and kept extending his lead, even though Prat wrapped up on him well before the wire. His final time for the six furlongs was 1:08.75.

“Flavien said he really did it so easily and that he was not even breathing hard,” Hronis said.

Hronis Racing owns Flightline along with Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing.

Due to the belated debut, Flightline is not in line to run in any of the Triple Crown races. The major summer stakes for 3-year-olds could be on his schedule, but Hronis said that the owners and trainer John Sadler have not mapped out any plans for their rising star.

“He runs so fast, so we'd like to keep things spaced out,” Hronis said. “Since it was just his first race, we'll just see when he's ready to come back. When he's ready to go, I'm sure we can find a 3-year-old colt race where he will fit right in. But, no, we don't really have anything targeted at this point.”

Flightline, a $1-million purchase from the Lane's End consignment at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, suffered through a setback last year just prior to when he was scheduled to be sent to Sadler's Santa Anita barn, the reason why he didn't debut until Saturday.

“About a week before he was scheduled to come to California, he cut himself,” Hronis said. “He has a scar on his butt on his right hind. They had to stitch him up. It was just something that happened at the barn and nobody really knows what happened or how he did it. But that set him back. Because we always thought he was a special colt, we gave him 60 days off to let him heal up right.”

Had Sadler been more aggressive, he might have been able to get Flightline to the races in January or February, which would have given him enough time to make the Derby. Hronis said that was not anything the connections ever considered.

“That's just not our style,” he said. “We like to be really patient and let the horse tell us when they are ready. Would having him in the Derby be fun? Yes, it would have, but at same time you don't want to do anything to jeopardize their careers. It is the Sadler-Hronis philosophy. We like to be patient and let the horse tell us when they are ready to go. We're never going to push them.”

Over the last many years, the Hronis Brothers have been among the most successful owners in the sport, but most of their biggest wins have come with older horses. Rock Your World will be their first Kentucky Derby starter.

“We bought a lot of nice yearlings in the past, like [Eclipse Award and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner] Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky),” Hronis said. “They just came around a little slower. Rock Your World developed and matured a little faster than ones we've had in the past. We haven't changed our buying or training philosophy. These ones just happened to come along faster than ones we've had in the past. To get a 3-year-old to be able to run a mile-and-a-quarter the first week in May is not easy.”

Bloodstock agent David Ingordo said he had had his eye on him for some time before signing the ticket at Saratoga.

“Lane's End handles a lot of the sales for Jane Lyon out at Summer Wind,” said Ingordo. “We went out shortly after some of her yearlings turned a year old, in February or March of their yearling year and they were showing us a chestnut Tapit colt out of American Pharoah's dam who turned out to be Triple Tap. And there was a chestnut and a bay, and I kept looking at the bay, and they said you need to look at the chestnut, because the bay is the one she's thinking about keeping. We went back a few times through the spring, and the bay one was the one I always liked.”

Fast-forward to August, and Ingordo was on a Tex Sutton plane with a load of horses when they hit turbulence.

“The guys asked if I could go back and grab a horse, so I grabbed the first horse and I was standing there and I looked at him and said, 'oh, there you are.' I only realized he was there when I was holding him on the plane. He was an expensive colt, but it all worked out in the end.”

Spending $1 million on a yearling is also something that hasn't been in the Hronis playbook.

“We spent that much money because we knew we were going to partner up,” Hronis said. “The seven figures was not just us. We would never do that by ourselves. It's too big of a risk. I've seen a lot of $1-million horses in $20,000 claiming races. The fact that the breeder, Summer Wind, stayed in is important. That showed that they believed in him, too. When you have partners like we do, it's easier to absorb that kind of horse.”

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