Flightline

All those so avid to see how Flightline will fare in his second career should surely be gratified if he can prove as effective as the last champion to enter stud with anything approaching his freakish reputation. Two new stakes winners last Saturday, one on either coast, took Justify past 50 from four crops. (His fifth, at this point, having barely entered the fray.) One, GIII Summertime Oaks winner Mizumi, became his 24th graded stakes scorer in the Northern Hemisphere; among which 10 have scored at the highest level, including...

The 2-year-old auction season, which has set records at each of its major stops this spring, reaches its denouement with the three-day Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's June 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale which begins Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. "We hope so," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said when asked if the June sale could continue the company's record-setting streak. "There are a lot of good horses on the grounds. So far, we have seen a lot of activity in the barns. We are always optimistic." The OBS March sale...

Since Bob Baffert made the shift from Quarter Horse racing to Thoroughbred racing in the early eighties, no one has been more loyal to Southern California racing. Especially when it came to stakes races, he filled the entry box like no other trainer. Consistency and quality were his trademarks. He has his critics and some have bristled at his dominance, but California racing has been lucky to have him. But with things being what they are in California, even Baffert had to make what must have been a tough decision...

Smidgeon (f, 2, Jack Christopher), overlooked at 7-1 in her five-furlong unveiling at Churchill Downs Saturday, shot out to the front beneath Keith Asmussen and kicked for home as the one to catch. She let it out a notch in the stretch and kept on finding down the lane to graduate by 1 3/4 lengths. Energy Flows (Constitution) was a narrow second over favored House Boat Party (Flightline). Smidgeon, a $20,000 Keeneland November weanling, $60,000 Keeneland September yearling and $300,000 OBS March breezer, is the second winner for her freshman...

Naohiro Sakakuchi's Demian (c, 2, Flightline--Mira Alta, by Curlin) was produced by the visiting Damian Lane with a bit less than a furlong to race and quickened up nicely to become the first winner from the much-anticipated initial crop of his freshman sire (by Tapit) in Saturday's sixth race for unraced 2-year-olds going 1400 meters on the turf at Tokyo Racecourse. Favored at odds-on in ante-post wagering, the $1.7-million Keeneland September acquisition was ultimately away as the 19-10 second pick, but jumped only fairly and raced near the back of...

All the buzz was on the highly-anticipated debut of the Flightline colt Greenwell, but it was Balloteer (Early Voting) who sped to the lead and never looked back to earn 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' honors at Churchill. Catching a flier out of the gate, the juvenile sped out to control the tempo through :22.43 and four panels in :45.06 coming off the bend, and entered the stretch with a clear advantage over even-money favorite Greenwell. Racing greenly on his left lead through the lane, Balloteer managed to keep...

6th-CD, $120k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5f, 3:19 p.m. ET HOUSE BOAT PARTY (Flightline) is set to become the third starter in two days from the highly anticipated first crop of her sire (by Tapit) and should have her fair share of backers. A homebred for Flying Dutchmen, the Apr. 5 foal is out of Lake Garda (American Pharoah), purchased by Boardshorts for $600,000 in foal to Uncle Mo at Keeneland November in 2022. The mare is an unraced daughter of GSP Refugee (Unaccounted For), whose 11 winners include 'TDN Rising...

5th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 2:45 p.m. ET. As TDN's Bill Finley reported earlier this week, Horse of the Year Flightline (by Tapit) has his first foal ready to hit the track at Churchill Downs on Friday. GREENWELL was a $500,000 buy for Greg Tramontin during the 2025 Keeneland September Sale. Sent to trainer Mark Casse, the Flightline colt is out of MGSW Cambodia (War Front), who is a half-sister to the dam of GSW Danse Macabre (Army Mule). Also set for a start is another Keeneland grad in Grand...

What kind of sire will Horse of the Year Flightline turn out to be? The first hints are right around the corner. Greenwell (Flightline) will make his debut Friday at Churchill Downs in the fifth race for trainer Mark Casse. He will be the first offspring of Flightline to start in North America. The next day, the filly House Boat Party (Flightline), will run in the sixth race at Churchill for trainer Brian Lynch. She will be the first Flightline filly to start in the U.S. Both races are at...

The 2-year-old colt by Flightline out of Breeders' Cup winner Bar of Gold who sold for $2.1 million to top last month's Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale has been named Inshallah, trainer John Sadler reported Saturday. Inshallah is an Arabic term that translates to "God willing" or "if God wills." Inshallah is owned by KAS Stables, which is part of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and sons KAS Racing. He was bred in New York by Chester and Mary Broman, who campaigned the dam, 2017 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Bar...

It was the most literal of dream scenarios. The thing is, it had happened before. From time to time, Valerie Mastromonaco will have a dream--always about a horse--and then something will happen to bring it to life. Nothing dramatic, most of the time. True, once she dreamed that a particular horse in the barn had a problem, and unfortunately turned out to be right. But she doesn't take the phenomenon too seriously, as a rule; nor expect anyone else to do so. "I've no theories," she says. "I just think...

TIMONIUM, MD - The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, conducted for the first time after an untimed under-tack preview, produced its highest ever gross, average and median when it concluded Tuesday evening in Timonium. Over two days, 382 horses sold for $52,835,500 for an average of $138,313 and a median of $70,000. Those figures improved on records set just last year when 327 horses sold for $44,317,500, an average of $135,528 and a median of $60,000. "We are absolutely thrilled with the results of the 2026 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic...