West Point Thoroughbreds

While a decision regarding whether or not superstar Flightline (Tapit) will buck industry trends and return to the races next year as a 5-year-old will not be made until after the Breeders' Cup, co-owner Bill Farish said he is open to the idea of bringing the horse back for a 2023 campaign. Farish is just one of five owners, but his opinion could carry more weight than that of his partners. Farish is the general manager of Lane's End Farm, where Flightline will stand at stud after his racing career...

Five years ago, Aidan O'Meara left his position at Hill 'n' Dale Farm, where he served as Stallion Division Manager for 20 years, to join his wife Leah and her family in running Stonehaven Steadings. The decision was not an easy one. As Leah O'Meara recounts, John Sikura had seen something in Aidan when the native of Ireland was fresh out of college. Over the years, O'Meara worked his way to managing the likes of Curlin, Medaglia d'Oro and Candy Ride. The O'Mearas lived on site at Hill 'n' Dale...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency                                                         1st-BAQ, $95K, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 1:00 p.m. The third-highest price at the OBS April Sale this year (:20 4/5), SIGNATOR (Tapit) makes his debut after bringing a final bid of $1,700,000 from Lane's End Racing & West Point Thoroughbreds. Now racing for Woodford Racing LLC, Lane's End Racing, Phipps Stable and Ken Langone out of trainer Shug McGaughey's...

by Jessica Martini, Christie DeBernardis & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - The Keeneland September Yearling Sale, which began shortly after 1 p.m. Monday afternoon, jumped immediately into high gear and, by the time the dust had settled at the conclusion of a frenetic session of bidding, nine yearlings, led by a $2.5-million son of Quality Road, topped the seven-figure mark. During last year's first session, three horses sold for seven figures and the entire sale produced 15 horses to pass that mark. "It was a great day, from beginning to...

Following Flightline (Tapit)'s jaw-dropping victory in the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar Saturday, breeder Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Farm has decided to withdraw the star colt's half-brother by Curlin from next week's Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The yearling, who is named Eagles Flight, had been catalogued as hip 243 with the Lane's End consignment. "I had a feeling when Flightline did what he did [in the Pacific Classic] that it was going to be pretty hard for her to part with him," said Lane's End's Bill Farish, confirming...

The $1-million question heading into Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GI TVG Pacific Classic was if unbeaten superstar Flightline (Tapit) could handle the 1 1/4-mile Classic distance. Here's a scary thought: he may be even better going longer. Stopping the timer just .17 seconds off Candy Ride (Arg)'s track record for 10 furlongs established in the 2003 renewal, the dominating last out GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. winner absolutely crushed his five rivals by a geared-down record margin of 19 1/4 lengths--yes, you read that correctly--in a performance for...

Four years ago on the eve of the GI TVG Pacific Classic, the hunt for the heavy favorite amid the lettered labyrinth of Del Mar's backstretch ended at Barn J. The stall, of course, belonged to Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky), a sleek, shiny copper penny of a colt, who carried weighty expectations that this was the year his trainer, John Sadler, would finally shrug off the voodoo that had cursed his previous attempts at the coveted prize. It was also viewed as a new high altitude for a horse whose...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 6th-SAR, $105K, Msw, 2yo, 7f, 2:51 p.m. EDT Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's $725,000 KEESEP acquisition MINDTAP (Tapit) makes his career bow in this spot for trainer Todd Pletcher. Hailing from the same breeding program that produced unbeaten sensation Flightline (Tapit), the gray is a half to MGISW Curalina (Curlin), who summoned $3 million from Shadai Farm at the 2016 FTKNOV Sale. Summer Wind Farm's Jane Lyon purchased their Grade II-winning dam Whatdreamsrmadeof for $1.65 million at that same auction carrying a full-sibling to...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Before the brilliant Flightline (Tapit) puts his unbeaten record on the line in Saturday's GI TVG Pacific Classic, Hronis Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing and trainer John Sadler will also send out the well-bred Hawker (c, 2, Justify--Flaming Heart, by Touch Gold) for his second career start on the undercard. Given a 6-1 chance going five furlongs on debut at Del Mar Aug. 6, the chestnut...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - It is very much an understatement to say that during the first week of August 2019, West Point Thoroughbreds and their partners really got it right when purchasing two yearling colts. Maybe even struck gold. Time will tell. On Monday, Aug. 5, 2019 at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Sale, West Point, headed by president and CEO Terry Finley, and a group of investors went to $1 million for Hip 80, a son of Tapit out of Feathered (Indian Charlie). He was the session topper. Named Flightline, the lightly...

West Point Thoroughbreds partner Lisa Bell has been nervous for plenty of horse races, having owned dozens of horse through the syndicate over the years including 2017 GI Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), but the butterflies in her stomach were at an all-time high on Sunday at Saratoga as Phantom Smoke (Ghostzapper) looked to give West Point its 1,000th win. "We were all on pins and needles and when Phantom Smoke broke out of the gate before the race, it was obviously not the start that we wanted," Bell...

Hip 126, a full-sister to MGSW and 'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin)--who shared the top spot at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale--outdid her big brother in the ring Tuesday when fetching $2 million from West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing and 3C Stable. West Point and Woodford, along with the breeder of both horses Bobby Flay, campaign the Shug McGaughey-trained First Captain, who was last seen finishing second in the July 9 GII Suburban S. after annexing the GIII Pimlico Special in May. Consigned by Stone Farm, hip 126 is...