West Point Thoroughbreds

Flightline (Tapit) showed that he was fast from the start with his 13 1/4-length, 'TDN Rising Star'-worthy debut, but he proved his status as an elite talent in his most recent jaw-dropping performance when he passed the wire on cruise control in the GI Runhappy Malibu S., winning by 11 ½ lengths and earning a 118 Beyer speed figure. The impressive colt's ownership group of Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing has undoubtedly spent much of this new year celebrating their star's unforgettable...

Flightline (Tapit), who had given hints of greatness while opening his career with two supremely easy victories, officially arrived with an eye-popping victory in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. at Santa Anita Sunday. For Bill Farish of co-owner Woodford Racing, the Malibu result confirmed the faith his team has had in the colt all along. "We hoped to win this, but to do this against this kind of field, this was the real class test for him and I think he answered it the way we thought he would," Farish...

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. Backed as the 9-5 favorite in his six-furlong unveiling for John Sadler at Del Mar Nov. 28, Got Thunder (c, 2, Arrogate--Ask the Question, by Silver Deputy) stamped himself as one to watch with a very promising second-place finish. The gray flashed good early speed from the fence while three of them lined up through an opening quarter in :22. Beginning to give way--or at least appearing to...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency GUN RUNNER FILLIES DEBUT AT CHURCHILL 7th-CD, $120k, Msw, 2yo, 6f, 3:57 p.m. Freshman sire Gun Runner is represented by a pair of debuting fillies in this six-furlong affair. Richard Baltas saddles PEACE PEDDLER (GUN RUNNER), a $200,000 KEESEP yearling purchase, for Calvin Nguyen. The bay filly is a daughter of Canadian champion Embur's Song (Unbridled's Song). Steve Asmussen sends out Stonestreet homebred Ari Oakley (Gun Runner), a daughter of Belle of Perintown (Dehere) and half-sister to graded winner Strike It Rich (Unbridled's Song) and...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 3rd-DMR, $70k, Msw, 2yo, 5fT, post tme: 4:30 p.m. ET Spendthrift Farm's Gormley (Malibu Moon) has gotten off to a flyer at stud, with 18 first-crop winners to his credit, and B DAWK will look to add to that total Sunday 'where the turf meeets the surf. A half-brother to SP Nicky Scissors, the May 21 foal was a $77,000 short yearling at Keeneland January last year before improving into a $140,000 KEESEP purchase. Joseph Besecker signed the ticket on the chestnut at $425,000 at...

As one of the most recognizable television personalities in racing, Laffit Pincay has a front-row seat to some of the grandest spectacles in the sport, and as the son of one of the greatest jockeys who ever lived, he also has had first-hand experience with some of racing's most iconic moments from a very young age. Wednesday, the excellent broadcaster for NBC and the New York Racing Association joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to preview next month's Breeders' Cup, relive...

Multiple stakes winner Galilean (Uncle Mo--Fresia, by El Prado {Ire}), who hails from the female family of the influential Smart Strike, has been retired from racing and will take up his new career as a stallion at Hidden Lake Farm in New York, where he will stand the 2022 breeding season for a stud fee of $7,000 S&N. "We are proud of what Galilean accomplished on the racetrack," said West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley, "and we're excited for him to write his next chapter as a stallion. He was precocious,...

John Ballantyne, a transplanted New Zealander living in Fargo, North Dakota, has big plans for the NBS Stables he operates along with partners Art Neuhedel and Daryl Shaw. To that end, the co-founder of the biotech company Aldevron was busy bidding online during the recent Keeneland September Yearling Sale, virtually signing the ticket on five yearlings for a total of $1.14 million before the stable capped its month with a stakes win at Remington Park last Sunday. Ballantyne traces his love of horse racing back to his childhood. "Some of...

Rob Masiello has been coming up to Saratoga since he was in the seventh grade. It all started when he went to "nerd camp" at Skidmore College one summer. He was miserable there, missing his usual summer vacation spent playing baseball with his friends. One day his parents came to visit and told him they would take him home if it was what he really wanted, but first they wanted to go to the track. "We had a great time and I ended up staying," Masiello recalled. "Then it sort...

2nd-Saratoga, $100,000, Msw, 8-22, 2yo, f, 1 1/16mT, 1:49.45, yl, 1 1/2 lengths. FORTINENO (IRE) (f, 2, Frankel {GB}--Rubina {Ire} {SP-Ire}, by Invincible Spirit {Ire}), backed to 6-5 favoritism for this debut despite a modest-looking worktab, traveled in a clear fifth as Seduce (Into Mischief) dictated terms through pokey fractions of :26.06 and :51.81 over boggy ground. Picking up a bit three wide nearing the lane, the $400,000 Keeneland September buy found her best stride passing the eighth pole and wore down the pacesetter in the final sixteenth to score...

A Tapit filly from the deep female family of A.P. Indy, et al. gave the million-dollar mark a scare midway through the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale Monday night when she brought $990,000 from West Point Thoroughbreds, Scarlet Oak Racing and John Ballantyne. Consigned by Denali Stud, Agent VIII as hip 61 on behalf of WinStar Farm and Winchell Thoroughbreds, the Mar. 28 foal is half to unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Carribean Caper (Speightstown). West Point and partners bought the $1.5-million co-topping First Captain (Curlin) here two years ago. The 'Rising Star'...

One of the stars of the successful New York Racing Association and Fox Sports daily broadcast from Saratoga, Acacia Courtney joined the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Courtney gave her impressions on the early part of the Saratoga meet and talked strategy when it comes to analyzing the 2-year-old races that are so integral to the programs at the Spa. Asked about the different feeling in the air at tracks this year with fans...