First Flightline Weanling to Sell in U.S. Brings $675K

The first weanling offered at public auction in the United States that was sired by 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline sold for $675,000 Nov. 4 during the Fasig-Tipton The November Sale in Lexington. Hip 26, a colt and the first foal out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Star of India, sold to a partnership represented by bloodstock agent David Ingordo. The colt was bred by Ran Jan Racing and consigned by Lane's End, where Flightline stands. "I got to watch that horse grow up on the farm, and I really liked him," said Ingordo. "We want to support the stallion. We believe in Flightline, so when there's a good one, we're going to try and buy him, and that horse fit what we wanted." The anticipation has been high for the first crop by Flightline, with a share in the stallion selling last week during Keeneland's inaugural Championship Sale at Del Mar for $2.5 million to his breeder Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine. Star of India is out of the Irish-bred Galileo mare and multiple group winner Up, making her a half sister to grade 2 winner Aspray (Quality Road) and stakes-placed winners Monarch of Egypt (American Pharoah) and Khartoum (Pioneerof the Nile). Ingordo said he plans to buy more of Flightline's progeny, saying some of them may come back next year, and some may go to the races. "They all look like him," Ingordo said on his impression of the Flightline foals. "I'm obviously partial to him, but they are a uniform bunch. They've got plenty of size, scope. I don't think they will be like five-and-a-half furlong horses. But they've got these big hind ends, like that horse (Hip 26) looks like he'll have some get up and go, as do a lot of them." Flightline's stud fee of $150,000 will remain the same in 2025. The undefeated Tapit colt earned $4,514,800 on the track, with his career bow coming in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland, where he defeated top horses Olympiad, Rich Strike, Life Is Good, and Epicenter. Flightline, a $1 million yearling at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale, was purchased by West Point Thoroughbreds. His first in-foal mares averaged $1,074,431, the highest for an incoming stallion in the last 15 years. "All in all, I can't be happier," Ingordo said. "If we didn't like them, we wouldn't be buying them." Darby Dan's Logan Buys Justify Colt for $550,000 The Flightline colt would end the sale as the topper among weanlings. The next highest weanling price came from Hip 77, a Justify colt consigned by Eaton Sales who sold for $550,000. The bay colt was purchased by Darby Dan Farm's sales director Renee Logan's Logan Bloodstock. She and Darby Dan farm manager Charlie McKinlay were pleased to get the colt. "He's a beautiful physical, a beautiful stretch and scope," Logan said. "Very correct. A beautiful hip, what's not to like." Logan said they plan to bring the weanling back to the sales ring next August as a yearling in the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Bred in Kentucky by Athens Woods, Galtmore Bloodstock, Petaluma Bloodstock, and Kim Valerio, the colt is out of the unraced California-bred Cindago mare Black Valentine. All five of her foals to race have won, including stakes winner Roo's Valentine, graded stakes-placed Sweetest Angel, and 10-time winner and stakes-placed Dr. Troutman. Tropical Racing Gets Sale-Topping Weanling Filly for $500,000 The sale's highest-priced weanling filly was Mardigras Mischief, consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa as Hip 103, who sold to Tropical Racing for $500,000. Tropical Racing is a Thoroughbred syndicate that originated in South Florida with Troy Levy and the late Chuck Simon. They relocated to Versailles, Ky., in recent years by purchasing Circle 8 Ranch, a training facility run by Michelle Nihei. "(We're) bringing new, younger guys into the sport and really showing this is something anyone can have fun with," said Tropical Racing's day-to-day operations COO, Gavin Levy, son of Troy. "If you can't have fun at a racetrack, where can you? It's taking an approach that these horses are truly a passport to a venture of a lifetime." Mardigras Mischief was a filly that the Levys and partners Marcus and Stuart Morris and Kyle Borrello couldn't resist. "We came in without any expectation of leaving with a horse like this," Gavin Levy said. "When after seeing this kind, beautiful filly, our eyes just lit up. Just had to have her. We're super excited for the future." By Spendthrift Farm's five-time leading stallion Into Mischief, Mardigras Mischief is out of the Street Cry mare Elle Sueno. Three of Elle Sueno's foals to race have won, including Golden Rod Stakes (G2) winner and grade 1-placed Dream Lith. Levy did not say for certain whether she'd be kept to race or pinhooked but said the group is excited to see her run. Tropical Racing purchased five weanlings for a total of $912,000. "I do feel like the horses we landed on were some nice, fair prices," Levy said of the market. "The sale is a strong sale like it always is and it's a great sale to be at."