Flightline Colt Tops Day 1 of F-T Midlantic May Sale

Early in the opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale May 18, bloodstock agent Pedro Lanz stayed aggressive in the pursuit of Hip 54, a colt by 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline. Bidding on behalf of KAS Stables, Lanz ultimately landed the New York-bred colt out of grade 1 winner Bar of Gold with a final bid of $2.1 million—the top price of the day. "It's not the first time I've done this," Lanz said about securing a high-priced horse. "It's a tough situation, bidding so high for these horses to me is a big responsibility. "I celebrate this, but the real celebration is when they can win races on the track. It's nice to buy these expensive horses, but at the same time, it feels like a little bit more pressure." Sequel Bloodstock consigned the colt on behalf of Chester Broman, who bred Hip 54 out of his homebred grade 1 winner who captured the 2017 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1). Bar of Gold has already produced grade 3 winner Coinage (Tapit), who won the 2021 With Anticipation Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga Race Course. Lanz, who said "the hype is real" regarding Flightline's potential as a sire, added that he was drawn to the colt's athleticism and the way he moved over the track. "The first time I saw the horse was in a video that Sequel posted. He's a very nice mover. He's a beautiful horse, a balanced horse with hip and shoulders, a nice walker," he said. "Then I saw the page—he's out of a Breeders' Cup champion mare, and all the hype with Flightline; I think the hype is real. The comments you hear from Japan are amazing. Everyone is excited, and you see Zedan in April (OBS Sale), an amazing horse. So, I knew this horse was going to bring a lot of money. It's the last time to buy a Flightline in this 2-year-old season." At the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Zedan bought a Flightline colt out of the Into Mischief stakes winner Lucrezia for $10.5 million, making him the highest-priced juvenile ever sold at OBS. Lanz has been complimentary of Fasig-Tipton's new format, which includes untimed workouts and restricted crop use. He said the colt's fluid movement stood out to him. "He entered into the turn on his left lead and immediately changed leads perfectly, beautifully. I don't care about the times, even though I was clocking the horse, he went in like :35 4/5, which is a very nice breeze for a 3/8s for a 2-year-old." Lanz purchased a Flightline colt for $400,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearling Sale, also on behalf of KAS Stables. The colt is out of the graded stakes-placed Warrior's Reward mare, Message, and is currently in training with John Sadler. "He was training very well over the winter. Everyone is excited about the horse," he said of the Sadler trainee. "I think Flightline is going to be a great stallion." Carlos Manresa, director of operations at Sequel Bloodstock, was thrilled with the result of outcome of the sale. "We knew coming in here, he was pretty special," Manresa said of Hip 54. "We had actually just posted a video of him stretching his legs out on the farm, and it was very well-received by everyone. "It started spreading around, and people started coming to the farm to see the horse, so we really knew that we were coming up here with something special; and with his pedigree, the stars aligned on that horse, and that doesn't happen often. It was really great for everyone on the team, from the grooms to the blacksmith, to Becky (Thomas) and me; it's great when everything works together." Becky Thomas of Sequel Bloodstock expressed that her relationship with Chester Broman and his late wife, Mary, has been so special to her. The Bromans' top-earning homebred mares are Bar of Gold and Highway Star, both of which had progeny offered on the first day of the sale. "I had Highway Star, I trained the entire family, so it's particularly special," Thomas said. (Bar of Gold) and Highway Star were in the Breeders' Cup together. "It gives me goosebumps, because Mr. Broman has a phenomenal team, his farm manager, Gregg (Falk), Alan Porter does the matings with me, I'm part of that team, and then I get the babies after they're weaned, and we raise them. He always says that he hired the professionals. He's got a great team of people behind him, and he's the greatest. He's a phenomenal person to train for." Later in the sale, Hip 240, a Curlin filly out of Highway Star, sold for $560,000 to Milk River Racing. 'Positive' First Session Under New Format At the end of the first day's trade, 176 horses had changed hands for gross receipts of $26,410,500, including private sales. The average was a healthy $150,060, with a median of $75,000. Fifty-three juveniles failed to meet their reserve, resulting in an RNA rate of 23%. This year's sale was split into two days, compared to last year's single session. Also new this year were the format changes implemented by Fasig-Tipton, which included untimed workouts and restricted crop use. "There's been some apprehension without any question," said Boyd Browning Jr., president and CEO of Fasig-Tipton. "Any time you make a change, there's uncertainty, there's anxiety, there's worry, and through the first half, I think that with the great help of our consignors and buyers, we navigated that change in a very rewarding fashion, and a very positive manner." Browning noted that the scratch rate was lower this year than in the past, indicating a healthy market. Last year's single-session sale saw 327 horses sell for a record of $44,317,500, including private sales. The average and median were also records for the sale at $135,560 and $60,000, respectively. "Statistically, it showed pretty significant increases over last year, but last year was all in a single day, so it will be at the end of the day tomorrow, before we can make any comparisons," Browning said. Consignors and buyers alike expressed support for the new format. "The first thing, the most important thing, we saw zero accidents," Lanz said. "It was beautiful to see all the horses going smoothly, one after another. Trainers will be happier to receive sound horses. Sometimes these workouts are very fast, and those horses need some time to recover. "You have to work a little bit more (as a buyer), watching the rider, the action of the horse. For people like me, I enjoy this. This is no problem." Long-time consignor Niall Brennan, who sold the top-priced filly of the day—Hip 79, a daughter of Jackie's Warrior for $750,000 to Legion Bloodstock and Grace Bloodstock—also had a positive outlook on the new format. "Change is always tough, and I think we might be the worst business in the world—the horse business—for anything to change," Brennan said. "Anytime there's change, people cry blue murder, but it doesn't always have to be bad. "You look for options. We've gotten to a point at the 2-year-old sales where nine (seconds) and change is now standard. Maybe in another year or two, we'll be looking for nine (seconds) flats, or eight (seconds) and change, it's ridiculous. Trying something a little different, and thinking outside the box, I think there are enough horsemen out there to still look at these horses, watch them go over the track at a nice pace, decide if they like the way they go, and come back and look at them at the barn." Brennan said it is comparable to a yearling sale format, which most bloodstock agents are used to. "When we're at the yearling sales, nobody gives us a time or a clock, we have to look at them, and we have to value them according to how much we like them, as a physical and the page. We value them, and we buy them. The difference is you get to see the 2-year-olds over the racetrack. "I felt the vibe was different here. That's just me personally. I think there was a lot less stress. People were more relaxed, consignors were more relaxed, people in the grandstand were relaxed; they weren't waiting for a horse to break down. I thought it was a better vibe. Not everyone's going to agree with that, but then again, that's the horse business." The leading buyer of the day was Case Clay Thoroughbred Management with five purchases totaling $2,295,000. Randy Miles led the consignors, selling 15 head for $3,087,000. The second and final session of the Midlantic May Sale begins May 19 at 11:00 a.m. with Hips 301-619 set to head to the ring. As of Monday evening, Fasig-Tipton had reported 57 outs.