LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jane Lyon, who bred and raised unbeaten 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline at her Summer Wind Farm, continued on as part of his racing partnership and now has welcomed several foals by the champion. She takes incredible pride in her horse’s accomplishments.
“It is more than pride,” she tried to explain. “It’s like your child graduates cum laude. He is such a dream come true for me. . . . I want to support him. Every time I go see him I get chills. I want so much for him to reproduce just a fraction of his ability.”
Lyon and her associates have much to be proud of. There were high expectations for the first foals by Flightline, who won all six of his starts, including the 2022 Metropolitan Handicap, Pacific Classic, and Breeders’ Cup Classic by a combined 33 1/2 lengths to secure his championship. So far, the foals are delivering, with his first weanlings sought out by buyers from a variety of avenues.
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Eight first-crop offspring of Flightline have been sold at public auction thus far this season, and they have averaged $655,897, against his introductory stud fee of $200,000 at Lane’s End Farm. After three first-crop foals by Flightline averaged $974,058 over the summer at a Japan Racing Horse Association sale, he was represented by five lots in his home country this week. The relatively small number of lots offered is partially due to Flightline’s relatively small book, 152 per year, against other top stallions. It also is due to a number of breed-to-race operations who support the stallion – which will make his public auction offerings collectors’ items – as well as a number of prominent operations that focus on the yearling rather than the weanling marketplaces.
Flightline’s first strike came with a $675,000 colt who was the most expensive weanling of the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale. He had two more colts pass the $500,000 mark at the Keeneland November breeding stock sale, at $575,000 and $500,000, respectively.
Flightline raced for the partnership of Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind, West Point Thoroughbreds, and the Lane’s End-affiliated Woodford Racing. Bloodstock agent David Ingordo was a key part of the team that purchased Flightline for seven figures as a yearling and is an adviser to Lane’s End. He purchased the Flightline colt at Fasig-Tipton on behalf of a partnership supporting the stallion.
“They all look like him – I’m obviously partial to him,” Ingordo said. “They’re a uniform bunch. They’ve got size, scope, stretch. I don’t think they’ll be 4 1/2-furlong horses, but they’ve got these big hind ends. [This colt], he looks like he’ll have some get up and go, as do a lot of them.”
Japanese interest in Flightline was apparent early, as several buyers of mares at the 2022 fall sales left them in Kentucky to be covered by the stallion before shipping to their new homes. His popularity continued at the JRA sale, and now to the November marketplace. A $500,000 colt at Keeneland was selected by prominent trainer Yoshito Yahagi on behalf of an undisclosed client.
“He is looking at Flightline babies,” J.S. Company’s Keisuke Onishi said on Yahagi’s behalf. “Flightline is very popular in Japan, and he really wanted to purchase a weanling by Flightline. . . . He should return to the Breeders’ Cup with him.”
Ingordo said his partnership group will race some of their Flightline foals and pinhook others as yearlings. Other pinhookers expressed confidence the stallion’s get will continue to perform well at the yearling sales. Randy Hartley signed for a $575,000 colt at Keeneland.
“We just wanted a Flightline,” Hartley said. “We loved him as a horse, and we were able to be around him because the Mayberrys broke him, and they train on our farm. I’ve seen him since he was being broke, and he was just such a beautiful animal. The plan is to try and come back to Saratoga or September with that colt and we can see what happens.”
Flightline has continued to contribute to the mixed marketplace in other ways. A few days after his career finale, a 2.5 percent interest in him sold for $4.6 million at the 2022 Keeneland November sale, and last season, 13 mares carrying foals from his first crop sold at public auction for an average price of $1,074,231. This year, 10 mares in foal to him have averaged $443,000, against a second-year fee of $150,000.
Meanwhile, another stallion share in Flightline, again representing a 2.5 percent interest in the horse, was the star offering at the inaugural Keeneland Championship sale Breeders’ Cup week, and was purchased for $2.5 million. Lyon was the winning bidder, deepening her investment in her star.
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