‘Very Intelligent Horses’: First Yearlings By Horse Of The Year Flightline On Offer At Fasig-Tipton Saratoga originally appeared on Paulick Report.

From the moment it was announced that champion Flightline would be retired to Lane’s End ahead of the 2023 breeding season, it was clear that his debut crop would be under the magnifying glass throughout their first cycle across the sales calendar.

The next milestone in that journey will take place at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, when his debut class will be offered at a North American yearling auction for the first time.

With an initial advertised stud fee of $200,000, and a head-turning debut book of mares, following a campaign punctuated by the 2022 Horse of the Year title, expectations will be high for Flightline’s youngsters entering the sale ring to make good on the lofty standards that season set.

For a rookie stallion, the first hurdle to clear during the yearling season is getting as many yearlings as possible in the select catalogs of the season: Fasig-Tipton Saratoga and Book 1 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Flightline passed that first test with flying colors in the Saratoga Sale, getting 10 horses in the catalog, which tied Life Is Good for the most in this year’s class.

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The Lane’s End consigIment is handling two of those Flightline yearlings, on behalf of breeder Summer Wind Farm.

Allaire Ryan, sales director for Lane’s End, has seen plenty of the first Flightlines, both from the consignment and as a member of the same staff that stands the stallion. As such, she said the biggest point of consistency among the champion’s foals might be unseen.

“From a physical standpoint, he appears to be more mare-dominant, so you’re seeing the dam side really come through in them,” Ryan said. “You’re going to see different physiques, heights, shapes, how their, how their limbs align, that sort of thing.

“I’ll say the consistencies that we’re seeing among them are their minds,” she continued. “They’re very intelligent horses, and they have very good ways of going, good range of motion. They’re athletic, intelligent horses, but they’re going to look different.”

Of course, getting horses into the catalog is only half the battle. Once they’re on the grounds, success is determined by how they show, and more importantly, how they sell.

Ryan thought the Flightlines were up to the task.

“I think like any sale we’ve seen in recent years, there’s going to be plenty of demand and plenty rewarded for a good physical, for just a good individual,” Ryan said. “The level of quality that these Flightlines are showing, even though they may look different, they may look like individuals, I have to feel very optimistic for the breeders that are here”

Lane’s End consigned Flightline at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, where the son of Tapit hammered to West Point Thoroughbreds for $1 million.

Fasig-Tipton hangs placards over the stalls where its prominent Saratoga graduates resided during their time on the sales grounds, and Flightline’s sign is displayed prominently in the Lane’s End consignment. It would seem obvious to place one of Flightline’s debut yearlings in the hallowed stall, but Lane’s End arranges their Saratoga offerings by hip number order, and the Flightline duo didn’t land in the right spot.

It’s hard to forget a seven-figure Saratoga horse, and as such, Ryan remembered the young Flightline well during his time under the Lane’s End shedrow.

“He was a physically forward, just a really nice model of a Tapit,” Ryan said. “Of course, being out of an Indian Charlie mare, Feathered, she gave him scope and substance and just a kind of durable look to him, but he had a very sharp mind, a very intelligent outlook that he’s passing on to his offspring. 

“When you’re deciding the type of horse to bring up to Saratoga, you’re not just weighing the physicals and the pedigrees, you’re also weighing their their mental constitution as well, because it’s demanding for a young horse,” she continued. “Often, a lot of these have never left the farm. He was one that had that component as well, a lot of presence about him.”

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Aug 3, 2025, where it first appeared.