Yearlings from Phipps Female Families Are Hot, With Three Session 1 Yearlings Topping $1 Million
On the heels of a wildly successful Saratoga Sale where eight yearlings from Phipps female families averaged more than $1 million, yearlings from Phipps families remained hot at Monday’s opening session of the Keeneland September Sale, with two colts and one filly each selling for seven figures.
Hip 177 – Session-Topping Gun Runner Colt
The Session 1 sale topper was a Gun Runner colt (Hip 177) from the Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm consignment who fetched $3.3 million. Co-bred by Hill ‘n’ Dale and Determined Stud, the colt was purchased by Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier, White Birch Farm’s Peter Brant, and Winchell Thoroughbreds. The colt’s second through fifth dams are Phipps, from Blitey branch of foundation mare Lady Pitt.
The Gun Runner colt is out of Tapit mare Thoughtfully, a five-length winner of the 2020 Adirondack Stakes (G2) at Saratoga. From five crops of racing age, Gun Runner has sired six graded stakes winners who are out of Tapit mares, including Peter Blum’s homebred Society, winner of the 2024 Ballerina Handicap (G1).
Thoughtfully is out of Phipps Stable-bred Seeking the Gold mare Pension and is a full sister to Signator who has found success this year since moving to the turf for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. After winning his turf debut at Tampa in March, the 5-year-old horse earned his first stakes victory in April in the Henry S. Clark Stakes at Laurel. Declared a “Rising Star” by Thoroughbred Daily News after impressively breaking his maiden at second asking at the age of 2, Phipps Stable is among the horse’s owner partnership that also includes West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, Gainesway Stable, Ken Langone, Edward Hudson Jr., and Lane’s End Racing.
Thoughtfully is also a half-sister to Godolphin’s 2015 Futurity Stakes (G2) winner Annual Report, by Harlan’s Holiday, and multiple stakes winner Giant Payday, by Giant’s Causeway.
The Gun Runner colt’s third dam is Furlough, a grade 1 winner by Easy Goer, and fourth dam is blue hen mare Blitey, a multiple graded stakes winner by Riva Ridge. Blitey is the ancestress of an elite family that includes nine grade 1 winners for the Phippses, including Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize, by Seeking the Gold. Some of Blitey’s other descendants having grade 1 success in recent years include Horse of the Year Flightline, by Tapit, Instilled Regard, by Arch, and Queen Goddess, by Empire Maker.
Hip 10 – Flightline Colt Who is Half to Dual-Breeders’ Cup Winner Golden Pal
Another colt from a Phipps family to achieve seven figures was Hip 10. Representing the first crop of Flightline, the colt was purchased by Resolute Bloodstock for $1.5 million from the consignment of VanMeter Sales. The colt is a half-brother to dual Breeders’ Cup-winning sire Golden Pal, by Uncle Mo, who is out Midshipman mare Lady Shipman, winner of the 2016 Royal North Stakes (G3).
The second dam Sumthingtotalkabt, by Mutakddim, is a California-bred half-sister to stakes winner Rules of War, by Cromwell, and the third dam is California-bred multiple stakes winner Nannetta, by Falstaff. The damline traces back to the Striking branch of Phipps foundation mare Baby League and the extended family includes Ogden Phipps-bred Landscaper, by Herbager, winner of the 1978 Century Handicap (G1).
Hip 115 – Tapit Filly Out of Second-Generation Breeders’ Cup Winner Sharing
In addition to the two colts, a filly from a Phipps family that sold for seven figures was Hip 115. By Tapit, the filly was purchased by Whisper Hill Farm for $1.5 million from the consignment of Gainesway. The dam is Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gainesway Stable’s 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Sharing, by Speightstown, and her second dam is Sagamore Farm’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) winner Shared Account, by Pleasantly Perfect.
The Tapit filly has the rare opportunity to potentially become a third-generation Breeders’ Cup winner, a feat accomplished on only one prior occasion by Phipps homebreds Personal Ensign, her daughter My Flag, and her granddaughter Storm Flag Flying.
The yearling filly’s damline traces back to the Bold Irish branch of Phipps foundation mare Erin and the extended family includes grade 1 winners Randomized, by Nyquist, Got Stormy, by Get Stormy, and New Years Day, by Street Cry (IRE), among others.
Coolmore and White Birch’s Recent Phipps Bloodline Purchases
In addition to their session-topping $3.3 million Gun Runner colt, like many top owners and breeders, the Coolmore connections and White Birch Farm have shown an affinity for Phipps bloodlines. Their new acquisition came just a month after they teamed up for the $4.1 million Saratoga Sale-topping Into Mischief colt (Hip 218) whose second through fourth dams are Phipps, from Versailles Treaty branch of Ten Cents A Dance. They also went to $1.3 million at last year’s Keeneland September sale for a Curlin colt (Hip 262) who is a half to the Gun Runner colt they purchased on Monday.
Following the Saratoga Sale, Peter Brant highlighted his and the Coolmore team’s affinity for Phipps female families, noting that the Into Mischief colt’s damline “[g]oes back to great old Phipps blood we really like.” (For more on the colt’s family and the overall success of Phipps bloodlines at the 2025 Saratoga Sale, see the recent BloodHorse story “Saratoga Sale Yearlings from Phipps Families Average More Than $1 Million”.)
Hip 664 – Phipps-Bred Maxfield Colt Selling Wednesday
Another opportunity for a well-bred yearling with Phipps bloodlines will be offered in Session 3 of the Keeneland Sale on Wednesday with Hip 664, a ninth-generation Phipps-bred by Maxfield out of War Front mare Cover Model. Hailing from the Get Lucky branch of Phipps foundation mare Baby League, he is from one of the most sought-after families in the stud book.
Consigned by Lane’s End Farm, the colt is rated an “A” by TrueNicks and is from the same immediate family as Saturday’s $2 million Ladies Marathon Invitational Stakes (G3) winner Stellify, by Justify.
The dam is a half-sister to Imagining, by Giant’s Causeway, a millionaire who won the Man o’ War Stakes (G1) and placed in four other grade 1 races. The dam is also a half-sister to Forestry mare Snooze, the granddam of 2022 Frizette Stakes (G1) winner Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke, and stakes-placed Browse, by Medaglia d’Oro, the dam of 2023 Victoria Stakes winner Pipit, by Quality Road.
The colt’s second dam is A.P. Indy mare Daydreaming, a multiple graded stakes winner who is a full sister to Godolphin’s Girolamo, winner of the Vosburgh Stakes (G1), and Dinny Phipps’s homebred Accelerator, winner of the Pilgrim Stakes (G3). Daydreaming is also full sister to Supercharger, producer of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver, and She’s a Winner, the dam of dual classic-placed Bluegrass Cat, by Storm Cat, winner the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1). Daydreaming’s third sibling who is a grade 1-producer is Deputy Minister mare Malka, the dam of Got Lucky, by A.P. Indy, winner of the Spinster Stakes (G1).
The third dam is Mr. Prospector mare Get Lucky, winner of the Affectionately Handicap (G3) at 4. Out of Beldame Stakes (G1) winner Dance Number, by Northern Dancer, Get Lucky is a full sibling to champion Rhythm, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1).
Based on the wild success of Phipps bloodlines at the Saratoga Sale last month and the first day of the Keeneland September Sale on Monday, one can expect more yearlings from Phipps families to fetch impressive prices over the remaining two weeks in Lexington and to achieve success for years to come on the race tracks across the nation.
Phipps Stable Fan 