Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s homebred juvenile Golden Tempo had a memorable last-to-first win in his career debut on Saturday, December 20th in a six-furlong maiden special weight race on the dirt at Fair Grounds Race Course.
With two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Jose L. Ortiz aboard for trainer Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo broke slowly from the gate and settled in as the trailer in the ten-horse field. He hit the top of the stretch six wide at the back of the field and proceeded with an impressive drive down the center of the stretch, winning going away by a length and a half. As Alan Carasso wrote in his Thoroughbred Daily News story, “Golden Tempo kicked in strongly and bridged the better part of a five-length deficit in the final furlong to win by a widening margin while covering his final quarter-mile in a slick :23.57.” (See the Daily Racing Form’s race chart here).
Following the valiant win, the colt was identified by Thoroughbred Daily News as a “rising star,” a distinguished designation awarded to horses early in their careers who the publication’s staff believe have good potential to become graded stakes winners. See “Curlin’s Golden Tempo Charges Home To ‘TDN Rising Star’ Laurels.”
Following the win, Fair Grounds racing presenter Joe Kristufek identified Golden Tempo as “a potential Kentucky Derby prospect” and that he may be pointed to the mile-and-a-sixteenth Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds on January 17th. Notably, the 2018 edition of the Lecomte Stakes was won by Larry Best’s OXO Equine colt Instilled Regard, by Arch, who hails from the same Phipps female family as Golden Tempo (detailed below). Out of Phipps-bred Forestry mare Enhancing, Instilled Regard went on to become a grade 1 winner, taking the 2020 Manhattan Stakes by a neck. and entered stud the following year at Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky.
Frequently getting the call for Phipps Stable entries, Mr. Ortiz has had stakes success for the legendary stable, including Fly So High, by Malibu Moon, in the 2018 Davona Dale Stakes, Mr Speaker, by Pupit, in the 2015 Commonwealth Cup (G2), and Abaco, by Giant’s Causeway, in the 2014 Ballston Spa Stakes (G2). For St. Elias Stable, Mr. Ortiz added an elite win to his resume in 2025 aboard the stable’s co-owned Sandman, by Tapit, in the Arkansas Derby (G1).
Rated an A++ by TrueNicks (here) – a service using a proprietary algorithm to rate the potential success of sire-broodmare crosses based on actual race results – Golden Tempo shares the same Curlin-Bernardini cross as Stonestreet Farm’s homebred Clairiere, winner of the 2022 and 2023 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), 2023 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), and 2021 Cotillion Stakes (G1), as well as WinStar Farm’s homebred Paris Lights, winner of the 2020 fillies classic Coaching Club American Oaks (G1).
Other graded winners sharing the cross include the Coolmore connections’ 2022 San Carlos Stakes (G2) and 2021 Kona Gold Stakes (G3) winner Cezanne, Alpha Delta Stable’s 2019 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) winner Point of Honor, Joseph A. Schumer’s Godolphin-bred 2025 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3) winner Cornishman, and Robert and Lawana Low’s 2021 Allaire DuPont Distaff Match Series Stakes (G3) winner Spice Is Nice.
Golden Tempo is out of fifth-generation Phipps-bred Carrumba, winner of the 2015 Top Flight Invitational Handicap (G3) who also placed in the 2016 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1). They hail from the accomplished Oh What a Dance branch of Phipps foundation mare Lady Pitt. (See Golden Tempo’s all-inclusive three-dam pedigree analysis from Equineline here.)
Out of blue hen mare Blitey, by Riva Ridge, unraced mare Oh What a Dance is by Nijinsky II (CAN) and her siblings include grade 1 winners Dancing Spree, her full brother, Furlough, by Easy Goer, and Fantastic Find, by Mr. Prospector, the last of which is the fourth dam of 2022 Eclipse Horse of the Year Flightline, by Tapit.
Oh What a Dance’s descendants include five Phipps homebred grade 1 winners. She is dam of Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize, by Seeking the Gold, and her full sister Oh What a Windfall, winner of the 1998 Matron Stakes (G1); second dam of sire Good Reward, by Storm Cat, winner of the 2004 Hollywood Derby (G1) and 2005 Manhattan Handicap (G1), and sire Dancing Forever, by Rahy, winner of the 2008 Manhattan Handicap (G1); and, third dam of Persistently, by Smoke Glacken, winner of the 2010 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1).
In addition to the five grade 1 winners for the Phippses, Oh What a Dance is the third dam of OXO Equine’s above-mentioned Instilled Regard, by Arch, winner of the 2020 Manhattan Stakes (G1); the fourth dam of Silk Racing’s W Heart Bond (JPN), by Kizuna (JPN), who recently became only the second filly or mare to win the Champions Cup (G1) at Chukyo Racecourse in Japan on December 7th (see the TDN story here); and, fifth dam of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and TOLO Thoroughbreds’ Queen Goddess, by Empire Maker, winner of the 2021 American Oaks (G1) who sold in foal to Into Mischief for $1.5 million at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton November Sale to Japan-based owner-breeder Katsumi Yoshida.
According to Cherie DeVaux’s post on X on Sunday, Golden Tempo looks to have come back well from his impressive debut. Stay tuned for what could be a very exciting three-year-old campaign for this talented Phipps and St. Elias homebred.
Ghostzapper mare Wayfaring hails from a deep, successful Phipps family described by pedigree analyst Kaitlin Free “as one of the greatest in recent history.” Being offered as Hip 16 in Book 1 of the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale on Tuesday, November 4, she is consigned by Lane’s End and is in foal to Horse of the Year Flightline.
Wayfaring is a half-sister to Surprisingly, by Mastery, who launched a fierce closing rally to win her graded debut in the 2023 Endeavor Stakes (G3) for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. She was purchased later that year by Repole Stable as a racing or broodmare prospect for $1 million from the Claiborne Farm consignment at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale.
Wayfaring’s dam Vagabond, by Arch, is half to Alpha Delta Stables’ Great Island, by Scat Daddy, who was runner-up in the 2021 Flower Bowl Stakes (G1) behind the classy three-time grade 1 winner War Like Goddess, by English Channel. In her prior race, Great Island defeated three graded winners thanks to an impressive rally that took her from last to first to win going away in the Matchmaker Stakes (G3).
Second dam Voyage, by Rahy, is a half to two multiple grade 1 winners, a stakes winner, and a stakes-placed finisher who produced a stakes winner. Her most successful sibling is five-time grade 1-winning sire Point of Entry, by Dynaformer, who retired in 2013 with nearly $2.5 million in career earnings. His marquee victories included three successive grade 1 victories in 2012 – including the Man o’ War Stakes (G1), Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes (G1), and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (G1). He finished his campaign that year with runner-up honors in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).
Point of Entry’s 2013 campaign kicked off in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (G1) – renamed the Pegasus World Cup Turf starting in 2019 – with an impressive victory over a field that included 2011 Kentucky Derby winner and Eclipse champion Animal Kingdom. He picked up his fifth career grade 1 win next time out with a come-from-behind victory in the Manhattan Handicap (G1). An Eclipse award finalist in 2012 and 2013 for male turf horse (won both years by Hall of Famer Wise Dan), Point of Entry entered stud in Kentucky in 2014 at Adena Springs and is the sire of two champions and a dozen graded or group stakes winners in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and United Arab Emirates.
Voyage’s half-sister Pine Island, by Arch, won the prestigious Alabama Stakes (G1) and Gazelle Stakes (G1), and finished runner-up in the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) and fillies classic Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). Voyage’s half-brother Bokeelia Island, by Medaglia d’Oro, went from last to first to earn his first stakes victory in the 2019 JR Malouff Handicap and won the Veterans Stakes later that year. Her other half-sister Chili Cat, by Storm Cat, placed in the A Wild Ride Stakes and produced Cat’s Claw, by Dynaformer, who rallied to win the 2014 Waya Stakes at Saratoga.
Wayfaring’s winning third dam Matlacha Pass, by Seeking the Gold, is a full sister to Pleasant Home who won the 2005 winner of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) by 8 lengths. That year, she also won the Bed o’ Roses Stakes (G3) and was runner-up in the Ballerina Stakes (G1) and Spinster Stakes (G1).
Though her daughter Magical World, by Distorted Humor, Pleasant Home is the granddam of a multiple grade 1-winning Three Chimneys Farm-bred Guarana, by Ghostzapper. She was a 6-length winner of the 2019 Acorn Stakes (G1) in her second career start, followed by a victory in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). In 2020, Guarana added a third grade 1 win in the Madison Stakes (G1), bringing her career earnings to more than $1 million. Guarana sold the following year in foal to Into Mischief for $4.4 million at the Faisg-Tipton November Sale. Her dam Magical World, who was also in foal to Into Mischief, sold at the same sale for a whopping $5.4 million.
In addition to Guarana, Magical World produced Pioneer of the Nile colt Beatbox, who was purchased at the 2019 Keenland September Yearling Sale for $2.1 million and won the 2024 Fair Grounds Stakes (G3). Magical World’s third stakes winner Magic Dance, by More Than Ready, placed in the 2019 Adirondack Stakes (G3) after a victory Churchill’s Debutante Stakes.
Matlacha Pass’s full sister Country Hideaway was a four-time graded winner, with victories in the First Flight Handicap (G2) in 1999 and 2000, Vagrancy Handicap (G2) in 2000, and Bed o’ Roses Handicap (G3) in 2001. She was also three-time grade 1-placed after finishing runner-up in the Ballerina Handicap (G1) in 2000 and 2021 and placing in the Ruffian Handicap (G1) in 2000. Country Hideaway is the dam of Boca Grande, by A.P. Indy, who had victories in the 2006 Demoiselle Stakes (G2) and 2007 Comely Stakes (G2). In addition to her graded wins, Boca Grande placed in the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) and Test Stakes (G1) in 2007. Through Boca Grande’s branch of her family, Country Hideaway is the third dam of Osamu Satomi’s Satono Tempest (JPN), winner of the 7-furlong Takasegawa Stakes in 2023 in his native Japan. Country Hideaway also foaled Vacation, by Dynaformer, who rallied five wide to convincingly win Arlington Park’s 2009 Hanshin Cup Handicap (G3) by 2¼ lengths.
Also by Seeking the Gold, Matlacha Pass’s other full sister Home Sweet Home is the dam of Birdie Birdie (JPN), by Brian’s Time, winner of the 2010 Unicorn Stakes (G3) in Japan. He also won four other stakes and retired with nearly US $2.9 million in earnings.
Wayfaring’s fourth dam is Our Country Place, by Pleasant Colony, was acquired by Ogden Phipps in 1993. She was a half-sister to Sugar Maple Farm-bred Hall of Famer Sky Beauty, by Blushing Groom (FR). Trained by Allen Jerkens, Maplejinsky was a nine-time grade 1 winner, including the New York Triple Tiara (Acorn Stakes {G1}, Mother Goose Stakes {G1}, Coaching Club American Oaks {G1}) and Alabama Stakes (G1). Our Country Place and Sky Beauty are half to Silence Beauty (JPN), by Sunday Silence, dam of Charles Fipke’s homebred Tale of Ekati, by Take of the Cat, who won the Wood Memorial (G1) and Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) and entered study in Kentucky in 2011 at Darby Dan Farm.
Wayfaring’s fifth dam Maplejinsky, by Nijinsky II, was half-sister to 1990 English Horse of the Year Dayjur, by Danzig, and her sixth dam was champion sprinter Gold Beauty, by Mr. Prospector.
Graded stakes races in the U.S. and Canada listed by grade and then alphabetically by race name. Click on the horse names to see a catalog-style pedigree as of the date of their most recent graded stakes win. View past lists for 2024 here, 2023 here, and 2022 here.)
First Lady S. (G1) – SIMPLY IN FRONT (Summer Front), 1st-6th dams: Complicated / Consequence / Educated Risk / Pure Profit / Clear Ceiling / Grey Flight
Frizette S. (G1) – IRON ORCHARD (Authentic), 7th-9th dams: Boldness / Hostility / Marguerite de Valios (FR)
Gamely S. (G1) – BE YOUR BEST (IRE) (Muhaarar {GB}), 5th-9th dams: The Garden Club / Fashion Verdict / So Chic / Striking / Baby League
Vigil S. (G3) – SIMCOE (CAN) (Uncle Mo), 5th – 6th dams: Searching / Big Hurry
Below: Phipps-bred Blame mare Complicated‘s multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Simply in Front winning the G2 Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Simply in Front is a three-quarter sister to grade 1 winner And One More Time (Omaha Beach) and stakes winner Churchtown (Air Force Blue), as well as a half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner Honor D Lady (Honor Code).
Phipps Stable’s blue-blooded Candy Ride (Arg) mare Dance Club hails from one of the most highly sought-after families in Thoroughbred breeding and racing, a family that includes a Hall of Famer, champions, Breeders’ Cup winners, grade 1 winners, and multiple active sires. She also has the distinction of being last foal out of Storm Flag Flying who died from complications during the foaling of Dance Club. Storm Flag Flying followed in the footsteps of her dam My Flag and granddam Personal Ensign to become the only line of three consecutive generations of Breeders’ Cup winners.
Trained by Hall of Famer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey, Dance Club made two career starts, both at the age of two at Saratoga. In her debut, a five and a half furlong dirt sprint for juvenile fillies, she was checked at the start and recovered, rallying to take show honors behind two future black-type earners. Those crossing the finish line ahead of her were Justin Phillip filly Lady T N T, who went on to win the Charles Town Oaks (G3), and Into Mischief filly Into Mystic, an eventual three-time stakes winner who started in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
Above: Dance Club with jockey Jose Ortiz aboard before her career debut at Saratoga.
Dance Club followed up her debut four weeks later at The Spa by stretching out to seven furlongs. Despite a clean trip, the distance proved to be too much for her, finishing off the board in a race won by champion Havre de Grace’s Tapit filly Graceful Princess who went on to win the Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3).
The Phipps Stable homebred is a full sister to a graded stakes-placed sire and two producers of graded stakes winners. She is a full sister to sire Revved Up, runner-up in the Arlington Handicap (G2) who entered stud in 2021 at River Oaks Farms in Oklahoma. Dance Club is a half-sister to St. Elias Stable’s Street Cry (Ire) mare Playtime, dam of Appalachian Stakes (G2) winner Jouster who sold as a broodmare prospect for $1.5 million at the 2022 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. Playtime also has a promising 3-year-old colt by Curlin named Classicist who broke his maiden in July at Saratoga and came back to win his first allowance start in September at Aqueduct. Dance Club is also a half-sister to Smart Strike mare Beat the Drums, dam of Suburban Stakes (G2) winner and Kentucky Derby (G1) runner Dynamic One.
Dance Club is out of Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps’s champion 2-year-old filly Storm Flag Flying who won the honor after three consecutive top-level wins, including the Matron Stakes (G1), Frizette Stakes (G1), and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). She added a fourth elite win in the Personal Ensign Handicap (G1), an extra special victory since it was her granddam’s namesake race.
Storm Flag Flying is a half-sister to a multiple graded stakes winner, a producer of a multiple group 1 winner, two producers of multiple graded stakes winners, and other black-type earners and producers.
She is a half-sister to A.P. Indy mare With Flying Colors who earned blacktype with a victory in the Floral Park Heatherten Stakes and is the dam of St. Elias Stable’s Teresa Z, by Smart Strike, winner of the Monmouth Oaks (G3) and Turnback the Alarm Stakes (G3). With Flying Colors is also the granddam of Team Valor’s Queen Azteca, by Sharp Azteca, this year’s United Arab Emirates Oaks (G3) winner at Meydan.
Her other siblings include Parading, by Pulpit, winner of the Dixie Stakes (G2) and Ben Ali Stakes (G3); grade 2-placed Protesting, by A.P. Indy, dam of Performer, by Speightstown, winner of the Discover Stakes (G3) and Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3), as well as Breaking the Rules, by War Front, winner of the Tropical Park Derby who also placed in multiple graded stakes; Sound the Trumpets, by Bernardini, dam of Miles D who placed in the Travers Stakes (G1) and won the Discovery Stakes; grade 3-placed On Parade, by Storm Cat, who is granddam of Madras Check, by Malibu Moon, a multiple stakes winner in Japan; and Viva La Flag, by Rahy, dam of Kentucky-bred Manyuz, by Run Away and Hide, a multiple group 1 winner in Peru, and granddam of Brocknardini, by Palace Malice, winner of the Selima Stakes.
Going back another generation, Dance Club’s granddam is Ogden Phipps’s homebred My Flag, the daughter of two Phipps homebred Hall of Famers in her sire Easy Goer and dam Personal Ensign. My Flag earned her first elite win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and added three more prestigious victories to her resume, including the fillies classic Coaching Club American Oaks (G1), Ashland Stakes (G1), and Gazelle Handicap (G1). She also notably placed against males in the classic Belmont Stakes (G1), finishing behind Editor’s Note and future Hall of Famer Skip Away.
My Flag is a half-sister to two grade 1-winning sires, a sire of a dual-classic winner, a grade 1 producer, and two granddams of grade 1-winning sires.
Her half-brothers include trio of sires by Mr. Prospector, including Miner’s Mark, winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), Traditionally, winner of the Oaklawn Handicap (G1), and Our Emblem, a multiple grade 1-placed sire of Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War Emblem.
My Flag is also a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-placed Salute, by Unbridled, dam of sire Mr Speaker, winner of the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1) who entered stud in 2016 at Lane’s End and now stands in Texas at Forks of the Paluxy; Title Seeker, by Monarchos, granddam of Charles Fipke’s homebred Seeking the Soul, by Perfect Soul (Ire), winner of the Clark Handicap (G1) and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) who entered stud in 2021 at Ocala Stud in Florida; and Possibility, by A.P. Indy, the granddam of Zedan Racing’s Arabian Lion, by Justify, winner of the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) who entered stud in 2024 at Spendthrift Farm. Possibility is also the granddam of Clearsky Farms-bred Major Dude, by Bolt d’Oro, winner of the Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2), Pilgram Stakes (G2), Penn Mile Stakes (G2), and the Kitten’s Joy Stakes (G3).
While some super fillies fail to replicate their racing success as broodmares, such as Zenyatta and Winning Colors, that was not the case for Dance Club’s great-granddam Personal Ensign, as noted above in My Flag and her accomplished siblings. An undefeated champion from 13 starts, Personal Ensign won eight grade 1 races, and her Hall of Fame career was appropriately capped off with an unforgettable marquee victory over Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).
Despite Dance Club being winless from two starts, a lack of success on the track has not prevented dams in her family from becoming successful broodmares. Such is the case for the above-mentioned Jouster’s dam Playtime, Dynamic One’s dam Beat the Drums, Queen Azteca’s dam Princesa Helena, Miles D’s dam Sound the Trumpets, and Seeking the Soul’s granddam Title Seeker.
Above: Dance Club crossing the finish line in her career debut at Saratoga.
As a broodmare, Dance Club has two foals racing age, including I Am On The List, a 4-year-old colt by City of Light, and Rhythm Quest, a 3-year-old filly by Nyquist. She also has a yearling colt by Tapit and a weanling filly by Essential Quality, both of which have the same female family and sire line as the above-mentioned Comely Stakes (G2) runner-up Parade. Dance Club is in foal to Good Magic and it will share the same female family and sire line as the above-mentioned Travers Stakes-placed Miles D.
Personal Ensign’s legacy carries on through her successful descendants and Dance Club’s progeny will hopefully continue to bolster it for years to come.
A Graded Stakes Winner from the Elite Family of Gun Runner
A rare sales purchase for Phipps Stable, Fly So High was bred in Kentucky by the Goodman family’s Mt. Brilliant Farm and acquired from the Lane’s End Farm consignment at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Fly So High finished third in her October 2017 career debut and came back the following month to impressively break her maiden, winning the one mile dirt race at Aqueduct by 7 ¾ lengths to earn “Rising Star” status from the Thoroughbred Daily News.
She followed up her maiden win with another eye-catching victory in January 2018, cruising to a 5 ½-length allowance optional claiming victory at Gulfstream Park.
Showing significant promise, she dove into deeper waters for the Davona Dale Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream in March, a race she won commandingly by 3 lengths but was pulled up after the race and vanned off the track. Ultrasound results revealed a small tear in an upper suspensory.
While she would have likely been one of the favorites for the 2018 Kentucky Oaks (G1) or potentially set her sights on the Breeders’ Cup that year, the injury instead ended her career and she joined the elite Phipps Stable broodmare band.
While an overwhelming majority of Phipps family’s horses have historically been homebreds, Daisy Phipps Pulito spoke here about why her family’s stable purchased Fly So High, noting that “[e]very few years, my father [Ogden ‘Dinny’ Phipps] and I would like to buy a couple of fillies to introduce some new blood to the broodmare band… I thought it was really important to continue to do that…”
Fly So High was a natural fit for the Phipps family, as she is by Malibu Moon, the same sire of the Phipps family’s 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, and from one of the most attractive female families in the stud book.
Fly So High’s dam Quiet Flight, by Quiet American, is a full sister to grade 2-placed Quiet Dance, producer of Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1)-winning Horse of the Year Saint Liam, by Saint Ballado, and United Nations Stakes (G1) winner Funtastic, by More Than Ready, the latter now standing at Three Chimneys Farm.
Quiet Dance is also the granddam of Hall of Famer and another Three Chimneys Farm stallion in red-hot sire Gun Runner, by Candy Ride (Arg). She is also the granddam of Mother Goose Stakes (G1) winner Buster’s Ready, by More Than Ready, who was purchased as a broodmare prospect for $2.4 million by Wertheimer et Frère.
The granddam of Fly So High, Misty Dancer, by Lyphard, is a half-sister to Minstrella, by The Minstrel, an Edward P. Evans homebred who won three group 1 races in Europe and was a champion juvenile in Ireland.
The active family’s other recent notable stakes winners include Gun Runner’s half-sister Pretty Anna, by Quality Road, winner of the 2024 Comely Stakes (G3), and Right and True (Ire), by Arizona (Ire), winner of the listed 2024 Star Appeal Stakes in Ireland for the Coolmore partners.
Fly So High is the dam of three horses of racing age, including sophomore Curlin colt Peak Performer who recently moved forward by finishing on the board in a competitive $170,000 maiden special weight at Kentucky Downs earlier this month. She also has an unraced juvenile colt by Gun Runner and is currently in foal to WinStar Farm’s elite sire Constitution.
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.
With the Keeneland September Yearling sale underway, a highlight of Wednesday’s Book 2 is Hip 664, a Maxfield colt out of War Front mare Cover Model. The ninth-generation Phipps-bred is from one of the most sought-after families in the stud book, the Get Lucky branch of Phipps foundation mare Baby League, the latter a daughter of La Troienne, one of the most influential mares of the last century.
Consigned by Lane’s End Farm, the colt is rated an “A” by TrueNicks and he shares the same tail-male and tail-female lines as Spendthrift Farm’s 2015 Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) winner Callback. Callback is by Street Sense (the colt’s grandsire) and her third dam is Phipps-bred Mr. Prospector mare Get Luck (who is also the colt’s great-granddam). Get Lucky is also the third dam of Saturday’s $2 million Ladies Marathon Invitational Stakes (G3) winner Stellify.
Below is a summary of the colt’s family going back to this third dam, which includes a champion, Kentucky Derby winner, several grade 1 winners, and multiple successful sires.
The Siblings of First Dam Cover Model
The yearling’s dam Cover Model is a half-sister to two grade 1 winners. The first is sire Imagining, by Giant’s Causeway, a millionaire who won the Man o’ War Stakes (G1) and placed in four other grade 1 races. Cover Model’s second grade 1-winning half-brother is recently retired steeplechaser Awakened, by Curlin, winner of the Jonathan Sheppard Handicap (G1).
As for her sisters, Cover Model is a half to Snooze, by Forestry, the granddam of Repole Stable’s 2022 Frizette Stakes (G1) winner Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke. Cover Model’s stakes-placed half-sister Browse, by Medaglia d’Oro, is the dam of Gage Hill Stables and William Farish-bred Pipit, by Quality Road, winner of the 2023 Victoria Stakes at 2.
Second Dam Daydreaming and Her Siblings
The colt’s granddam Daydreaming, by A.P. Indy, placed the Spinaway Stakes (G1) at 2, won the Top Flight Handicap (G2) and Indiana Breeders’ Cup Oaks (G3) and placed in the Gazelle Handicap (G1) at 3, and won the Next Move Handicap (G3) at 4.
A trio of Daydream’s siblings are sires, including her full brother Girolamo, Godolphin’s winner of the Vosburgh Stakes (G1) at the age of 4; full brother Accelerator, Dinny Phipps’s homebred winner of the Pilgrim Stakes (G3) at 2 and runner-up in the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at 4; and half-brother Harborage, by Monarchos, Earle Mack’s winner of the mile-and-an-eighth Victoria Park Stakes on the dirt at the age of 3.
In addition to her three siblings who are sires, three of Daydreaming’s siblings are grade 1 producers.
Daydreaming’s full sister Supercharger produced Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver, by Maria’s Mon. Super Saver’s progeny include five-time grade 1-winning champion Letruska, and grade 1 winners Happy Saver, Runhappy, Embellish the Lace, and Competitive Edge. Supercharger also produced WinStar-bred Distorted Humor colt Brethren, winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at 3 who now stands at Arindel Farm in Ocala, Florida. He is the sire of one champion and graded stakes-winning millionaire Octane.
Her other full sister She’s a Winner is the dam of WinStar Farm’s dual classic-placed Bluegrass Cat, by Storm Cat, winner of the Remsen Stakes (G2) and Nashua Stakes (G3) at 2, and winner of the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) and runner-up in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Belmont Stakes (G1), and Travers Stakes (G1) at 3. Bluegrass Cat is sire of one champion and grade 1-placed Sabercat and Kathmanblu, both sires. She’s a Winner also produced Bluegrass Cat’s full brother Dramedy, winner of the Elkhorn Stakes (G2) who went on to sire Sovereign Horse of the Year Mighty Heart, a dual-classic winner of Canada’s Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes.
Daydreaming is also half-sister to Deputy Minister mare Malka, the dam of Hill ‘n’ Dale and Philip J. Steinberg’s homebred Got Lucky, by A.P. Indy, winner of the Spinster Stakes (G1) and Molly Pitcher Stakes (G3), both at the age of 4.
Third Dam Get Lucky and her Siblings
The yearling’s 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 2-year-old and sire Rhythm, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1), and Not for Love, a 15-time leading sire in Maryland who is the broodmare sire of Kentucky Derby (G1) winner California Chrome and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) winner Max Player.
On the 100th anniversary of the Phipps family entering Thoroughbred racing, the sale was also highlighted by the first crop of superstar Flightline, another Saratoga Sale graduate from a Phipps family.
By B. Jason Brooks
Electricity filled air in Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion where the 2025 edition of The Saratoga Sale saw yearlings from Phipps female families reaching extraordinary heights. The eight yearlings from Phipps families sold for a for whopping total of $8,095,000 or an average of $1,011,875. Three of the yearlings – two colts and a filly – fetched seven figures, including the sale-topping $4.1 million Into Mischief colt purchased by Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm and John Magnier’s Coolmore.
The average for the eight yearlings from Phipps families (detailed below) outperformed the $606,209 average for the sale’s other 153 yearlings from non-Phipps families by an impressive $405,666 or 66.9 percent.
Half of the eight yearlings from Phipps families were colts, which sold for a combined total of $5,720,000, making the average colt price an impressive $1,430,000. This resulted in a margin of $770,398 or more than double (116.8 percent) the $659,602 average for the 88 colts sold from non-Phipps families.
The four fillies from Phipps families also outperformed those from non-Phipps families, selling for a combined $2,375,000 or an average of $593,750. This was a significant $59,827 or 11.2 percent above the $533,923 average for the 65 fillies sold from non-Phipps families.
With eight out of nine yearlings from Phipps families meeting their reserves, the RNA rate of 11.1 percent was 1.7 percentage-point below the 12.8 percent for the sale’s yearlings from non-Phipps families.
Phipps Family Hits the Century Mark in Thoroughbreds
The success of Phipps families at The Saratoga Sale was extra special because it was the 100th anniversary of Glady Mills Phipps beginning her family’s multi-generational racing dynasty with the first purchase of a Thoroughbred there. At the 1925 Saratoga Sale, she purchased a filly sired by Claiborne Farm’s imported stallion Sarmatian (FR). Named Sturdy Stella, the filly brought Mrs. Phipps and her brother Ogden Livingston Mills’s Wheatley Stable its first win the following February.
Above photo: Gladys Mills Phipps and her brother Ogden Livingston Mills, who co-founded the successful Wheatley Stable. (Charles Christian Cook, The Keeneland Library)
Over the last century, the Phipps family – Glady Mills Phipps, her son Ogden Phipps, grandson Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps, granddaughter Cynthia Phipps, and now her great-grandchildren’s Phipps Stable – has bred more than 300 stakes winners. A remarkable 29 of these were champions and eight were elected into the Hall of Fame, including Seabiscuit, Bold Ruler, Buckpasser, Easy Goer, Personal Ensign, Heavenly Prize, Inside Information, and Searching.
While the Phipps family’s winning quickly became habit, capturing the classics took decades of patience, even with their elite bloodstock residing at the Hancock family’s Claiborne Farm and Hall of Fame trainer James E. “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons. Gladys Mills Phipps’s Bold Ruler was the family’s first classic winner in the 1957 Preakness Stakes (G1), followed by Ogden Phipps’s Easy Goer taking the Belmont Stakes (G1) 32 years later in 1989. It would be another 24 years before the ultimate prize of U.S. racing finally came in 2013. Dinny Phipps and his family’s Phipps Stable and Stuart S. Janney III, a grandson of Gladys Mills Phipps, finally earned their long-awaited Kentucky Derby (G1) victory with Orb, which also gave the stable’s long-time Hall of Fame trainer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey his first Kentucky Derby win.
Above photo: Ogden Phipps and his son Ogden Mills “Dinny” Phipps at Saratoga in 1973. (BloodHorse Library)
Under the direction of Dinny’s wife Ande, racing manger Daisy Phipps Pulito, and her siblings since Dinny’s passing in 2016, Phipps Stable has continued its successful breeding and racing operation, with a broodmare band ranging from around 15 to 20 mares and winning a dozen stakes races over the last five years.
These recent homebred winners and their top achievements include Dynamic One, by Union Rags – owned in partnership with Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable – who won the 2022 Suburban Stakes (G2) and was a 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1) contender; Performer, by Speightstown – owned in partnership with Claiborne Farm – who won the 2019 Discovery Stakes (G3) and 2021 Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3), as well as placed in the 2020 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1); Vigilantes Way, by Medaglia d’Oro, who won the 2021 Eatontown Stakes (G3); and, Surprisingly, by Mastery, who won the 2023 Endeavour Stakes (G3).
Phipps Stable has also had recent success with a couple of purchased colts owned in partnerships, including Shug McGaughey-trained Perform, by Good Magic – owned with Woodford Racing, Lane’s End, Ken Langone, and Lynne and Edward Hudson Jr. – who won the 2023 Federico Tesio Stakes and was a Preakness Stakes (G1) contender that year.
Another recent purchase with deep Phipps bloodlines provided the stable its most recent stakes win with Signator, by Tapit, winning the in the listed Henry S. Clark Stakes in April. Also trained by Shug McGaughey, the 4-year-old colt is having newfound success on the grass. Bred by Gainesway and purchased for $1.7 million from the Eddie Woods Stables consignment at the April 2022 Ocala Breeders’ Sale of Two-Year-Olds in Training, he is out of sold Phipps-bred Seeking the Gold mare Pension. Signator is a full brother to 2020 Adirondack Stakes (G2) winner Thoughtfully and half brother to Godolphin-owned 2015 Futurity Stakes (G2) winning-sire Annual Report, by Harlan’s Holiday. In addition to Phipps Stable, Signator’s owner partners includes West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, Gainesway, Ken Langone, Lynne and Edward Hudson Jr., and Lane’s End.
On those rare occasions when Phipps-bred mares have been sold, they have provided breeders and owners with highly sought-after bloodstock. As a 2010 Thoroughbred Times story noted, “Dinny Phipps has no regrets about the mares his family has sold that turned out well for other breeders. ‘You can’t keep all of them, and you keep the ones that you think you should keep, but you have to get rid of some. You take the good with the bad, but you can’t own them all.’”
The families of those sold Phipps mares continue having success at the highest levels. In looking at the families of graded stakes winners in the U.S. and Canada since the start of 2022, a staggering 112 have been won by horses from Phipps families. Among these recent graded stakes winners, 20 of them have Phipps-bred mares among their first three dams, including eight grade 1 winners. They include undefeated four-time grade 1 winner and 2022 Horse of the Year winner Flightline, by Tapit, whose second dam is Phipps-bred Dynaformer mare Receipt. The 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner entered stud in 2023 at Lane’s End; Zedan Racing’s 2023 Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) winner Arabian Lion, by Justify, whose second dam is Phipps-bred A.P. Indy mare Possibility. He entered stud at Spendthrift Farm in 2024; Godolphin homebred three-time grade 1 winner and 2023 champion 3-year-old filly Pretty Mischievous, by Into Mischief. The 2023 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner’s third dam is Phipps-bred Riverman mare Pretty Special; Live Oak Plantation’s 2024 Natalma Stakes (G1) winner And One More Time, by Omaha Beach, whose dam is Phipps-bred Blame mare Complicated. From the dam’s first six foals of racing age, three are graded stakes winners and one is a black-type stakes winners; Repole Stable’s 2022 Frizette Stakes (G1) winner Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke, whose dam is Phipps-bred Candy Ride (ARG) mare Special Treat. Her first foal from this year is by Curlin; 2021 Test Stakes (G1) winner Bella Sofia, by Awesome Patriot, whose second dam is Phipps-bred Forty Niner mare Option Contract. She sold as a racing or broodmare prospect for $1,850,000 to Katsumi Yoshida at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton November Sale; and, Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners’s 2021 American Oaks (G1) winner Queen Goddess, by Empire Maker, whose second dam is Tale of the Cat mare Bauble. Also purchased by Mr. Yoshida, she sold in foal to Into Mischief for $1.5 million at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. In addition to these elite winners on the flat track, sold Phipps-bred Snap Decision, by Hard Spun out of Unbridled mare Salute, was the 2024 champion steeplechaser after capturing the prestigious American Grand National Stakes (G1), his fifth grade 1 win.
Given this recent elite success, it is no surprise that yearlings from Phipps families averaged more than $1 million at The Saratoga Sale and that Flightline’s first crop did so well.
Sale-Topping $4.1 Million Colt
White Birch Farm and Coolmore’s Saratoga Sale-topping $4.1 million Into Mischief colt (Hip 218) is out of Tapit mare Stellar Sound. Bred by Don Alberto Corporation and consigned by Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa, his second through fourth dams are Phipps, from the family of Cynthia Phipps’s foundation mare Ten Cents A Dance, by Buckpasser. With the colt being trained by Chad Brown, he has the same owner and trainer connections as last year’s champion 3-year-old colt Sierra Leone, by Gun Runner, who was 2022 Saratoga Sale topper at $2.3 million from the consignment of Gainesway.
Following the Into Mischief colt’s purchase, Peter Brant spoke to reporters and highlighted the colt’s Phipps pedigree as a factor in why he and the Coolmore team were attracted to him: “He’s a really beautiful horse, well put-together, well-bred. Goes back to great old Phipps blood we really like.”
The colt’s family includes four grade 1-winning stallions descending from Ten Cents A Dance, including Florida-bred Bellamy Road, by Concerto, winner of the 2005 Wood Memorial (G1) for George Steinbrenner’s Kinman Stable; Coolmore’s George Vancouver, by Henrythenavigator, winner of the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) who stands in France; Cynthia Phipps-bred 2013 Man o’ War Stakes (G1) winner Boisterous, by Distorted Humor. He was California’s leading freshman and sophomore sire in 2018 and 2019; and, Cynthia Phipps’s 1996 NYRA Mile Handicap (G1) winner Gold Fever, by Forty Niner. He is the sire of four-time Canadian champion A Bit O’Gold.
The family also includes Cynthia Phipps’s homebred sire Saarland, by Unbridled, who won the 2001 Remsen Stakes (G2) and placed in the 2003 Metropolitan Handicap (G1), and Calumet Farm-bred Mongolian Groom, winner of the 2019 Awesome Again Stakes (G1).
Half Sister to Preakness Winner Seize the Grey
Hip 209 is a filly by Life Is Good out of Smart Strike mare Smart Shopping who went for $1,025,000. Bred by Jamm LTD, the filly is a half sister to grade 1 Preakness winner Seize the Grey, by Arrogate. The filly was consigned by Mill Ridge Sales and purchased by Repole Stable. She and her classic-winning half brother have Phipps mares for their fourth through seventh dams, from the Lady Be Good branch of Phipps foundation mare Helvetia, by Hourless (GB).
A dual-stakes winner, Lady Be Good, by Better Self, is the ancestress of several top-level winners, including a trio of homebreds for Dinny Phipps. She was the second dam of Phipps’s Posse, by Forli (ARG), winner of the prestigious Sussex Stakes (G1) in 1980 in England and was controversially bumped down to runner-up in the English classic Two Thousand Guineas (G1). Lady Be Good was also the third dam of Phipps’s Awe Inspiring, by Slew o’ Gold, the 1989 winner of the Flamingo Stakes (G1) and American Derby (G1), and placed in the Kentucky Derby (G1) before entering stud in Japan. She is also the third dam of sire Mining, by Mr. Prospector, winner of the 1988 Vosburgh Stakes (G1) who stood in Kentucky and Japan.
Lady Be Good is also the ancestress of a trio of classic winners, including the third dam of Chris Wright’s 1991 champion 2-year-old filly Culture Vulture, by Timeless Moment, who won the 1992 French One Thousand Guineas (G1); fourth dam of Arthur Hancock III and Alex Campbells Jr.’s seven-time grade 1 winner Goodbye Halo, by Halo, winner of the 1988 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Coaching Club American Oaks (G1); and, fourth dam of Royal Ascot Racing Club’s Motivator, by Montjeu (IRE), winner of the 2005 Epsom Derby (G1) in England.
Colt Out of Flightline’s Half Sister
Superstar Flightline’s immediate family was also well-presented at The Saratoga Sale, with Hip 109 fetching $1 million. The colt by Constitution is out of Flightline’s half sister Good On Paper, by War Front. The yearling was bred by William Farish, Ken Langone, and Hronis Racing, consigned by Lane’s End, and purchased by Repole Stable.
Flightline and Good on Paper’s Phipps damline includes second dam Receipt, by Dynaformer; third dam Finder’s Fee, by Storm Cat, winner of the 1999 Matron Stakes (G1) and 2000 Acorn Stakes (G1); fourth dam Fantastic Find, by Mr. Prospector, winner of the 1990 Hempstead Handicap (G1); fifth dam Blitey, by Riva Ridge, a dual graded-winner in 1979 of the Test Stakes (G2) and Maskette Stakes (G2) who also placed in three grade 1 races during her career; and, sixth dam Lady Pitt, by Sword Dancer, the 1966 winner of the Mother Goose Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Delaware Oaks after having finished runner-up in the Kentucky Oaks.
The 1966 champion 3-year-old filly Lady Pitt was bred by John Greathouse, owned by Thomas Eazor’s Golden Triangle Stable, and acquired privately by Ogden Phipps in 1969 for his broodmare band residing at Claiborne Farm. For Phipps, she produced The Liberal Member, by Bold Reason, who won the 1981 Brooklyn Handicap (G1) and Blitey, mentioned above.
Blitey produced three grade 1 winners for Ogden Phipps, including Dancing Spree, by Nijinsky II (CAN), winner of the 1989 Suburban Handicap (G1), 1989 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), and 1990 Carter Handicap (G1), and entered stud in Europe; Flightline’s above-mentioned fourth dam Fantastic Find; and, Easy Goer mare Furlough, winner of the 1999 Ballerina Handicap (G1).
Four of Blitey’s daughters – Fantastic Find, Oh What a Dance, Dancing All Night, and Furlough – have produced successful families for the Phippses and other breeders who have been fortunate enough to buy into them.
Flightline’s fourth dam Fantastic Find is also the third dam of Wertheimer & Frere’s Junko (GB), by Intello (GER), winner of last year’s Grosser Allianz Preis von Bayern (G1) at Munich Racecourse and the Hong Kong Vase (G1) at Sha Tin.
Unraced mare Oh What a Dance, by Nijinsky II (CAN), heads a branch of Blitey’s family that includes five Phipps homebred grade 1 winners. She is dam of Hall of Famer Heavenly Prize, by influential Phipps-bred sire Seeking the Gold, an eight-time grade 1 winner and 1994 champion 3-year-old, and her full sister Oh What a Windfall, winner of the 1998 Matron Stakes (G1). Oh What a Dance is the second dam of sire Good Reward, by Storm Cat, winner of the 2004 Hollywood Derby (G1) and 2005 Manhattan Handicap (G1), and sire Dancing Forever, by Rahy, winner of the 2008 Manhattan Handicap (G1). Going another generation further, Oh What a Dance is the third dam of Persistently, by Smoke Glacken, winner of the 2010 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1), and Instilled Regard, by Arch, winner of the 2020 Manhattan Stakes (G1). Instilled Regard was bred by KatieRich Farm, owned by OXO Equine, and entered stud in Kentucky in 2021 at Taylor Made Farm.
Blitey’s other Nijinsky II mare Dancing All Night won the 1988 Long Island Handicap (G2) and is the second dam of Bigger Picture, by Badge of Silver, who won the 2017 United National Stakes (G1) as a gelded 6-year-old while setting a course record at Monmouth. Bigger Picture was bred by Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey and owned by Three Diamonds Farm.
Sired by Easy Goer, Blitey grade 1-winner Furlough is the second dam of the above-mentioned graded stakes winners Annual Report, Thoughtfully, and Phipps Stable’s co-owned recent stakes winner Signator.
Other Yearlings Sold from Phipps Families
In addition to the three yearlings from Phipps families who each brought $1 million or more at The Saratoga Sale, there were three fillies and two colts from Phipps families who also sold. A ninth yearling from a Phipps family attracted a hefty top bid, but did not meet his reserve.
Hip 94, a Nyquist filly out of Godolphin-bred Street Sense mare Fend sold for $550,000. Consigned by Darby Dan and purchased by Resolute Bloodstock, the filly is a three-quarter sibling to Felissa Dunn’s Outwork colt Kentucky Outlaw, winner of the black-type Long Branch Stakes in May. The dam is a half sister to Nyquist mare Turnerloose, winner of the 2022 Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) for owners Abbondanza Racing, Medallion Racing, and Ike and Dawn Thrash. The filly’s third dam is Menifee mare Game Face, Zabeel Racing International’s winner of the 2009 Princess Rooney Handicap (G1).
The Nyquist filly’s seventh through 11th dams are Phipps, from the High Voltage branch of Phipps foundation mare Erin, by Transmute. Foaled in 1927, Erin’s breeder Harry Payne Whitney sold her privately to Phipps’s Wheatley Stable and she went on to win the 1929 Rosendale Stakes, 1930 Gazelle Stakes, and notably placed in the 1930 fillies classic Coaching Club American Oaks.
Through her daughter Bransome, by Royal Minstrel (GB), Erin is the third dam of 1954 champion 2-year-old filly High Voltage, by Ambiorix (FR). She won ten stakes races for the Phippses, including the 1955 Coaching Club American Oaks. High Voltage is the second dam of Phipps homebred Majestic Light, by Majestic Prince, the 1976 winner of the Swaps Stakes (G1) and Monmouth Invitational Handicap (G1) and the 1977 winner of the Amory L. Haskell Handicap (G1) and Man o’ War Stakes (G1). High Voltage is also the seventh dam of Pamela Ziebarth’s homebred Tiz Flirtatious, by Tizbud, winner of the 2013 Rodeo Drive Stakes (G1).
From a different branch of her family, Erin’s descendants also include two unforgettable winners for the Janney and Phipps families. Through her daughter Bold Irish, by Fighting Fox, Erin is the third dam of Stuart S. Janney Jr. and Barbara Phipps Janney’s homebred Hall of Famer Ruffian, by Reviewer, and seventh dam of Stuart S. Janney III and Phipps Stable’s homebred 2013 Kentucky Derby winner Orb, by Malibu Moon.
Hip 197 is a filly by Life Is Good out of multiple graded stakes-winning Verrazano mare Seek and Destroy who sold for $500,000. Consigned by Indian Creek and purchased by Repole Stable, the filly is a half sister to William Harrigan-bred Tammy the Torpedo, by More Than Ready, the 2016 winner of the Suwannee River Stakes (G3) and Violet Stakes (G3).
The Life Is Good filly’s second through ninth dams are Janney and Phipps mares, from the Narrative branch of Bell Histoire, by Blue Larkspur. Belle Histoire is a daughter of Col. Edward R. Bradley’s blue hen mare La Troienne (FR), by Teddy (FR), regarded as one of the most important broodmares of the 20th century. Belle Histoire’s War Relic mare Narrative is the second dam of Phipps-bred 1972 champion older male Autobiography, by Sky High II (AUS), a 15-length winner of the 1972 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Narrative is the fifth dam of the late French owner Ecurie Wildenstein’s Bright Sky (IRE), by Wolfhound, winner of the 2002 classic French Oaks (G1) at Chantilly; sixth dam of Janney and Phipps homebred Carriage Trail, by Giant’s Causeway, winner of the 2008 Spinster Stakes (G1); and, sixth dam of Bobby Flay-owned Her Smile, by Include, winner of the 2011 Prioress Stakes (G1).
Hip 53 is a Quality Road colt out Dynaformer mare Bourbonesque who sold for $450,000. Consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock and purchased by Spendthrift Farm, the colt is a half brother to the above-mentioned grade 1 winner Mongolian Groom, by Hightail. The colt’s second through fourth dams are Phipps, from the Versailles Treaty branch of Ten Cents A Dance, the same family as the $4.1 million Saratoga Sale-topping Into Mischief colt highlighted above.
Hip 131 is a Quality Road filly out of multiples stakes-placed Florida-bred Midshipman mare Just Talkin who went for $300,000. Consigned by Lane’s End and purchased by Woodford Thoroughbreds, the dam is a full-sister to Lady Shipman, winner of the 2016 Royal North Stakes (G3) and runner-up by a neck the prior year in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1). Lady Shipman is the dam of Florida-bred freshman sire Golden Pal, by Uncle Mo, Coolmore’s winner of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) and the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
The yearling’s sixth through ninth dams are Phipps, from Bold Ruler mare My Boss Lady’s branch of Bubbling Over mare Baby League, the latter being another daughter of La Troienne (FR). In addition to being the seventh dam of Golden Pal, Boss Lady is the dam of sold Phipps-bred Landscaper, by Herbager, a longshot winner of the 1978 Century Handicap (G1).
Hip 145 is colt by Liam’s Map out of Into Mischief mare Loving Promise who fetched $170,000. Consigned by Runnymede Farm and purchased by agent Maddie Mattmiller, the third dam is stakes winner Shandra Smiles, by Cahill Road, a multiple grade 1-producer of Rodney Orr-bred champion She’s A Tiger, by Tale of the Cat, and her three-quarter sibling Smiling Tiger, by Hold That Tiger. The yearling’s ninth dam is Phipps homebred Adventurous, by Discovery. Adventurous is the fourth dam of John Fellows-trained Escaline (FR), by Arctic Tern, winner of the 1983 French Oaks (G1).
In addition to the eight sold yearlings from Phipps families, Hip 174, a Gun Runner colt out Arch mare Nonna Mela fetched a hefty top bid of $875,000 but did not meet his reserve for consignor Hill ‘n’ Dale at Xalapa. The colt’s third through tenth dams are Phipps, from the Mr. Prospector mare Get Lucky’s branch of Baby League. Grade 1-winning sires from the family of Get Lucky include WinStar Farm’s 2010 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver, by Maria’s Mon; WinStar’s 2006 Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) winner Bluegrass Cat, by Storm Cat, who also finished runner-up in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1); Godolphin’s 2010 Vosberg Stakes (G1) winner Girolamo, by A.P. Indy; and, Phipps Stable’s homebred 2014 Man o’ War Stakes (G1) winner Imagining, by Giant’s Causeway. Other top-level winners from the family include Hill ‘n’ Dale and Philip Steinberg’s homebred 2015 Spinster Stakes (G1) winner Got Lucky, by A.P. Indy; Spendthrift Farm’s 2015 Las Virgenes Stakes (G1) winner Callback, by Street Sense; and, Repole Stable’s 2022 Frizette Stakes (G1) winner Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke. Callback and Chocolate Gelato were both bred by Vincent Colbert who purchased their Phipps-bred dams.
Flightline’s First-Crop Sale Success
Mr. Brant’s reference to this year’s Saratoga Sale topper’s Phipps bloodlines is reminiscent of a similar statement made by Flightline’s breeder Jane Lyon in an October 2022 BloodHorse video interview (here). In describing the reasons why she bought Flightline’s dam Feathered, by Indian Charlie, for her broodmare band at Summer Wind Farm, she stated that it was “because she came from the very strong Phipps family breeding program.”
Among the multitude of recent elite winners from Phipps families, Flightline is simply a superstar that stands out from the rest after capping off his undefeated career with an 8 ¼-length romp in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). His first crop hit The Saratoga Sale this year and the Lane’s End Farm stallion did not disappoint, with eight yearlings averaging $887,500, including the highest-priced first-crop yearling of the sale.
The top Flightline seller was Hip 176, a $1.8 million colt out of Hronis Racing’s graded stakes-placed Quality Road mare Park Avenue. The yearling has a lot of the same connections as his sire, including co-breeder Summer Wind Equine (in partnership with Sarah S. Farish) and consignor Lane’s End, which consigned Flightline for $1 million at the 2019 Saratoga Sale. Flightline’s yearling colt was purchased by John Oxley and West Point Thoroughbreds, the latter being a part owner of Flightline during his racing career.
Flightline’s top-priced filly in the sale also reached seven figures, with West Point Thoroughbreds going to $1.1 million for Hip 34 who is out of American Pharoah mare All American Dream. The filly is a half sister to Zedan Racing’s 3-year-old colt Barnes, by Into Mischief, winner of the grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in March and who was the second-highest-priced yearling of the 2023 Saratoga Sale at $3.2 million.
In addition to his Phipps female family, Flightline is carrying on one of the top tail-male sire lines, tracing back to the excellent Phipps homebred Bold Ruler, by Nasrullah. Standing at Claiborne Farm, Bold Ruler was the leading general sire eight times and is the sire of the great Triple Crown winner Secretariat.
Given the overwhelming success of yearlings from Phipps families at the boutique Saratoga Sale, one can expect their continued high demand at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale running from September 8th to the 20th. Keeneland’s Book 1 includes more than a dozen yearlings from Phipps families who are half siblings to recent graded stakes winners, as well as Phipps-bred colts by Maxfield (Hip 664) and War of Will (Hip 3891). Flightline is also represented in the sale with a stunning 64 yearlings from his impressive first book or mares. Look for the fireworks we saw in Saratoga to return in Lexington!
Ending a five-month layoff in a one-mile maiden special weight at Saratoga, graded stakes-winning mare Fly So High‘s 3-year-old Curlin colt Peak Performer had a rough trip, being bounced between foes while breaking from the Wilson chute and entering the first turn having to make up ground.
He went four wide in the first turn and picked off three foes, but never fully recovered from the start, holding on to finish fifth. It was a small step forward from his 7th-place finish in March at Tampa and hopefully he will get a better trip next time out to build off of his latest effort.
Peak Performer is owned in partnership by Phipps Stable, St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds.
He is the second foal out of Phipps Stable’s Fly So High (Malibu Moon), purchased at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Fly So High won the grade 2 Davona Dale going one mile on the turf at Gulfstream, after which she retired having won her last three career starts.
Fly So High hails from an elite female family, with her dam Quiet Flight (Quiet American) being a full-sister to Quiet Dance, the dam of Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning Horse of the Year Saint Liam (Saint Ballado) and United Nations S. (G1) winner Funtastic. Quiet Dance is also the granddam of Hall of Famer and top sire Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) and Mother Goose S. (G1) winner Buster’s Ready (More Than Ready).
The granddam of Fly So High, Misty Dancer (Lyphard), is a half-sister to Minstrella (The Minstrel), an Edward P. Evans homebred who won three group 1 races in Europe and was a champion juvenile in Ireland.
In addition to her 2022 foal Peak Performer, Fly So High produced a filly by Candy Ride (Arg) in 2021, a colt by Gun Runner in 2023, a filly by Into Mischief in 2025, and is in foal to Constitution.
The 2025 Fasig-Tipton Sale Marks the 100th Anniversary of the Phipps Family’s Beginning in Thoroughbred Racing
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. – The 2025 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale has a special place in history, as it is the 100th anniversary of Glady Mills Phipps beginning her family’s multi-generational racing dynasty with the first purchase of a Thoroughbred. At the 1925 Saratoga Sale, she purchased a filly sired by Claiborne Farm’s imported French-bred stallion Sarmatian. Named Sturdy Stella, the filly brought Phipps’s Wheatley Stable its first win the following February.
A century later, Phipps Stable continues to have a significant impact at the highest levels in Thoroughbred breeding and racing. In addition to the Phipps family’s multitude of Hall of Famers, champions, and grade and group 1 winners, those rare occasions when Phipps-bred mares have been sold have provided owners and breeders with highly sought-after bloodstock.
For example, a highlight of this year’s Saratoga Sale will be the first crop of Horse of the Year Flightline whose second through fifth dams are Phipps-breds (the family of Blitey / Lady Pitt). Additionally, an ultra-impressive 112 graded stakes wins in the U.S. and Canada over the last three and a half years (2022 to present) have been won by horses from Phipps families, many of which were purchased at the Saratoga Sale.
So far this year, an impressive 14 graded stakes and dozens of additional listed stakes have been won by horses from Phipps families, including grade 1 Gamely Stakes winner Be Your Best (IRE), a tail-female line descendant of Baby League. Last year, grade 1 wins for horses from Phipps families included: Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey (family of Phipps foundation mare Helvetia), California Crown Stakes winner Subsanador (ARG) (family of Baby League), Natalma Stakes winner And One More Time (family of Grey Flight), and Ogden Phipps Stakes winner Randomized (family of Erin).
This year’s Saratoga Sale features a select group of ten yearlings from Phipps families that are attractive to potential buyers. The group includes six colts and four fillies, all sired by top stallions, including two each by Life Is Good and Quality Road, and one each by Constitution, Cyberknife, Gun Runner, Into Mischief, Liam’s Map, and Nyquist.
The Phipps family’s century of success has made their bloodlines among the most sought-after in the stud book. The stable’s occasional culled mares and their progeny have provided owners and breeders with rare opportunities to buy into these coveted families. This success will continue on Monday at the start of the Saratoga Sale, a century after the family bought it first yearling there.
2025 SARATOGA SALE YEARLINGS FROM PHIPPS FAMILIES
HIP #53 – dkb. c. (KY) Quality Road – Bourbonesque, by Dynaformer (Versailles Treaty branch of Ten Cents A Dance), consignor Bedoin Bloodstock, Barn 1
HIP #94 – ch. f. (KY) Nyquist – Fend, by Street Sense (High Voltage branch of Erin), consignor Darby Dan Farm, Barn 1
HIP #109 – b. c. (KY) Constitution – Good on Paper, by War Front (Finder’s Fee branch of Lady Pitt), consignor Lane’s End Farm, Barn 7C
HIP #131 – dkb. f. (KY) Quality Road – Just Talkin, by Midshipman (Striking Brach of Baby League), consignor Lane’s End Farm, Barn 7C
HIP #145 – b. c. (KY) Liam’s Map – Loving Promise, by Into Mischief (Family of Adventurous), consignor Runnymede Farm, Barn 7C
HIP #174 – b. c. (KY) Gun Runner – Nonna Mela, by Arch (Get Lucky branch of Baby League), consignor Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, Barn 2
HIP #197 – b. f. (KY) Life Is Good – Seek and Destroy, by Verrazano (Vowed branch of Belle Histoire), consignor Indian Creek, Barn 6
HIP #209 – b. f. (KY) Life Is Good – Smart Shopping, by Smart Strike (Lady Be Good branch of Helvetia), consignor Mill Ridge, Barn 5
HIP #210 – dkb. c. (KY) Cyberknife – Somasch, by Johannesburg (Relaxing branch of Big Hurry), consignor Taylor Made Farm, Barn 7B
HIP #218 – b. c. (KY) Into Mischief – Stellar Sound, by Tapit (Versailles Treaty branch of Ten Cents A Dance), consignor Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms, Barn 2
Photos: From the Phipps family of Blitey and Lady Pitt, undefeated Horse of the Year FLIGHTLINE sold as a yearling for $1 million at the 2019 Saratoga Sale (courtesy of Jason Brooks); Charles Christian Cook, “Ogden Mills and Gladys Livingston Mills Phipps,” The Keeneland Library).
Mr. Stuart S. Janney III and Phipps Stable’s homebred four-year-old colt Tom Collins is seeking his maiden win on Friday, July 4th in Race 4 at Saratoga. The maiden special weight race for ages three years and older will cover a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf with a purse of $100,000. Post time is scheduled for 2:46 pm Eastern.
Breaking from post № 7 in a field of 9 entries, Tom Collins is the morning-line second favorite at 7-to-2, with Peter Brant and Tony Shafrazian’s Dirand, a three-year-old Irish-bred by French-bred stallion Sottsass, favored at 3-to-1 after finishing third in his career debut last time out.
Tom Collins is making the fourth start of his 2025 campaign and has placed twice this year, finishing second at Tampa in March and third last month at Saratoga.
Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Tom Collins retains the services of five-time Eclipse award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. who rode him to a third-place finish last time out on June 6th in which he earned a career-high 77 Beyer speed figure.
By Darley’s stallion Frosted, a son of Tapit, Tom Collins is an eighth-generation Janney-Phipps homebred out of multiple stakes-placed Tiznow mare Party Now. The dam came up a neck short of stakes victory in the Tropical Park Oaks at Gulfstream Park in 2014 to eventual multiple graded stakes-winning Irish-bred Sandiva, by British-bred sire Footstepsinthesand.
Tom Collins’s tail-female line traces back to blue hen mare Belle Histoire, by Blue Larkspur, a daughter of Col. E. R. Bradley’s great imported French-bred matriarch La Troienne, by her native sire Teddy. Notable graded stakes winners from the family over the last decade include Inspector Lynley, by Lemon Drop Kid, Five Star General, by Distorted Humor, Seek and Destroy, by Verrazano, and Tammy the Torpedo, by More Than Ready.
Preakness S. (G1), SEIZE THE GREY (Arrogate) – 4th – 7th dams: Impish / Lady Be Good / Past Eight / Helvetia
California Crown S. (G1), SUBSANADOR (ARG) (Fortify) – 4th – 8th dams: Quick Glance / Bonnie Blink / Glamour / Striking / Baby League
Natalma S. (G1), AND ONE MORE TIME (Omaha Beach) – 1st – 6th dams: Complicated / Consequence / Educated Risk / Pure Profit / Clear Ceiling / Grey Flight
Delaware H. (G2), HONOR D LADY (Honor Code) – 1st – 6th dams: Complicated / Consequence / Educated Risk / Pure Profit / Clear Ceiling / Grey Flight
Fort Lauderdale S. (G2), MAJOR DUDE(Bolt d’Oro) – 2nd – 5th dams: Possibility / Personal Ensign / Grecian Banner / Dorine (ARG)
Hillsborough S. (G2), SPARKLE BLUE (Hardspun) – 4th – 6th dams: Leix / Bold Irish / Erin
Music City S. (G2), SIMPLY IN FRONT (Summer Front) – 1st – 6th dams: Complicated / Consequence / Educated Risk / Pure Profit / Clear Ceiling / Grey Flight
Pay Day Mile S. (G2), SEIZE THE GREY (Arrogate) – 4th – 7th dams: Impish / Lady Be Good / Past Eight / Helvetia
Seabiscuit S. (G2), MI HERMANO RAMON (Creative Cause) – 8th – 9th dams: Arrogance / Iseult
Bessarabian S. (G3), STORMCAST (Mitole) – 3rd – 8th dams: Defer / I Pass / Impish / Lady Be Good / Past Eight / Helvetia
Best Pal S. (G3), GETAWAY CAR (Curlin) – 7th – 8th dams: Searching / Big Hurry
Fair Grounds S. (G3), BEATBOX (Pioneer of the Nile) – 1st – 3rd dams: Magical World / Pleasant Home / Our Country Place
Falls City S. (G3), LOVED (Medaglia d’Oro) – 5th – 7th dams: Finance / Busanda / Businesslike
Harlan’s Holiday S. (G3) ROCKET CAN (Into Mischief) – 8th – 9th dams: Exhilarate / Swizzlestick
Ky. Cup Classic (G3), CELLIST (Big Blue Kitten) – 2nd – 5th dams: Indy Pick / Fantastic Find / Blitey / Lady Pitt
La Prevoyante S. (G3), ALPHA BELLA (Justify) – 5th – 8th dams: No Demerits / Lady Be Good / Past Eight / Helvetia
Long Island S. (G3), BE YOUR BEST (IRE) (Muhaar {GB}) – 5th-9th dams: The Garden Club / Fashion Verdict / So Chic / Striking / Baby League
Monmouth S. (G3), FORT WASHINGTON (War Front) – 7th – 8th dams: Searching / Big Hurry
Philip H. Iselin S. (G3), SUBSANADOR (ARG) (Fortify) – 4th – 8th dams: Quick Glance / Bonnie Blink / Glamour / Striking / Baby League
Royal Delta S. (G3), HONOR D LADY (Honor Code) – 1st – 6th dams: Complicated / Consequence / Educated Risk / Pure Profit / Clear Ceiling / Grey Flight
Suwannee River S. (G3), BE YOUR BEST (IRE) (Muhaar {GB}) – 5th-9th dams: The Garden Club / Fashion Verdict / So Chic / Striking / Baby League
Sycamore S. (G3), HIGHWAY ROBBER (Hard Spun) – 9th – 10th dams: Dark Maiden / Dusky Princess
Below: From the Lady Be Good branch of Phipps foundation mare Helvetia, Seize the Grey (Arrogate) won the G1 Preakness. The classic winner has retired and will stand in Kentucky at Gainesway.More on the classic and grade 1 winners descending from Phipps foundation mare Helvetia is available in pedigree expert Alan Porter’s 2020 Blood-Horse story here.
Below: Out of sold Phipps-bred mare Complicated (Blame), juvenile filly And One More Time (Omaha Beach) won the G1 Natalma Stakes in her third career start and was sold for $1 million at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton November sale.From Complicated’s five foals of racing age, four are black-type winners. In addition to And One More Time, they include multiple graded stakes winner Honor D Lady (Honor Code), graded stakes winner Simply in Front (Summer Front), and stakes winner Churchtown (Air Force Blue).
Kentucky Juv. S., CD 5/2 – WEST MEMORIAL (Super Saver)
Purple Martin S., OP 3/16 – ASTERNIA (Super Saver)
Reload’s Sovereign Award Champion Patches O’Houlihan winning the G2 Nearctic Stakes
Mr Speaker’s multiple graded stakes winner Three Technique winning the G3 Ack Ack Stakes to punch his ticket to a third consecutive Breeders’ Cup appearance.
In his second start since a rousing maiden win at Saratoga in August, Phipps Stable homebred Pentathlon is entered for an allowance race on Saturday, October 12th at Aqueduct. The one-mile race over the dirt for ages three years and older has a purse of $92,000 and post time is 4:20 pm Eastern.
The promising chestnut 3-year-old enters the race as the morning-line second-favorite at 3-1. He will break from post No. 8 in a field of 9 entries with jockey Joel Rosario aboard for a third consecutive time.
Pentathlon took show honors in his allowance debut three weeks ago over a mile and an eighth after going to the lead out of the gate and showing the way through the far turn before weakening in the final sixteenth.
He is continuing to train forwardly for Hall of Fame trainer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey, breezing four furlongs on the dirt training track at Belmont on October 6th in 47.47 seconds, ranking fifth of 112 that day.
A sixth-generation Phipps bred, Pentathlon is owned in partnership by his breeder, Vincent Viola’s St. Elias Stable, and the Farish family’s Woodford Racing partnership.
The Speightstown colt out of Tapit mare Parade is from the Personal Ensign branch of Argentine-bred Phipps foundation mare Dorine, acquired by Ogden Phipps in 1970.
Photo: Pentathlon with Joel Rosario aboard for his August 15th maiden win at Saratoga.
Phipps Stable’s 4-year-old filly Self Confident has come into her own this year after winning two of her last three races and is making her next start on opening day of the Keeneland Fall meet, Friday, October 5th.
Entered for Race 5 with a post time of 3:08 pm Eastern, she will break from post No. 8 in a field of a dozen with jockey Manny Franco retaining the mount. The mile and an eighth race for fillies and mares of ages three years and older carries a purse of $120,000.
Self Confident has rewarded the patience of Hall of Fame trainer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey. After sitting out her sophomore campaign last year, she graduated in her fourth start this year in mid-May at Monmouth. She returned in early July, winning her allowance debut at Laurel.
Last time out in early September at Saratoga, she dead-heated for show honors among allowance company after going three wide around the far turn and angling five wide into the stretch to put in a strong drive to the wire.
A ninth-generation Phipps homebred, Self Confident is from the elite Get Lucky branch of Phipps foundation mare Baby League, the same family as Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, grade 1 winners Bluegrass Cat, Callback, Dance Number, Frost Giant, Girolamo, Got Lucky, Numbered Account, Private Account, Rhythm, and Phipps-bred sires Imagining, Not for Love, and Polish Numbers. (For a detailed analysis of this family, see “A Deep Dive Into the Family of Cover Model’s Munnings Colt in the Keeneland September Sale”.)
Photo: Phipps Stable’s Self Confident with Manny Franco aboard at Saratoga, September 2024.
“Dyno” has settled into his new life and role very well. He loves having friends in the pasture and going on adventures.
Since his new owner Madison Thompson can’t start his official training him for eventing until December 1st according to the Retired Racehorse Project rules, she has been doing lots of groundwork and playing with him. He also goes on adventures to watch XC lessons and helps Madison teach her young riders. He truly is such a special horse.
Read more in Joe Nevills’ Paulick Report story here on Dynamic One’s journey this year which has brought him from the Pegasus World Cup Invitational, to the Keeneland Sales ring, to the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, to his new home with Madison Thompson where he will begin his second career.
Fresh off his exciting maiden win at Saratoga, promising sophomore colt Pentathlon is returning to action on Friday, September 20 in Race 7 at Aqueduct. The allowance race for ages three years and older has a purse of $92,000 and post time is 4:09 pm Eastern.
Pentathlon is stretching out to a mile and an eighth for his debut versus winners, one furlong further than the distance for any of his five previous starts.
The morning line 5-to-2 favorite, Pentathlon will break from post No. 2 in a field of 11 entries with jockey Joel Rosario retaining the mount for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.
Last time out on August 15th at Saratoga, Pentathlon rated just off the pace and saved ground in the first turn, backstretch, and far turn. He put in a strong stretch run, taking the lead outside of the sixteenth pole and drawing clear for a three-and-a-half-length victory.
The colt has continued training well, breezing a bullet four furlongs on the dirt at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track in 48 second flat on August 31st, the fastest of 34 workouts that day (video replay here on XBTV). After relocating to Belmont Park, he worked four furlongs in a quick 47⅗ seconds, the second-fastest of 72 workouts that day.
Bred by Phipps Stable, Pentathlon is owned by his breeder in partnership with Vincent Viola’s St. Elias Stable and the Farish family’s Woodford Racing partnership. He is second foal out of Tapit mare Parade, from the Personal Ensign branch of Argentine-bred Phipps foundation mare Dorine, acquired by Ogden Phipps in 1970.
Video: Replay of Pentathlon’s August 15th maiden win at Saratoga with Joel Rosario aboard.
Hip 755 in the Keeneland September Yearling Sale is a Phipps-bred Munnings colt out of War Front mare Cover Model. Consigned by Claiborne Farm, the colt is showing at Barn 28 and selling on Wednesday, September 11th.
The ninth-generation Phipps-bred is from the illustrious Get Lucky branch of La Troienne mare Baby League, identified by Blood-Horse (here) as “one of the strongest families in the stud book.”
Below is a deep dive into the family of his first three dams, which includes a Kentucky Derby winner, several grade 1 winners, and multiple successful sires.
First Dam Cover Model’s Siblings
The yearling’s dam Cover Model, by War Front, is a half-sister to two grade 1 winners. The first is Imagining, by Giant’s Causeway, a millionaire who won the Man o’ War Stakes and placed in four other grade 1 races. Sire of 196 foals of racing age from 6 crops, 45 percent are winners and his progeny’s earnings totaling nearly $7.3 million. His top runner is grade 3 Discovery Stakes runner-up and Maryland Million Classic winner Monday Morning Qb. Cover Model’s second grade 1-winning half-brother is steeplechaser Awakened, by Curlin, winner of the Jonathan Sheppard Handicap last year.
As for her sisters, Cover Model is a half to Snooze, by Forestry, the granddam of grade 1 Frizette Stakes winner Chocolate Gelato, by Practical Joke. Cover Model’s stakes-placed half-sister Browse, by Medaglia d’Oro, is the dam of William Farish-bred Pipit, by Quality Road, winner of the Victoria Stakes last year.
Second Dam Daydreaming and Her Siblings’ Families
The yearling’s second dam Daydreaming, by A.P. Indy, won three graded stakes, including the grade 2 Top Flight Handicap, grade 3 Next Move Handicap, and grade 3 Indiana Breeders’ Cup Oaks, all on the dirt ranging from 8 to 9 furlongs. She also placed in the grade 1 Gazelle Handicap and Spinaway Stakes.
Daydreaming’s Siblings: Sires Girolamo, Accelerator and Harborage
Three of Daydream’s siblings are sires. Her full brothers include Girolamo, winner of the grade 1 Vosberg Stakes for Godolphin, and Accelerator, winner of the grade 3 Pilgrim Stakes and runner-up in the grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes. Daydreaming’s half-brother Harborage, by Monarchos, won the listed Victoria Park Stakes over 9 furlongs on the dirt.
Girolamo stood in Kentucky at Darley and is the sire of 390 foals of racing age from 10 crops, with 46 percent being winners. He is the sire of two champions and a dozen stakes winners, with career earnings of $18.6 million. His top U.S. runner is Chester & Mary Broman’s homebred Highway Star, winner of four graded stakes and placing in two grade 1s, with earnings of $1.3 million.
Accelerator stood in Kentucky at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms. He sired 141 foals from 4 crops, with 52 percent of them becoming winners. His progeny have earned nearly $4.7 million, with his top runner being grade 3 winner and dual grade 1-placed Big Booster.
Harborage stands in Louisiana and is the sire of 94 foals of racing age from 13 crops, 38 percent of which are winners. His progeny have earned more than $1.9 million, with his top runner being Louisiana-bred Off Cycle, winner of the black-type Acadiana Stakes.
Daydreaming’s Grade 1-Producing Siblings
Daydreaming is a sibling to three grade 1-producers. They include her half-sister Supercharger, by A.P. Indy, producer of grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winning sire Super Saver, by Maria’s Mon, her full sister She’s a Winner, producer of grade 1 Haskell winner and dual classic runner-up Bluegrass Cat, also a sire, and her half-sister Malka, by Deputy Minister, producer of grade 1 Spinster Stakes winner Got Lucky, by A.P. Indy.
Sires Out Of Daydreaming’s Siblings: Super Saver, Bluegrass Cat, Dramedy, and Brethren
Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, out of Supercharger, entered stud in Kentucky at WinStar Farm and is the sire of 1,203 foals of racing age from 13 crops, with 54 percent going on to become winners. He is the sire of 6 champions and 27 graded or group stakes winners, with earnings of more than $54 million. His progeny include Eclipse Champion Older Dirt Female Letruska, and grade 1 winners Happy Saver, Embellish the Lace, Runhappy, and Competitive Edge.
Haskell winner Bluegrass Cat, out of She’s a Winner, also began his stud career in Kentucky at WinStar Farm and is the sire of 1,123 foals of racing age from 15 crops, 58 percent of which are winners. Sire of one champion and 9 graded or group winners, his progeny’s earnings total nearly $55 million. His top U.S. runners include grade 1-placed Sabercat and Kathmanblu, both sires.
Bluegrass Cat’s full brother Dramedy, by Distorted Humor, won the grade 2 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes. He entered stud in Kentucky at War Horse Place and is the sire of 53 foals of racing age from 6 crops, 55 percent of which are winners. Dramedy’s progeny’s earnings total nearly $3.9 million. His top runner is Mighty Heart, a multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire and 2020 Canadian Horse of the Year. He’s a dual-classics winner of Canada’s Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales Stakes, as well as the grade 2 Autumn Stakes and grade 3 Dominion Day Stakes.
WinStar-bred Distorted Humor colt Brethren, out of Supercharger, won the grade 3 Sam F. Davis Stakes, placed in the grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, and stands at Arindel Farm in Ocala, Florida. Brethren is the sire of 308 foals from 8 crops of racing age, 52 percent of which are winners. His progeny include one champion and four graded stakes winners. His top runners include this year’s grade 3 Razorback Handicap winner Octane, who has career earnings of more than $1 million, and multiple graded stakes winner Clapton, winner of last year’s grade 2 Lucan Classic Stakes and grade 3 Ghostzapper Stakes before placing this January in the group l Maktoum Challenge at Meydan. Clapton’s earnings total nearly $1 million.
Supercharger’s Other Graded Winners
In addition to Super Saver and Brethren, Supercharger is the dam of grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap winner Cyrus Alexander, by Medaglia d’Oro. She is also the granddam of Spendthrift Farm’s Callback, by Street Sense, winner of the grade 1 Las Virgenes Stakes, and great-granddam of Ontario-bred Mommasgottarun, by Maclean’s Music, winner of Aqueduct’s grade 3 Distaff Handicap in 2023.
She’s A Winner’s Other Graded Winners
In addition to producing Bluegrass Cat and Dramedy, She’s a Winner is the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Lord of the Game, by Saint Ballado, winner of the grade 2 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Breeders’ Cup Handicap and grade 3 Hanshin Cup Handicap. Lastly, She’s a Winner is also the granddam of Nonna Mela, by Arch, winner of the grade 2 Adirondack Stakes.
Third Dam Get Lucky
The yearling’s third dam Get Lucky, by Mr. Prospector, won the grade 3 Affectionately Handicap and, as detailed above, is the ancestress of an impressive family. Out of grade 1 Beldame Stakes winner Dance Number, by Northern Dancer, Get Lucky is a full sibling to dual grade 1-winning millionaire Rhythm, by Mr. Prospector, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Travers Stakes. He sired 965 foals, 20 of which were stakes winners. Get Lucky is also a full sibling to stakes-placed Not for Love, a 15-time leading sire in Maryland. He’s the broodmare sire of Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Max Player.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Phipps Stable’s well-bred filly Self Confident has rewarded the patience of her connections in recent months with maiden and allowance wins and seeks to continue her success on Monday, September 2nd in Race 5, her first career start at Saratoga.
The allowance optional claiming race for fillies and mares of ages three years and older has a purse of $115,000 and will cover a mile and an eighth over the inner turf. She will break from outside post No. 9 with jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard. Post time is 2:46 pm Eastern.
After sitting out her three-year old campaign last year, she has progressed nicely, finishing fourth in her first two starts back in January and February at Gulfstream, followed by a third-place finish at Tampa in April.
She graduated in her fourth start this year in mid-May with an exciting win over mile and a sixteenth on the turf at Monmouth. Breaking from the outside post in a field of seven, jockey Samy Camacho settled her just off the pace in the two-path. After stalking in the far turn, she rallied three wide into the stretch and surged nearing the finish line to win by a head.
She returned in early July for an allowance at Laurel, a race that also covered a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. With Forest Boyce aboard, she saved ground around the first turn and stalked the pace from the inner rail down the backstretch and far turn. She moved to the three-path approaching the stretch before putting in a successful bid for the lead inside the eighth pole to win by a neck.
Despite her recent success, she enters the race as a 15-to-1 longshot. Among her competitors are grade 2 Wonder Again Stakes winner Prerequisite, by Upstart, grade 3 Gazelle Stakes winner Promiseher America, by American Pharoah, as well as stakes-placed fillies Root Cause, by Into Mischief, and Thegirlfromireland, by Goldencents.
Three weeks after her allowance victory at Laurel, she returned to timed workouts, putting in a series of weekly breezes at Saratoga on the turf training track, most recently breezing four furlongs in 50 seconds flat on August 23rd.
Coming off of 58 days of rest, Self Confident should be fresh for her first test at The Spa. Hall of Fame trainer Claude R. “Shug” McGaughey’s runners win 20 percent of their starts when coming off 31 to 60 days rest and he has the same success rate for horses who won last time out.
Jockey Tyler Gaffalione has had success riding for Phipps Stable, guiding homebred Dynamic One to victory in the 2022 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs. Mr. Gaffalione is having a strong Saratoga meet, ranked third for wins with 36. From 195 starts, he’s won 18 percent and finished among the top three in 48 percent.
A ninth-generation Phipps homebred, Self Confident is from the elite Get Lucky branch of Phipps foundation mare Baby League. A daughter of the great French mare La Troienne, Baby League was acquired from E.R. Bradley’s Idle Hour Stock Farm in 1946 by Ogden Phipps and stands atop of one of the most sought-after female families in the stud book. Through the branch of her descendant Get Lucky, from which Self Confident descends, the family includes Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, grade 1 winners Bluegrass Cat, Callback, Dance Number, Frost Giant, Girolamo, Got Lucky, Numbered Account, Private Account, Rhythm, and Phipps-bred sires Imagining, Not for Love, and Polish Numbers.
Photo: Self Confident at Saratoga, July 2024, courtesy of Daisy Phipps Pulito
Phipps Stable Fan 