West Point Returns to Familiar Place for $1M Tapit Colt

West Point Thoroughbreds found themselves in the spotlight at The Saratoga Sale once again Aug. 5, when they purchased the session-topper of Fasig-Tipton's selected yearling sale on a final bid of $1 million.

West Point, who went to $1.35 million for last year's sale-topping Medaglia d'Oro  colt—purchased in partnership with Robert Masiello, Chris Larsen, and Siena—said the buy was part of their continued plan to acquire high-dollar yearlings. The goal, explained West Point's Terry Finley, is to make sure those big pedigrees translate to big returns on the racetrack. 

"We will probably have a couple of partners that are going to come in, but we have to show them," Finley said. "Everything will come together in the next 24 hours. He's by Tapit , and we love Tapit.

"We thought he was a great physical and we liked him, so we tried to buy him," he added. "We thought we'd have a good shot at that level, and I'm glad we ended up with the winning bid at the hammer drop. The reserve, I think, was like $799,000, so I know they had a lot of confidence in him. I'm just very excited. If you keep buying these kinds of horses, then you hope you will be back to the big time. That's what partners want—really top-end horses and to take a shot at the brass ring, so to speak." 

Consigned as Hip 80 by Lane's End, agent, the colt named Flightline was bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine out of the grade 3-winning Indian Charlie mare Feathered, who placed in three grade 1 stakes. The colt's third dam is multiple grade 1 winner Finder's Fee, a daughter of top sire Storm Cat.

"We were hoping and expecting him to bring a million dollars, and we would have been very disappointed if he hadn't, honestly," said Lyon. "We knew he was a good colt all along, and you hope you get paid for good colts."

Finley said the colt first appeared on West Point's radar in the spring when bloodstock agent David Ingordo, who also serves as the bloodstock advisor for Lane's End, began to inspect yearlings. 

"I think David saw him for the first time in the middle of the spring, so that's a big help, to have someone like David go around to the farms," Finley said. "I'm really happy with the relationship we have with Ingordo and the Lane's End family. When it all works, it works." 

Summer Wind bought Feathered carrying her first foal, by War Front , for $2.35 million at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, with the resulting filly named Good On Paper. The mare produced a Pioneerof the Nile colt named Riddleofthesphinx in 2019 and is back in foal to Tapit, Lyon said.

"Feathered is a lovely mare who ran well both on dirt and turf," she added. "This is her second foal for us, and we've loved him from the day he was born. We're very, very happy that he turned into such a nice yearling.

"We've had a lot of good luck with Tapit, and we like him a lot. We like a lot of other stallions, too, but we wanted to give some of our mares a jump start, and so we bred several of our better-bred mares to Tapit."

The colt was one of only three yearlings bred by Summer Equine entered in the two-day sale. The first was Hip 24, a Frosted  filly named Silver Strand out of the Hennessy mare India who was purchased for $575,000 by Mike Ryan, agent. The third is Hip 162, an Uncle Mo  filly named Mozay out of the Smart Strike mare Zinay. The filly will sell during the Aug. 6 second session. All Summer Wind yearlings were consigned with Lane's End. 

Allaire Ryan, director of sales for Lane's End, said the operation is proud to consign Lyon's product.

"She's a great supporter of this sale, she's had a great year as well as a breeder, and it's a pleasure to represent her here, especially with a horse like that," Ryan said of Hip 80. "He's a lovely colt with a top-class physical and demeanor. He showed himself super from day one, so we're really happy with what he brought. When a couple people team up and take it to that level, it's good for everybody."

"I think (Tapit) is the big man on all campuses," said Michael Hernon of Gainesway, where Tapit has stood since entering stud in 2005.

For his part, Hernon said he is excited that Tapit's sons, who have begun to garner their own success in the auction ring and on the racetrack, will help carry the stallion's legacy into the future. 

"We've been around and looked at several Tapits here, and it's nice to see the emergence in the commercial arena of (Tapit son and first-crop sire) Frosted ," Hernon said. "He's a top horse, a terrific miler who won the Met Mile (G1) in sensational fashion. He's getting a very good-looking horse, and you can see Tapit in them.

"There are a number of his sons now emerging. You have Constitution , Tapiture , and our own Tapizar , sire of the brilliant filly Monomoy Girl. And we have another son at Gainesway, Anchor Down , whose first crop are yearlings. He was a sneaky fast horse out of a graded stakes-winning Orientate mare. He is already dominating his mares, and they're very like him—big, rangy horses with good hips. They look fast, and you'll see a good sprinkling of them in the fall.

"Tapit, on top of all that, has been bred to top mares through the years, and his daughters are becoming significant producers. He's very influential from that point of view on the bottom side of the pedigree. This is a story that is going to endure for a while, and hopefully we are all around for the final tale. He's just rewritten the modern era. What more can you say?" 

West Point purchased two other yearlings during Monday's opening session, beginning with Hip 34, a $235,000 Mshawish  colt out of the Malibu Moon  mare Jolene. The colt was bred in Kentucky by Mark Taylor, Julia Taylor, BGT, George E. Saufley, and Louis Brooks Ranch. His extended female family includes grade 3-placed Top Notch Lady and stakes winner Ocean Breeze. 

West Point and Chris Larsen went to $500,000 for Hip 50, a son of Ghostzapper  out of the black-type-placed Olmodavor mare Liza Too who was bred in Kentucky by Breeze Easy. The colt's second dam, Seeking the Silver, produced grade 1 winners Paulassilverlining and Dads Caps.