Among this year’s first-crop yearling sires, the obvious headliner has been unbeaten Horse of the Year Flightline, who garnered a stellar book of mares in his first season at stud and is already garnering strong commercial results. But he is by no means the only accomplished racehorse in this class. A wide representation of stallions’ progeny will be presented before a global audience at the Keeneland September yearling sale, with Grade/Group 1 winners in the class including Eclipse Award champions Corniche, Epicenter, and Jackie’s Warrior; American classic winners Early Voting, Mandaloun, Mo Donegal, and Sir Winston; Breeders’ Cup winners Aloha West, Fire At Will, and Golden Pal; Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide; and Cox Plate winner State of Rest. “It’s as deep a first-year bench as I can remember,” said Price Bell Jr., general manager of Mill Ridge, which stands Aloha West. Three first-crop sires made a splash by recording seven-figure sales at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, which featured an elite group comparable to the Book 1 portion of Keeneland September. The trio was led by Flightline, who had eight yearlings sell for an average price of $887,500, against his introductory advertised fee of $200,000 at Lane’s End. The average was fueled by two seven-figure horses – a $1.8 million colt out of Grade 3-placed stakes winner Park Avenue purchased by John Oxley and West Point Thoroughbreds and a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Barnes purchased for $1.1 million by West Point. “Flightline is just like he was in his racing career – his progeny look like winners,” said David Ingordo, who serves as a bloodstock adviser to Lane’s End. “They might be all different colors, this or that, but in general, he stamps them very well. I want as many of them behind our webbing as we can get, because I don’t want to be running against them. I want them to be running for us.” Flightline will have every chance to make a major impact at Keeneland September with 64 yearlings in the catalog, and more than half of those, 33, were selected for Book 1. His offerings include yearlings out of outstanding broodmares such as Special Me, dam of four graded stakes winners, including Grade 1 winners Gift Box and Gina Romantica; and Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Unrivaled Belle, dam of two-time champion Unique Bella. He also is represented by half-siblings to Hall of Famer Arrogate; Kentucky Derby winner and champion Authentic; champions Caledonia Road and Say the Word; and Grade 1 winners Americanrevolution, Golden Pal, Search Results, and Volatile. Joining Flightline in the seven-figure club at a Saratoga marketplace that often skews toward proven sires were WinStar Farm’s Life Is Good and Juddmonte’s Mandaloun – both multiple Grade 1-winning sons of leading sire and sire of sires Into Mischief. Mike Repole spent $1,025,000 for a Life Is Good half-brother to Preakness winner Seize the Grey, while Mandaloun was represented by a $1 million half-brother to champion Citizen Bull, purchased by Pin Oak Stud. Life Is Good is averaging $471,000 from 10 yearlings sold thus far this season, and had three, in addition to his seven-figure lot, sell for $500,000 or more in Saratoga. Life Is Good, who stood for $100,000 in his first season, has 17 yearlings in Keeneland September’s Book 1, including a half-sibling to Grade 1 winner Casa Creed. Mandaloun is averaging $163,000 from 12 yearlings sold across the first three auctions of this season, which is more than 6.5 times his introductory fee of $25,000. His lone yearling in September’s Book 1 is a half-brother to multiple Grade 1-placed Just a Touch. While those three stallions made headlines with their seven-figure tags in Saratoga, a number of other top-performing runners in this class have already had strong commercial results, with many generating strong returns on investment for their breeders. Preakness winner Early Voting, from the first crop of the phenomenal Gun Runner, had his initial season at stud halted when he developed anejaculatory syndrome. He was moved from Coolmore’s Ashford Stud to Taylor Made Farm, underwent a fertility enhancement treatment that had been developed on exotic birds, and successfully resumed his stud career. His top lot so far is a $525,000 filly who co-topped the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale. She was purchased by a group including trainer Danny Gargan, Sabby Racing, and bloodstock agent Megan Jones. “We thought she was the best filly in the sale,” Jones told the New York Thoroughbred Breeders. “Amazing body, great physical. She had a lot of Gun Runner in her, I thought. We just loved her. She’s very smart.” Overall, Early Voting is averaging $150,769 from 13 yearlings sold across this season’s first three sales – more than six times his introductory fee of $25,000. Another son of Gun Runner in this class, multiple Grade 1 winner Cyberknife, is averaging $113,789 from 19 sold this season. He stood for $30,000 in his first season at Spendthrift Farm. “We’re seeing really athletic, balanced individuals,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. “He’s a horse with some leg underneath him and some scope. I think they’re classy-looking animals. I’ve heard great feedback from the sales companies as they’ve gotten around and done their inspections. He’s absolutely just as sound as could be, certainly something breeders could use more of, and no shortage of brilliance on his part.” Spendthrift has three other stallions in this class, with Cyberknife joined by Eclipse Award champion sprinter Jackie’s Warrior; Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal; and Grade 2 winner Greatest Honour. As he was in his racing career, Jackie’s Warrior, who debuted for $50,000, has been quick-starting. Led by $625,000 and $525,000 colts at the Saratoga select sale, he has had 13 sell for an average of $272,692, well more than five times his introductory fee. “The soundness, I think, is a big part of his résumé, combined with brilliance and athleticism,” Toffey said. “He’s obviously an elite talent, and an elite physical, and he is absolutely throwing that. That’s what we’re seeing in the yearlings. “I think people got a good look with his weanlings. He’s a very muscular, very athletic horse, and that’s what you’re seeing with his yearlings. . . . He’s done a good job of adding some substance to his mares, but not too much. They’re muscular, athletic, but not overly so.” Another stellar sprinter, multiple Grade 1 winner Jack Christopher, topped the Fasig-Tipton July sale with a $350,000 colt. Since then, he has coasted to an average of $152,500 from 18 yearlings sold this season, against a fee of $45,000 at Ashford Stud, where he stands alongside his sire, the remarkably similar Munnings. “I’d say they’ve got good hips and shoulders on them, great bodies,” Adrian Mansergh Wallace, part of the nominations and sales division at Coolmore America, said of the Jack Christopher yearlings. “They’re very correct, they look like him. Munnings did the same – he stamped his horses in a very particular fashion like himself. You definitely could pick them out of a lineup, and I think you could do the same with Jack Christopher.”