It’s been two years since Flightline roared to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic – and it will be two more years before his first foals are eligible to appear at a Breeders’ Cup. But in the meantime, Flightline’s first weanlings will be among the talking points at this month’s Kentucky mixed sales, representing a stallion who is already building a major commercial reputation.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dispersals at Thoroughbred auctions are always a bittersweet occasion. They often represent the closing of a chapter or the shifting of focus for prominent operations, sometimes due to sad circumstances. But on the sweeter side, they represent a chance for other operations to invest in prominent bloodlines that have been crafted like artwork through generations.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Thundering, who graduated in style in the Display Stakes, will test his mettle around two turns in Sunday’s Grade 3, $135,000 Grey Stakes for 2-year-olds.

Trained by Patrick Dixon, Thundering made both of his starts over seven furlongs on the Tapeta. The Maryland-bred had worked lights-out before a closing third after a tardy start when debuting in a slow-paced maiden special Sept. 15.

Valentine Candy has had one of the most consistent campaigns for a sprinter this season. A five-time stakes winner in his career, he has won three of those stakes this season. Of the 11 entrants in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar, only one of those came in with as many as three stakes wins in 2024, that being Valentine’s Candy’s Steve Asmussen-trained stablemate, Skelly.

DEL MAR, Calif. – On day 2 of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar, two trainers will attempt to do something they’ve never done while two trainers will attempt to continue to do what they’ve always done.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Nobody was more surprised to see Nakatomi holding a narrow lead midway down the backstretch in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Sprint than his trainer, Wesley Ward. But that is certain not to be the case when Nakatomi tries his luck again in a field absolutely loaded with early speed Saturday at Del Mar in the $2 million Sprint.

DEL MAR, Calif. – A race initially billed as a two-horse showdown between a champion mare and an outstanding young filly, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Distaff storyline shifted. It might be a one-horse coronation.

Thorpedo Anna, whose Kentucky Oaks was the first of four Grade 1 wins, enters the $2 million BC Distaff as the most heavily favored runner Saturday at Del Mar. It was not supposed to look this easy, but Idiomatic, 2023 champion older female and early Distaff favorite, was injured and retired last week.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Christoper Head never wanted to become a jockey. Not interested when he was young enough for an early start, not the right weight when he might’ve gotten interested. In his early 20s, he studied computing and languages. That came at the urging of his father. The algorithm generating his family history pushed him away from computers. The Heads are coded to work with horses.

I Know I Know, who will be seeking to win his third consecutive race Saturday when he starts in the $95,000 Armed Forces at Gulfstream Park, is a rare type of starter for longtime trainer Patrick Biancone.

“I’m the proud breeder,” he said.

DEL MAR, Calif. – In a span of 24 hours back in May, trainer Kenny McPeek won his first Kentucky Oaks and first Kentucky Derby. He also was the first trainer to win both races in the same year in 72 years.

“I’m still slapping myself every now and then going, ‘Huh, did we do that?’ ” McPeek said. “We’re really proud of it. Still, you got to get up the next day and keep rolling. All the work is exhausting; probably never worked so hard than I worked this year. It is a game that will humble you.”