Kosta Hronis

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com Easy one. My favorite moment was in February when Lane's End Farm called and said that Flightline was enjoying his new career as a stallion.

Accelerate, one of the top racehorses of his generation, will be relocated to the Hall of Champions at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lane's End Farm announced Tuesday. Accelerate was a five-time Grade I winner on the racetrack with over $6.6 million in earnings. His victory in the 2018 GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs capped off a season in which he also won the GI Santa Anita H., GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita, GI Pacific Classic S., and GI Awesome Again S. Accelerate had stood at Lane's End...

"We need a hero," owner Kosta Hronis said, overcome with emotion standing in the winner's circle following the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, where Flightline (Tapit) ran one of the greatest races in the long history of the sport. "We need a champion," he continued. "We need an undefeated horse. Someone who can go out and do this and that's Flightline." In those four short sentences Hronis captured the moment, the sentiment and all the reasons why Flightline needs to be brought back for a 2023 campaign. It's because the sport...

LEXINGTON, KY - Juan Leyva has a first-class 'Flight' for this year's Championships. The assistant trainer to John Sadler and former Breeders' Cup winning-jockey is the regular morning partner of unbeaten sensation and 3-5 Classic morning-line favorite Flightline (Tapit). The highest-rated racehorse in the world has won his first five starts by an astounding combined margin of 62 3/4 lengths, led by a jaw-dropping 19 1/4-length win while making his two-turn debut in the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Getting the monster that is Flightline to harness some of...

Kosta Hronis joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to share what the experience is like to be a co-owner in superstar Flightline and noted that there was a "great possibility" that the son of Tapit would race in 2023 rather than beginning his stallion career.

It appears that the door is open more than just a crack when it comes to whether or not racing's superstar Flightline (Tapit) will race next year as a 5-year-old. Appearing as the Green Group Guest of the Week on this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, Kosta Hronis, a co-owner of Flightline, said there was a "great possibility" that Flightline would race in 2023 rather than beginning his stallion career. "Just like with Stellar Wind (Curlin), which we left on the track an extra year,...

The Jockey Club has elected six new members: Len Coleman, who served alongside Dr. Nancy Cox as co-chair of the blue-ribbon nominating committee that was formed to select members of the board of directors and standing committees of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA); Dr. Nancy Cox, in addition to her aforementioned role, Cox is the vice president for Land Grant Engagement and the dean of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Kentucky (UK). Also elected were Marc Holliday, who was elected chairman of...

Last year's GI Santa Anita H. victor Combatant (Scat Daddy--Border Dispute, by Boundary) has been retired and will stand at Rockridge Stud in Hudson, New York, beginning with the 2022 season. Campaigned by Hronis Racing, the 6-year-old was sold to Brian Levings of Levings Racing in a deal brokered by Matt Bowling of Bowling Bloodstock, Colt Pike and David Ingordo. "I've had fun on the racing side and decided to dip a toe in the stallion market," said Levings. "New York has a strong program and has shown that stallions...

ELMONT, NY -- After a forgettable run on the first Saturday in May, the previously unbeaten Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}) will get his shot at redemption in the 153rd renewal of the GI Belmont S. Off as the 9-2 second-choice in the GI Kentucky Derby following a jaw-dropping, front-running tally in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby at third asking, the dark bay's race was over well before his well-documented trouble at the start that day, per co-owner Kosta Hronis. "I think he showed a lot of immaturity,"...

The fastest 3-year-old in training will not be found in the field for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby. In one of the most impressive debuts turned in by a 3-year-old colt in years, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) not only won Saturday's maiden special weight at Santa Anita by 13 1/4 lengths, he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure (video). Based on the numbers, that makes him faster than any of the 20 horses lining up for the Derby. His stablemate, Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), earned a 100 Beyer...

Hronis Racing's Grade I-winning millionaire Gift Box (Twirling Candy--Special Me, by Unbridled's Song) has been retired from racing and will take up stud duties in 2021 at Lane's End Farm. On the board in the GII Remsen S. as a juvenile and second in the Curlin S. at Saratoga as a sophomore, Gift Box joined the John Sadler barn in the second half of his 5-year-old season and immediately bested GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) in the GII San Antonio S. in December of...