Autostrade, a grandson of Drakenstein Stud’s leading sire Trippi, made an eye catching debut when he won first time out at Gulfstream Park on Sunday.

Hammering as the most expensive juvenile and fourth-most expensive lot overall from his sire Giant’s Causeway in 2017 after breezing a furlong in :10 flat, the chestnut flashed talent in a string of Palm Beach Downs workouts, highlighted by a half-mile in :49 1/5 (1/5) Feb. 26.
Taking the bulk of early money before drifting up to 12-5 by post, Autostrade was the first to leave the blocks and hooked up with fourth-timer Crafty Jack (Trajectory) through a :22.71 quarter. Starting to edge away from that rival at the five-sixteenths pole, the Todd Pletcher trained colt opened clear after straightening for home and finished up strong to score by five lengths.
Autostrade is out of Trippi’s dual winning daughter Hot Trip, who ran third in the Go For Wand Stakes. Hot Trip is a full-sister to G1 Spinaway Stakes winner R Heat Lightning-who ran second, to champion Awesome Feather, in the 2010 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
R Heat Lightning earned over $950 000 in prize money and was sold for $1.6 million at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale.

South Africa’s Champion Sire in 2015-2016, Trippi has already made his mark as a broodmare sire through dual G1 winning sire Liam’s Map, and fellow graded stakes winners Not This Time, Miss Sunset and Multiplier.
The sire of over 130 stakes horses, Trippi has two lots on next month’s April Yearling Sale and eight lots on the 2018 Emperors Palace National Yearling Sale.