By Steve Sherack
LEXINGTON, KY – You can add horse of a lifetime to the superlatives now, too.
Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) ran to his already unworldly reputation, and, dare we say, even more, with a spectacular 8 1/4-length victory in Saturday's $6-million GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland. Olympiad (Speightstown) and fellow 'Rising Star' Taiba (Gun Runner) filled out the minors.
“A great win today. He just ran beautiful; just like we thought he could,” said winning trainer John Sadler, who previously put to bed an 0-for-44 mark at the Championships with Accelerate's win in the 2018 Classic.
“This is one of the greatest horses of all time.”
Just as it figured on paper, the 2-5 favorite chased from second as the classy returning GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) sped through punishing fractions of :22.55 and :45.47.
With the field down to seven midway through the backstretch run as top 3-year-old Epicenter (Not This Time) went wrong and was pulled up by Joel Rosario–more to come on the GI Runhappy Travers S. winner–the top two were in a race of their own as Life Is Good let it out a notch to lead by three lengths entering the far turn.
If you thought the place was already rocking from the sustained 20-plus mph winds throughout the day, you hadn't seen nothing yet.
Flightline, still on cruise control, made his move beneath Flavien Prat approaching the quarter pole and the crowd of 45,973 absolutely lost it. Life Is Good, out in the three path with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard, had no response as they straightened, and it was a sight to see from there.
Moving every bit as beautifully as 'Grand Slam' winner American Pharoah was down this same stretch in this race seven years ago, Flightline glided under the line all by himself while stopping the timer for 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.05, just a tick off the track record. Flightline was .02 of a second faster than American Pharoah's Classic.
“I felt like I was in control the whole race,” Prat said after piloting home his fourth winner at the Championships. “Once I broke well and was where I wanted to be, I was in control. You never know what to expect because it's horse racing. Sometimes it doesn't happen the way you think it will. I can't thank John Sadler and [assistant trainer and exercise rider] Juan Leyva enough.”
Campaigned in partnership by the all-star line-up of Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, breeder Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing, the $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling entered the Classic with a Herculean five-for-five record. The combined winning margin of those races was an incredible 62 3/4 lengths.
Flightline's resume was previously headed by a trio of runaway victories in the GI Runhappy Malibu S., GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. and a record-setting 19 1/4-length romp while making his two-turn debut in the GI TVG Pacific Classic S. The latter earned him an astronomic 126 Beyer Speed Figure and a negative 8 1/2 from Thoro-Graph, the fastest number the latter has ever given.
“He's been brilliant,” Sadler said. “Brilliant is his normal. He didn't disappoint. He never has. We're just really thrilled.”
Now, for the question on everyone's mind. Will we see Flightline back for a 5-year-old campaign? Neither co-owner Kosta Hronis or Sadler was quite ready to provide an answer in the post-race press conference.
“The team behind Flightline, I've said this before and I'm going to say it again in front of the world, as blessed as the partnership is to be all together as the partners, to have a horse like Flightline in our lifetime is just unbelievable and great,” Hronis said.
“We're in a partnership. We're very respectful people and we respect the partnership. We'll all get together and discuss it at a later time and decide. We'll always do what's best by the horse. I can promise you that.”
Sadler concluded, “I'll be there in the morning to check him out. And then we'll let him tell us what the best thing is.”
Epicenter Update…
Epicenter was pulled up after sustaining an injury to his right forelimb and was attended to by KHRC Chief Veterinarian Dr. Nick Smith. He walked onto the equine ambulance and was transported to nearby Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. After further evaluation by Dr. Larry Bramlage and his counterparts, Epicenter was found to have sustained a repairable displaced condylar fracture. He will undergo surgery Sunday morning.
Pedigree Notes…
Future Lane's End stallion Flightline becomes the seventh Breeders' Cup winner and first in the Classic for leading sire Tapit. Indian Charlie is also the broodmare sire of Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and champion sprinter Mitole and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Dayoutoftheoffice.
Breeder Jane Lyon bought Flightline's dam Feathered for $2.35 million at the 2016 Keeneland November sale. Feathered produced a 2-year-old full-brother to Flightline named Olivier, who RNA'd for $390,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.
Lyon is planning on racing him in partnership.
The 10-year-old mare also has a yearling colt by Curlin named Eagles Flight, a filly foaled May 17 by Into Mischief, and has been bred back to Tapit.
Flightline hails from a deep Phipps family. His third dam is MGISW Finder's Fee (Storm Cat), a daughter of GISW Fantastic Find (Mr. Prospector).
Saturday, Keeneland
LONGINES BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC-GI, $5,340,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, 1 1/4m, 2:00.05, ft.
1–FLIGHTLINE, 126, c, 4, by Tapit
1st Dam: Feathered (GSW & MGISP, $577,474), by Indian Charlie
2nd Dam: Receipt, by Dynaformer
3rd Dam: Finder's Fee, by Storm Cat
'TDN Rising Star'. ($1,000,000 Ylg '19 FTSAUG). O-Hronis
Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine LLC, West
Point Thoroughbreds & Woodford Racing, LLC; B-Summer
Wind Equine LLC (KY); T-John W. Sadler; J-Flavien Prat.
$3,120,000. Lifetime Record: 6-6-0-0, $4,514,800. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Olympiad, 126, c, 4, Speightstown–Tokyo Time, by
Medaglia d'Oro. ($700,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview
Equine, Cheyenne Stable, LLC & LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A.
Hamilton (KY); T-William I. Mott. $1,020,000.
3–Taiba, 122, c, 3, Gun Runner–Needmore Flattery, by Flatter.
'TDN Rising Star'. ($140,000 Ylg '20 FTKOCT; $1,700,000 2yo
'21 FTFMAR). O-Zedan Racing Stables, Inc.; B-Bruce C Ryan
(KY); T-Bob Baffert. $540,000.
Margins: 8 1/4, HF, 2HF. Odds: 0.44, 26.88, 8.26.
Also Ran: Rich Strike, Life Is Good, Hot Rod Charlie, Happy Saver, Epicenter.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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