Flightline, we hardly knew ya.
But what we were privileged to see was breathtaking.
On Sunday morning, November 6, just over 12 hours after another stunning racing performance, this time in the 39th Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), Flightline was loaded on a van at Keeneland racecourse in Lexington, KY and traveled a short way to Lane’s End Farm, ready to begin his new career as a stallion.
One of the most freakishly talented horses to be seen in decades, FLIGHTLINE just completed a 6-for-6 career that began in April 2021 with an impossibly easy win in the 1 1/4 mile Classic on a cloudy and very windy day at beautiful Keeneland.
We knew it was coming – the retirement – but it was hard to accept when Thoroughbred horse racing benefits so much from its stars.
Flightline, a $1 million yearling purchase three years ago, did not debut until the spring of his 3-year-old year. Carefully managed by trainer John Sadler for the ownership group of Hronis Racing, Summer Wind Equine (breeder), Siena Farm and West Point Thoroughbreds, Flightline won five races, three Grade 1s, and posted a stunning 126 Beyer Speed Figure when he won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on September 3 at Del Mar.
The son of Tapit – Feathered by Indian Charlie attracted a standing room-only crowd to Keeneland, hosting its third Breeders’ Cup World Championships to its elegant track. Everyone just wanted a glimpse of the great colt as he walked the saddling ring before Flavian Prat was given a leg up and the pair headed out to the track.
This was the ultimate test for Flightline as he was meeting Life Is Good, Epicenter, Rich Strike, Hot Rod Charlie and Taiba, all Grade 1 winning stars.
But it turned out to be a one-horse coronation.
Life Is Good shot to the front out of the gate with Flightline taking up a stalking position to his outside through sizzling fractions of :22.55, :45.47 and 1:09.62 as the two opened up 10 lengths on the rest of the field. Nearing the far turn, Prat took a look over his shoulder to see if anyone was closing in but there was nothing behind him but open space. Flightline was 3 lengths back on the turn but rapidly cut into the deficit and reached even terms at the top of the stretch.
Life Is Good had no response as Flightline roared on by and quickly opened up, leaving the race for place that was earned by Olympiad, who finished a half-length in front of Taiba.
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike finished another 2 ½ lengths back in fourth and was followed in order by Life Is Good, Hot Rod Charlie and Happy Saver. Epicenter did not finish and was having surgery for a condylar fracture on Sunday.
The time of 2:00.05 was good for a 121 Beyer Figure.
The roar of the crowd when Flightline returned to the trackside winner’s circle was deafening.
Champion jockey John Velazquez, who landed seventh on Happy Saver, summed it up well. “I mean all you can say is ‘wow’. That horse [Flightline] is definitely a freak of nature. To go like he did today having a fast pace and being able to keep running, it’s one of those few things we see in racing that really impress us. It’s kind of sad that he might be done racing now. It’s hard to see him go away because this is what makes racing exciting.”
Flightline will begin stallion duties at Lane’s End in 2023. He retires with earnings of over $4.5 million. He is the second foal to race for his dam Feathered, winner of the Grade 3 Edgewood Stakes, and earner of over $577,000.
Feathered is a daughter of the mare Receipt, a daughter of Grade 1 winning are Finder’s Fee.
On the Canadian front, day 2 of the Breeders’ Cup was a big one for Charles Fipke of Vancouver and Hall of Fame trainer Roger Attfield, one of Canada’s all-time great trainers. And Queen’s Plate winner MOIRA, the darling of Canadian racing in 2022, also had a solid outing in the Grade 1 Filly & Mare Turf.
Attfield sent out Fipke’s Kentucky homebreds SHIRL’S SPEIGHT and LADY SPEIGHTSPEARE to fabulous second and third-place finishes in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) and Filly & Mare Turf (GI) respectively.
Shirl’s Speight, ridden by Luis Saez, was 55-to-1 in the Mile on turf and had an incredible run to finish just 3/4 of a length back of MODERN GAMES (Ire), the Woodbine Mile (G1) winner who grabbed the victory in 1:33.96 for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby.
The 5-year-old horse won the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland in the spring and had been 3rd, 4th or 5th in big races since then. Shirl’s Speight, by Speightstown from Perfect Shirl (winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf) had a crowded run in the Mile but earned $340,000 for his runner-up showing, pushing him just over the $1 million mark. He is a Kentucky-bred.
“He tried pretty hard, but there were so many horses,” said Saez. “I wasn’t in the clear when I wanted to be. Was having a good trip, and saved ground, but when I got to the top of the stretch I couldn’t get in the clear.”
Lady Speightspeare and Moira were up against some tough Europeans in the 1 3/16 mile Filly & Mare Turf. The former, winner of three straight at Woodbine on turf and Tapeta, sprinting and routing, was 32-to-1 under Saez and testing a distance that seemed too far for her. But the daughter of Speightstown tracked the pace from the rail and stayed on well to be third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Tuesday, the Epsom Oaks (G1) winner) and In Italian, one of the top US-based turf fillies.
Meanwhile, Moira, so unlucky in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor last month at Woodbine when a close second only to be disqualified, was far behind the pace early but her gritty rally got her fifth place, six lengths from the winner.
Moira, trained by Kevin Attard for the X-Men Racing, Madaket Stables, and SF Bloodstock, solidified her position as leader for Canada’s Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old filly while Lady Speightspeare is also in contention for Horse of the Year and is the top contender for Champion Older mare and Female Turf horse.
For all the notes and recaps of the Breeders’ Cup races, visit HERE.
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