Flightline

Flightline made his career debut in a maiden special weight at Santa Anita Park on Apr. 24, 2021. Sent off as the 9-10 favorite, he blew the field away, winning by 13 1/4 lengths while covering six furlongs in 1:08.75. 

After a few months off, Flightline returned to the races in a first-level allowance optional claiming race at Del Mar on Sept. 5. Although he was making his first start off a long layoff, bettors had plenty of respect for him, sending him off as the 1-5 favorite. If anything, he was even more impressive second time out. He smashed the field by 12 3/4 lengths. The final time for six furlongs was 1:08.05, just 0.45 seconds off a 48-year-old track record.

Flightline made his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, 2021. He won by 11 1/2 lengths, going seven furlongs in a blazing 1:21.37. He was never asked to run at any point by Flavien Prat, but raced powerfully down the stretch and was never in serious danger of being defeated. 

Flightline did not race again until June 11, 2022, due to a strained hock. Trainer John Sadler was patient in bringing his charge back and did not do so until he was fit. But his return was ambitious: the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park, where Flightline would face East Coast-based Speaker’s Corner, winner of the Carter Handicap in April, and the 2021 Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Aloha West.

Still, Flightline was sent off as the 0.45-1 favorite in a five-horse field. He immediately encountered trouble after a slow start from the inside post as his path to engage Speaker’s Corner in the early pace closed up and he was forced to steady and then angle outside of that foe.

After making that move, jockey Flavien Prat urged Flightline up next to Speaker’s Corner and then the colt moved to the lead rapidly entering the stretch. He was never threatened after that and coasted to the finish, defeating Grade 1 winner Happy Saver by six lengths and finishing the one-turn mile in 1:33.59. Flightline gained an automatic berth to the Nov. 5 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland via the “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series.

Sadler brought Flightline back to southern California to train up to the Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic Stakes on Sept. 3 at Del Mar, a “Win and You’re In” race for the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic. He expressed confidence in Flightline’s ability to handle a stretch-out to two turns and 1 ¼ miles, and bettors agreed as Flightline was made the heavy 3-10 favorite in a six-horse field.

Flightline was bumped leaving the strting gate but soon settled just behind early leader and longshot Extra Hope in the Pacific Classic through the first turn and backstretch. Flavien Prat gave Flightline a nudge as the field neared the far turn, and he effortlessly took the lead and then quickly separated from the rest. The pair were well clear entering the stretch, and although Prat geared Flightline down late, he still extended his winning margin in a sensational 19 ¾-length victory. He finished the mile and a quarter in a swift 1:59.28, 0.17 of a second off of the track record.

Anticipation built up for Flightline’s final start of 2022 – and possibly his final career start – as the weeks wound down in advance of the Nov. 4 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. Flightline was the odds-on 3-5 morning-line favorite for the $6 million race against a field of seven opponents, all of them Grade 1 winners with more than $1 million in earnings. His post-time odds ticked even lower, and Flightline broke well from post position 4 under Prat but granted the early lead to Life Is Good, the one opponent in the race who had shown an ability to run early fractions in Flightline’s orbit.

Flightline continued to offer moderate pace pressure to Life Is Good as the frontrunner set a fast pace, and the pair separated from the field heading into the far turn of the 1 ¼-mile Classic. He then moved up to engage Life Is Good at the quarter pole, and the pair matched strides for a few yards before Flightline surged clear at the top of the stretch with little effort. Prat looked over his shoulder in the final sixteenth but no challengers were closing, and Flightline finished up under wraps with a career-defining 8 ¼-length victory, cementing his status as one of the best racehorses of the 21^st century.

Flightline sold for $1 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale in 2019. His sire (father) is top stallion Tapit, while his dam (mother), Feathered, was a graded stakes winner.