Flightline could be described as one of the fastest horses in history. The blazingly fast bay ran undefeated throughout his entire racing career with an average winning margin of 10.125 lengths. Flightline’s short but memorable career included winning the Grade I Malibu Stakes in 2021 and the Metropolitan Handicap, Pacific Classic, and Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2022. His incredible victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic by 8 ¼ lengths was the largest winning margin in the history of the race. In the 2022 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, he was given a rating of 139, the highest ever awarded to a runner on the dirt, beating Cigar’s rating of 135.
Flightline was an undeniably fast horse on the racetrack, and his trainer, John W. Sadler, joked that he only lost to inanimate objects like a door latch or a wall. An energetic horse, especially in his youth, Flightline wanted to run at full speed all the time but was also prone to small accidents. The most serious accident happened when he was two; he was startled while being saddled for a training session and hit himself on a stall latch, leaving an L-shaped scar on his right hip near the tail.
The white spots on Flightline’s neck are from a port that was placed for antibiotics during recovery, which prevented him from racing as a two-year-old. He also suffered a hoof crack that interrupted his three-year-old season followed later by a strained hock that delayed the start of his four-year-old campaign. Despite his status as a talented racehorse, he could be clumsy in a unique way.
Horse Profile
- Foaled: March 14, 2018
- Bred: USA
- Sex: Stallion
- Debuted: 2021
- Retired: November 6, 2022
- Death: N/A
- Color and Markings: Bay
- Sire: Tapit
- Dam: Feathered
- Owner: Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds & Woodford Racing
- Breeder: Summer Wind Equine
- Trainer: John W. Sadler
- Jockeys: Flavien Prat
Characteristics
Flightline is a strong, correct, well-made bay that was known to be high energy with a mind of his own. His energetic nature caused him to acquire injuries around the barn; he suffered several physical setbacks that prevented him from racing at 2 years old and limited his campaigns when he was 3 and 4. He is highly intelligent and very alert to changes in his environment.
Rankings
- Flightline's Beyer Speed Figure of 118 was the highest awarded for any North American runner racing on dirt in 2021. His Beyer Speed Figure of 126 for his Pacific Classic performance was the joint second-highest given to any American runner within the last 30 years. His Thoro-Graph figure for the same race was -8½, the fastest ever recorded.
- Rated at 124 pounds in the Sprint category on the 2021 Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, 5 pounds below overall high weight Knicks Go (the 2021 American Horse of the Year) but best in the Sprint category.
- In the World's Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR) published on September 15, Flightline's run in the Pacific Classic was ranked the top performance of the year with 139, the second-highest rating the organization has ever assigned (Frankel has the highest rating WBRR at 140). Flightline's rating is the highest ever assigned by the WBRR to a horse running on the dirt, topping Cigar's rating of 135
- Ranked 1st by Earnings in 2022
Fun Facts
- Flightline's average winning margin was 10.125 lengths.
- The late Queen Elizabeth II of England was so impressed by Flightline's Pacific Classic romp that she called Lane's End owner William S. Farish III to talk about the horse four days before her death at 96.
Racing Career
| Record | Earnings |
|---|---|
6: 6-0-0 | $4,514,800 |
| WON RACES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Distance | Race | Grade | Track | Finish | Winning Time | Winning Margin | Beyer Speed Figure | Jockey |
2021 – three-year-old season | |||||||||
April 24, 2021 | 6 furlongs | Maiden | Santa Anita Park | 1 | 1:08.75 | 13 1⁄4 lengths (1) | 105 | Flavien Prat | |
September 5, 2021 | 6 furlongs | Allowance | Del Mar | 1 | 1:08.05 | 12 3⁄4 lengths | 114 | Flavien Prat | |
December 26, 2021 | 7 furlongs | Malibu Stakes | I | Santa Anita Park | 1 | 1:21.37 | 11 1⁄2 lengths | 118 (2) | Flavien Prat |
2022 – four-year-old season | |||||||||
June 11, 2022 | 1 mile | Metropolitan Handicap | I | Belmont Park | 1 | 1:33.59 | 6 lengths | 112 | Flavien Prat |
September 3, 2022 | 1 1⁄4 miles | Pacific Classic Stakes | I | Del Mar | 1 | 1:59.28 (3) | 19 1⁄4 lengths | 126 | Flavien Prat |
November 5, 2022 | 1 1⁄4 miles | Breeders' Cup Classic | I | Keeneland | 1 | 2:00.05 | 8 1⁄4 lengths (4) | 121 (5) | Flavien Prat |
Legend: (2) Earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 118, the highest number earned by any horse racing on dirt in North America in 2021. (3) Just 0.17 of a second off the track record. (4) It is the largest winning margin in the history of the race, surpassing the 6 ½ length victories of Volponi in 2002 and American Pharoah in 2015. (5) Ranks as the third fastest Beyer Speed Figure run in any Breeders' Cup Classic behind the 1989 Classic. | |||||||||