Flightline Dominates His Foes in Breeders’ Cup Classic; Stamps Himself as One of The All-Time Great Thoroughbreds

The 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships delivered everything racing fans could ask for and quite a bit more. In a bucolic Fall setting under beautiful blue skies, racing fans in Kentucky witnessed a full weekend of quality competitive races in a full but comfortable setting at Keeneland Race Course. Both the Friday card that highlighted two-year-old stars of the future and Saturday’s undercard before the Breeders’ Cup Classic featured championship quality racing with European runners shining bright in the grass races and horses which ran this year at Saratoga Race Course acquitting themselves well on the big stage. 

On Saturday, when older filly Malathaat willed her way to a nose victory over two rivals in a blanket finish in the Distaff for fillies and mares, racing fans witnessed racing at its finest – a well-contested fair contest over a distance of ground among quality horses. The crowd was electrified by the run of the three fillies to the wire and many anxious moments were spent reviewing replays until the photo finish camera confirmed Malathaat’s minuscule margin of victory over longshot Blue Stripe and classy filly Clariere.  Hall of Fame rider John R. Velazquez told me the next day “Malathaat just kept trying” and that effort delivered her well-deserved championship for fillies and mares.  

As good as that race was, it just an appetizer for an even more awe-inspiring equine effort ninety minutes later.

For this year’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic the story approaching the race was clearly Flightline – the undefeated and untested son of top sire Tapit. Flightline had run brilliantly but sparingly over his brief and conservatively-managed career and the debate on where he stood in the pantheon of thoroughbred champions would be answered in this race. The ease and manner of his prior victories prompted his backers to compare him to the historical titans of the sport while skeptics questioned the quality of the competition he had easily vanquished. The debate reached a fever pitch in the weeks, days and hours before the classic and as Mark Twain observed “It were not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion that makes horse-races.” In an instance that is all too rare in modern horse racing, the Breeders’ Cup Classic last Saturday shaped up as a time where the question of Flightline’s greatness could be definitively proven on the racetrack. 

It was.

The deep and quality field that lined up against Flightline contained most of the top horses of the 2022 year including a horse with blazing early speed as well as those that relished finishing strongly late in the race. The potential dilemma faced by Flightline’s rider Flavien Prat was too passive a ride risked allowing the speed horse Life Is Good to lope along on an easy lead making him difficult to catch while engaging early in the race with that speedy runner could leave Flightline vulnerable late in the race to the deep closers behind him. 

 It didn’t matter. 

From the break, Flightline’s raw talent allowed him to stay close to Life Is Good during very fast early fractions, that same talent allowed him to easily pass that rival and draw away from the top of the stretch to the wire. He was never threatened as the closers made no impact. The ease of his 8-length victory over top caliber runners left novice and veteran observers speechless; some were moved to tears; all acknowledged his greatness. 

There was nothing to debate, nothing to do other than cheer. The doubters nodded in respect, the believers breathed a sigh of relief, the vanquished saluted the victor.

The debate was over.

Such was his domination of the racing world that he was immediately retired to the breeding shed. Nothing further to prove, no more foes to spar with, Flightline saw a 2.5% share of his ownership sell at auction shortly after the race for $4.6 million (imputing a staggering value of $184 million). We will now have to await his progeny to carry on his legacy.

The effort was such that this writer cannot do it full justice.  Flightline’s victory was simply dominant.

In the stands and in the city the two-day race meet was well handled by the Keeneland Race Course and the Breeders’ Cup staff. Classy and comfortable surroundings, courteous and dignified staff, manageable betting and food lines and knowledgeable fans made for a thoroughly enjoyable experience. In recent years the Breeders’ Cup has truly reached its goal of becoming a two-day world class event. 

The Breeders’ Cup presence was ubiquitous throughout the city of Lexington as a celebration of the horses and those that care for them. The attention to detail by the Breeder’s Cup and Keeneland staff was remarkable both on and off the track. 

Those that have not attended the Breeders’ Cup should make a point to do so in the future – those that have attended know it is an experience worth reprising. The 2023 Breeders’ Cup is November 3-4 in Arcadia California’s Santa Anita Park – mark your calendar.