Exhibiting brilliance from a mile to 1 1/4 miles, and punctuated by an 8 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland, Flightline soared to Eclipse Award heights as North America's 2022 Horse of the Year.
The son of Tapit , honored Jan. 26 at The Breakers Palm Beach in South Florida, also received an Eclipse Award as champion older dirt male of last year, easily outpolling Life Is Good and others in that category, just as he did in the Horse of the Year race.
Although many expressed disappointment this fall to the horse's retirement to stud at Lane's End Farm, coming after just two seasons of racing and six starts, Flightline provided racegoers much to appreciate in his limited appearances. He was in a class by himself in the final tally of votes, just as he was on the racetrack throughout his career and as a 4-year-old in 2022.
His three starts last year—the shortest campaign of any Horse of the Year winner since the Eclipse Awards began in 1971—resulted in a combined margin of victory of 33 1/2 lengths, all in grade 1 company. He earned a 140 in the World Thoroughbred Rankings, making him the highest-rated dirt horse ever on that platform since their ratings began in 2004.
"He's got to be up there with the best of all time," Bill Farish of Lane's End said at Keeneland the day after his overpowering Classic victory over Olympiad .
Via the Lane's End-affiliated Woodford Racing, Farish was part of a partnership that raced Flightline, along with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, who bred him. West Point purchased the colt for $1 million in 2019 from the Lane's End consignment at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the ownership partnership was quickly established, with Hronis Racing ultimately owning the largest piece of the colt.
He was trained by John Sadler and always ridden by Flavien Prat.
In addition to the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2022, Flightline won the Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park and the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) at Del Mar. He retired with $4,514,800 in earnings, with much of that coming last year.
In the Metropolitan Handicap, he overcame a troubled start to deliver a handy six-length victory with a mile in 1:33.59. An interrupted training schedule after he strained his hock in the early part of the year meant that he raced in the Met Mile after a layoff of 5 1/2 months, a challenge compounded by traveling cross country and stretching out in distance.
"Here's the thing—with him, he's so special. You really wouldn't try this with a normal horse, but he's not a normal horse. He's an exceptional horse," Sadler said in the Met Mile leadup.
With his training going without a hitch leading up to the Pacific Classic, Flightline ran even better in that 1 1/4-mile race, his first start around two turns. In front by a length after six furlongs in 1:09.97, he opened up a 10-length lead with a mile in 1:34.47 and, even with Prat gearing him down late, he finished 19 1/4 lengths ahead of 2022 Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Country Grammer . Flightline stopped the clock in 1:59.28, just 0.17 off Candy Ride 's stakes and track record, accomplished in the 2003 Pacific Classic.
"That blew us all away," Farish said this fall.
Lyon, on hand to witness his record-setting margin of victory in the Pacific Classic, found her vision clouded that afternoon.
"I was just trying not to start crying so hard that I wouldn't be able to see him when he came across the finish line," she said. "You can't expect this. You can't wish it. And to have it happen and for him to continue to grow like he is, better and better and better, it's just a miracle."
Though the Pacific Classic was his fastest race and resulted in his largest margin of victory, his Breeders' Cup Classic was just as stellar, with him dominating after chasing taxing fractions that proved too much for pacesetting Life Is Good to sustain over 1 1/4 miles. The latter, a four-time grade 1 winner, grew fatigued after setting sprint-like splits of :22.55, :45.47, and 1:09.27, and yet the early demands of the race did not diminish Flightline's finish after he raced in close attendance.
"They laid it down," said West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley.
By the quarter-pole, Flightline poked a head in front after a mile in 1:34.58 that eclipsed the 1:35.33 for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). From there, he drew clear to a 5 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole and commanded an even wider margin at the wire. He was clocked in a near-record 2:00.05 for 1 1/4 miles at Keeneland.
Left in his wake were seven other grade 1 winners, and the crowd of 45,973 at the Lexington oval roared its approval as he opened up. They continued this applause when Prat took a moment to pause a victorious Flightline before the grandstand on his way to the winner's circle, with many fans stopping to take photos or capture video on their cell phones.
Kosta Hronis of Hronis Racing credited Sadler and assistant trainer and exercise rider Juan Leyva for their patience and training of Flightline, who initially was keen in his training.
"He wanted to go full blast all the time, and that's kind of hard to do if you're going to run a mile and a quarter," he said a day after the Classic while outside Flightline's barn at Keeneland. "They had to teach him how to be a racehorse, and that's what Juan and John did. It took a lot of work, and they put in all the groundwork and hours to get that done."
Flightline never raced at age 2 and competed just three times at both 3 and 4, in part from minor setbacks but also due to Sadler's desire to space out the races from the freakishly fast runner. Despite predictions by some figure-oriented pundits that the blazing-fast colt would "bounce," a horse racing term meaning regress, he was brilliant from start to finish over his short career.
"Brilliant is his normal," Sadler said after the Breeders' Cup. "He didn't disappoint. He never has."
Flightline is out of Jane Lyon's Feathered, a daughter of Indian Charlie who won the Edgewood Stakes (G3T) at Churchill Downs and finished second in both the American Oaks (G1) and Starlet Stakes (G1) and third in the Frizette Stakes (G1).
Coupled with being a son of Tapit, Flightline seemingly has all the traits to become a successful stallion, perhaps with the potential to sire horses with some of the speed and athleticism he displayed that led to him being celebrated as the 2022 Horse of the Year. He stands for an advertised stud fee of $200,000 this year.
Hronis called him a "hero" and a "champion" shortly after the Breeders' Cup.
"He would have been the favorite in the Dirt Mile, the Classic, the Sprint, maybe a turf race today," he said. "He's America's horse. He's done everything possible. He's stepped up to every challenge."
Sadler shared those sentiments after the race.
"How do you describe greatness? This is a rare horse that happens every 20-30 years," Sadler said.
