Has Flightline Been Forgotten Already
It took a victory in the Met Mile in his fourth career start for the entire racing world to know who Flightline was and what amazing feats he was capable of. Two races later he was retired from racing. The question now is how will he be remembered and what kind of impact did he leave on the sport? He will always have his idolaters for what he did on track and his detractors for what he didn’t do on the track; which was mainly run. Which side are you on? ~ Steve Haskin
Has Flightline Been Forgotten Already
By Steve Haskin
Photo by Steve Haskin
When was the last time you heard the name Flightline mentioned? When was the last time you saw his name in print? How will Hall of Fame voters and Nominating Committee members look at him when he becomes eligible to be on the ballot? Why did he receive so little support in last year’s Vox Populi Award voting for the most popular horse?
Only eight months have passed since the whirlwind known as Flightline blew through the Sport of Kings, decimating everything in its path. But his name has been a mere whisper at best since he was crowned Horse of the Year back in January. Are his mind-boggling performances, as few of them as there were, already fading from our memory?
People in general like to savor good things. No one wants the greatest meal they’ve ever to be gone in a few minutes. No one wants the greatest vacation they’ve ever been on to end quickly. No one wants to look at the Grand Canyon for only a few seconds and then have to leave. There are several expressions we use to accompany the word “gone” that signifies something good that came and went too fast: “Gone in the blink of an eye”…”Gone in a heartbeat”…”Gone in a flash.” All those I would imagine have been used, or could be used, when discussing or thinking about Flightline. When those expressions apply, an event or an experience might burn brightly in our consciousness for a short while, but few stand the test of time. Our gift of memory needs something substantial enough to grasp on to in order to give it a sense of timelessness.
Flightline’s feats were unlike anything we’ve seen before, and that includes the all-time greats. That is not to imply that Flightline belongs in the same sphere as those legends that reside in the pantheon of the sport. Their accomplishments combined spectacular feats, record times, toughness, durability, conceding large amounts of weights, and two important elements that the sport has lost – familiarity and dependability.
Was Flightline a product of his times, with racing fans having no choice but to accept the transient nature of the sport? Do we temper our enthusiasm after some exciting new phenom shows up knowing he likely will be gone at the end of the year? Do the majority of racing fans look at the lightly raced Justify in the same light they did Triple Crown winners such as Secretariat, Afffirmed, Seattle Slew and Citation, and even American Pharoah?
In determining Flightline’s status when it comes to his being voted into the Hall of Fame in five years and to just jolt our memory, we have made a list of pros and cons, as imbalanced as it may be.
PROS
His margins of victory were staggering. He won all six of his races by an average margin of just under 12 lengths, which is unheard of in the annals of the sport. No horse has ever dominated his opponents in such a manner…in every race.
He was dominant from six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles in the sport’s three biggest locales – New York, California, and Kentucky.
His speed figures were incomparable, reaching far beyond the limits of others, again in every race.
His smallest margin of victory was six lengths and that was coming off a 5 1/2-month layoff, traveling cross-country, breaking slowly, having to steady, and stretching out to a mile in one of the toughest races in the country to win, the historic Metropolitan Handicap, in only his fourth lifetime start.
In his three victories at age 4 he defeated the winners of the Kentucky Derby, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Whitney, Woodward, Dubai World Cup, Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Pegasus World Cup, Santa Anita Derby, Haskell Invitational, Pennsylvania Derby, and Carter Handicap.
CONS
He raced only six times (three times at 3 and 3 times at 4). That’s it. But in many people’s mind that outweighs all the pros when it comes to the Hall of Fame. Ghostzapper was an anomaly when he was elected to the Hall of Fame with only 11 lifetime starts and that was nearly twice as many starts as Flightline. Justify no doubt will get in the Hall of Fame with only six starts in just 111 days, but he swept the Triple Crown and every Triple Crown winner is in the Hall of Fame, so he will get a free pass. But Flightline was raced very sparingly despite appearing to be sound and healthy. Did he have nagging problems we knew nothing about or was he just fragile and needed long stretches between races? There used to be an expression in racing: “Too fast to last.” We saw it with Graustark and Hoist the Flag and Raise A Native and Danzig and Maclean’s Music. If Flightline falls into that category then perhaps he was trained and managed brilliantly by John Sadler.
CONCLUSIONS
Whatever Sadler did and for whatever reason, there was a great deal of pressure on him to preserve the mystique that surrounded Flightline’s career and his unprecedented domination over his opponents. It’s tough to have an undefeated horse when you know it takes only one defeat to go from invincibility to fallibility and lose your place in the history books. But how much pressure is there when a victory by a half-length or one or two or even three lengths can actually detract from your horse’s lofty reputation and remove that image of him as a mythical winged steed of our fantasies? The expression associated with the legendary Eclipse, who dominated his opponents, was, “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere.” It wasn’t enough for Flightline to remain undefeated. He had reached a point where his opponents were expected to finish nowhere. Anything less would have been a letdown.
By the time Flightline is eligible for the Hall of Fame we may be so used to horses being virtual strangers we no longer will give it a second thought. Will that open the door for lightly raced but vastly talented classic horses like Rags to Riches and Smarty Jones? I believe that in five years Flightline will be a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame because of his unprecedented string of other-worldly performances and doing something no horse has ever done and likely will ever do. And once Justify gets elected with the same six career starts, but no dominant victories or fast times in stakes, a precedent will be set.
Flightline likely will get a second surge of media coverage when his first crop of yearlings sell at the sales. But until then it is up to the historians and the chroniclers of the sport to prevent his name and his extraordinary accomplishments from fading away. And then it will be up to the Hall of Fame voters to decide whether he raced enough to enter those hallowed gates.
As for my own beliefs I am torn between two eras – today’s ultra conservative approach to the sport and the 1960s and ‘70s when the standards of greatness were set so much higher than they are now. I knew the equine heroes back then like they were good friends. I hardly know them at all today. I do know this. I never saw Flightline race in person and was up close to him only once as he stood outside his barn at Keeneland getting his feet washed. But in that one brief encounter he was able to convince me that I was in the presence of greatness. That hasn’t happened very often in my 56 years in the sport.
Walter Brennan saw the “look of eagles” in a horse named Bluegrass in the classic movie Kentucky. It is something that is indefinable that reaches deep inside you and makes you feel as if you’re looking at something out of the ordinary. A week before the Breeders’ Cup I saw it in Flightline outside his barn. Even with him having only five starts at the time it’s a look you can’t ignore.
The doors of the Hall of Fame are open much wider than they used to be, but even so it’s been several decades since a male horse has entered who is considered among the all-time greats. With the direction the sport is heading, with the racetrack merely a stopover between the sales ring and the breeding shed, that trend likely will continue.
Oddly enough, that wasn’t the case with Flightline, whose unusual career was far from scripted even being a $1 million son of Tapit. He was unraced at 2, did virtually nothing of note at 3, winning his first stakes in late December, and didn’t race until mid-June as a 4-year-old. So he lived quite a while at the racetrack. He just didn’t get out of the house very often.
But it’s what he accomplished when he did get out that separates Flightline from the others, and when you race only six times that separation has to be vast if you are going to leave a huge imprint on the sport.
I have no idea how long Flightline’s name will live on and to what extent. I do know that in an era when the word great is thrown around haphazardly, mainly because the younger generation has no idea what its true definition really is, I feel comfortable attaching that word to Flightline. We just have to accept the fact that these days great comes in smaller doses.
Racing historian, author, and award-winning retired journalist for the Daily Racing Form and The Blood-Horse, Steve Haskin was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame’s Media Roll of Honor in 2016. Known for his racing knowledge and insightful prose, he has been an exclusive contributor to Secretariat.com since 2020.
I would argue the win in the Metropolitan Handicap did nothing to signal Flightline’s arrival on the racing scene. It was his Pacific Classic win that did. And that came at the expense of his actually being tested running in the Whitney Stakes.
Before he went off form after a grueliing race in Dubai, Arrogate was clearly the superior horse. His Travers time will stand for a long time; as will his track record at Gulfstream. Flightline was clearly in the same league, but I simply can’t forgive the kid gloves treatment.
ITA
Flightline ran some very strong races, but he was never tested.
He was going to race 3 times after being sidelined, and his connections could have challenged him, but they did not.
After his allowance win, his connections said they were considering the Breeders Cup Sprint. I thought that would be quite a step up in class and said so at the time, but with the speed figures he was running he would at least be competitive with the Breeders Cup Sprint field. Also, I assumed he would race at least 5 times at 4 instead of just 3. However, the connections went with a weaker race, the Malibu Stakes, ducking the tougher competition in the Breeders Cup Sprint.
Coming out of the Malibu Stakes Flightline turned 4 January 1st like all other Thoroughbreds and I was hoping that he would run in the Pegasus World Cup. He had won at 6 and 7 furlongs, and the Malibu Stakes was a prep used by West Coast horses like Mucho Gusto and Stiletto Boy so I thought this would be an incredible opportunity for Flightline’s connections to take on division leaders Life is Good and Knicks Go and be tested. It never happened. In fact, it was never even considered.
Then, in February, Flightline injured his hock. He would have been sound for the Pegasus World Cup, but now he would miss his prep race for the Metropolitan Handicap recovering from an injury.
I was excited about the Metropolitan Handicap hoping Life is Good and Jackie’s Warrior would enter with the others to take on Flightline. After Jackie’s Warrior won the Churchill Stakes his connections said they were considering the Metropolitan Handicap next. Well, we know that Jackie’s Warrior ducked Flightline going in the True North instead of the Met Mile. And Life is Good had never intended to run in the Metropolitan Handicap with Pletcher wanting to give him more time after returning from Dubai.
So, Flightline took on the Breeders Cup Sprint winner who was best shorter, Speakers Corner who was best shorter, and Happy Saver who was best around two turns and longer. Flightline had a mild issue at the start and won by his smallest margin.
Before and after the race, Flightline’s connections had said the Whitney Stakes would be an option with the Pacific Classic for Flightline’s next start.
Of course, this opened the door potentially to a race of the century. Despite running the fastest 400m, 800m, 1200m and 1600m fractions in Meydan Race Course history for the Dubai World Cup, Life is Good faded to 4th at ten furlongs showing he may have distance limitations. However, Life is Good was proven at 9 furlongs dispatching the Breeders Cup Classic winner Knicks Go in the Pegasus World Cup with a 110 BSF. Flightline had only run a 112 BSF, lower than his numbers as a three year old. Leaving additional hope for Life is Good against Flightline was Life is Good’s performance in the John Nerud where he equaled Flightline’s top 112 BSF for the year.
Joining Life is Good in the Whitney Stakes was up and Comer Olympiad for Bill Mott who had just run a 111 BSF winning the Stephen Foster.
And in addition to Happy Saver who was better around 2 turns, Hot Rod Charlie who ran a career best 110 BSF at 9 furlongs in the Pennsylvania Derby and I think broke Mendelssohns 9.5 furlongs track record at Meydan in his Dubai World Cup prep race. Hot Rod Charlie showed his speed running the fastest first quarter in Belmont Stakes history and held on to finish second by a length.
The Whitney Stakes could be a special race if Flightline would come. But Flightline ducked tougher competition for the second time in his career. Instead he went in the Pacific Classic against a weaker field. The problem with 10 furlongs races in North America is that most of the field is distance challenged. As a result, a top class Horse like Flightline can run roughshod over them. It does not present a challenge. The Whitney Stakes on the other hand would have truly tested Flightline’s meddle because of not just the competition, but because the track is very demanding.
So Flightline had his cakewalk against mild competition setting up only a single contest in his career where he would be taking on a championship level field. Life is Good ran against arguably 4 championship level fields in the Pegasus World Cup, Dubai World Cup, Whitney Stakes and Breeders Cup Classic. Flightline one. In his career.
The Breeders Cup Classic looked like a pretty good field. I believe Epicenter had equaled Flightline’s Met Mile BSF of 112 winning the Travers Stakes. There was Rich Strike the Kentucky Derby winner, with a 101 BSF in his Kentucky Derby win. Olympiad had run slower winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup at ten furlongs with a 105 BSF than his 111 in the Stephen Foster which supported the idea he might be better shorter. Then there was Taiba who had run a 108 BSF winning the Pennsylvania Derby at 9 furlongs. But Baffert had shown the previous year he was running for 2nd, ahead of the other 3 year olds, the previous year which seemed the plan for this year too as he attempted to win the three-year old championship.
Well, we learned that Life is Good is distance challenged. This was confirmed with his 5th place finish, though one had to question the strategy going full guns from the break since against a lesser field on Dubai it did not work.
And then we sadly saw Epicenter break down.
So, Flightline’s top two competitors in the Breeders Cup Classic were compromised. One by distance and the other by injury which severely weakens the quality of the field faced.
Flightline won against the weakest Breeders Cup Classic field in history.
He defeated zero past or future champions unless Rich Strike wins one next year. Epicenter was awarded the three year old championship, but he did not finish the race. I do not believe you can truly defeat a horse who does not finish the race No matter what the chart says.
He defeated zero future Hall of Famers. Life is Good will not make it. He has just 3 G1 wins. So that leaves Rich Strike which is a long shot.
Flightline defeated the weakest Breeders Cup Classic field ever with only 2 multiple G1 winners. And one was compromised.
For me, I hope Flightline is forgotten as soon as possible.
I thought it a travesty with 3 starts he was awarded Horse of the Year. The weakest Horse of the Year campaign ever.
At least Justify won 4 G1s, though he probably does not deserve the Santa Anita Derby, but while he was not particularly fast at least he did something extraordinary.
Flightline has his speed figures.
Formal Gold I think was mentioned who had higher figures.
Ghostzapper does too.
128 Iselin Stakes
124 Breeders Cup Classic setting track and Stakes records which still stand defeating 5 multiple G1 winners
120 Tom Fool Handicap
114 Woodward Stakes over St. Liam
A superior campaign to Flightline except with margin of victory which only demonstrates how inferior the competition was.
Steve,
I will give you that Flightline is perhaps the best horse to race this decade, though a case could be made for both Authentic and Knicks Go being superior to him. Knicks Go after all won more G1s and set multiple track records. Flightline set none. He won multiple Breeders Cup races. And he arguably faced more talented competition. He was not undefeated, but many horses could be undefeated if campaigned like Flightline.
But Flightline an all time great?
You are suggesting that Flightline is an anomaly which you think will become the norm. I respectfully disagree. There will always be exceptions. Ghostzapper was an exception winning Horse of the Year with only 4 starts. But you see it took another 20 years just about for a similar exception in Flightline.
And Flightline is not the best horse of the 21st century. Not by far. American Pharoah is, by far, a better horse. He ran in 7 G1 races winning 6. A phenomenal performance. He actually set a track record in his last start at 3. At 4, Flightline managed to run just 100th of a Second faster than American Pharoah in the Breeders Cup Classic getting a BSF 1 point higher than American Pharoah.
I would also rate Ghostzapper better than Flightline, and he probably would barely make my top 5.
And Ghostzapper during his championship year blew Flightline away. He ran his 128 BSF in the Iselin Stakes winning by open lengths. He won the Breeders Cup Classic against 5 multiple G1 winners with a 124 BSF setting a track and Stakes record that still stands which Flightline was not even close to. He defeated future Breeders Cup Classic winner St. Liam in the Woodward Stakes with a 118 BSF. And he started the year with a 120 BSF in the Tom Fool Handicap.
Flightline ran fast races. But he ran against no one.
In the deepest competition he ever faced in the Breeders Cup Classic, the two best horses in the race were compromised by distance and injury. So the race was even weaker than it looked on paper.
So I can tell you that I appreciated the opportunity to see Flightline in person for his first race of 2022 and his last. He is a beautiful mover.
But I thought it pathetic that voters rewarded a campaign where the connections chickened out.
Flightline was healthy coming out of the Malibu Stakes. The connections never even considered entering him in the Pegasus World Cup where he could have faced two Breeders Cup champions. The connections after the Metropolitan Handicap win said the Whitney Stakes was an option and it was reported in TDN before the race too. Flightline skipped it. Saratoga the Graveyard of Champions frightened his connections. After all, Flightline earned a 112 BSF in the Metropolitan Handicap. Weeks later Life is Good equaled that number in the John Nerud taking on Speakers Corner at a distance which he was better at. Hot Rod Charlie had set a track record in Dubai I believe and run his top BSF a 110 at 9 furlongs in the Pennsylvania Derby. And Olympiad had run a 111 BSF in the Stephen Foster.
Flightline’s connections wanted no part of this trio. Especially given the race was run over a good not fast track.
It is just sad to see such a brilliant journalist faun all over a horse that would barely be fit enough to be a workout partner with your Damascus.
Thank you for your take on him. I kind of fall into that only raced 6 times category. Many of the colts he beat even though they raced more, not even close to the past. However do recall at that Breeder’s Cup they found Aiden in the paddock and asked him why with no runner and he just wanted to get a look at him. So you were in good company Steve thinking he was great.
Now we have to wait and see if that greatness is passed on in the breeding shed. I doubt any of his get race much more here in the states then their sire but there is hope that won’t be the case across the pond. In some ways it would seem the American Thoroughbred has come full circle, not importing much anymore to improve but being exported to shine overseas. Thoughts?
ITA
Sad but true.
I do not even see him as the best of the 21st century.
Nice comeback races for two Triple Crown Trail colts: Verifying squeaked by Raise Cain in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby, and Reincarnate cruised in the ungraded Los Alamitos Derby. Reincarnate is possible for the Travers, but Brad Cox indicated Verifying might be happier at slightly shorter distances.
Looking forward to 2024, Reaper, a half to four (minor) stakes winner and closely related to sprint champion Jackie’s Warrior, took home the Prairie Gold Juvenile. He’s by Brethren, who won the Sam F. Davis in 2011.
Not to forget the outstanding performance by Charge It in the Suburban Handicap. A son of Tapit out of an Indian Charlie mare, now, that pedigree reminds me of another impressive runner….lol
Saratoga, here we come, in spirit anyway. Are you lucky enough to be attending?
Yes, Davids, I agree about Charge It. He seemed well within himself, although he got a big Beyer figure. Nice, consistent quarter miles — under 25 seconds the last one, I believe.
I’m only two hours from Saratoga, but in between a work trip and a family reunion out west, a lot of the rest of the summer is already committed so it will be hard to get up there. There’s always Labor Day weekend, though.
Labor Day weekend encompasses the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Spinaway Stakes and the Hopeful Stakes so you have a good choice to pick from. Have a great time.
The Siyouni colt, Paddington, keeps marching on with another Group 1 win. This time defeating older horses and at 10f in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown. Paddington defeated Emily Upjohn in a thrilling finish.
Aiden O’Brien, who last won the race with St Mark’s Basilica, another son of Siyouni, in 2021, believes Paddington is “getting quicker” as he is heavier now than he won at Ascot “which is unusual, so he is obviously turning into a very quick horse.”
This was O’Brien’s seventh win in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes. Coolmore have another son of Siyouni heading to stud in the near future along with Peter Brant. Brant also owns Sottsass, by Siyouni, standing at Coolmore.
Trainer gets a metformin positive—a drug the trainer takes (someone going #1 in a stall?..)….gets two years off the track……19 horses receive untimely joint shots….and all trainers get stays….is this going to become a star chamber-like power dynamic, where winners and lovers are decided in subjective fashion?…..
I kept trying…..my phone wouldn’t let me day lose-ers! ..
It is a stretch that trainer who is diabetic and takes metformin urinated in the stall, horse eats urine contaminated hay and consumes enough metformin in the hay to show up in blood work.
If you believe this tall tale Matthew W, I have some ocean front property in Atlanta that I will give you a good price on.
This is not logical. Horses will not eat hay that smells like human, cat, rat, dog or any other animal’s urine.
Metformin is only prescribed for horses that have Equine Metabolic Syndrome conditions such as laminitis and Cushings. It reduces glucose levels in the horse rather quickly after given in a tablet or injection form.
High concentrations of dexmethasone will increase glucose in horses and is considered to be a performance enhancing drug in race horses.
Metformin whether by pill or injection will bring the glucose level back down.
Wow 2 years….trainer was pretty stupid to give his horse that stuff…
I’ll sell you some ocean front property in Atlanta…if you believe a trainer risked two years by giving a horse metformin, so that he could maybe win a $30k winners purse…..does my Katty response amuse you? I copied it from ya…
I’m an admirer of Flightline, and I definitely think he belongs in the Hall of Fame. My relationship with him involved technological nightmares, but I still haven’t forgotten him and I don’t expect to. My cable TV box quit the day of the Breeders Cup and I spent the afternoon on the phone to the cable company. They did manage a temporary fix so I could see the last two races, but my mood at that point was not conducive to enjoying a wonderful performance. As for the Vox Populi award, I said here that I was going to vote for Flightline, but then my computer started acting up and it wouldn’t allow me to vote at all. With or without my vote, though, there’s no way that Flightline could have beaten Cody’s Wish in that poll. Probably no horse who ever lived could have beaten Cody’s Wish.
I agree that the qualities of familiarity and dependability have pretty much been lost, but even those important qualities do not guarantee that a horse will be remembered years later by the general public. I became interested in thoroughbred racing in the early 1960’s, and at that time Kelso was the benchmark of greatness. He was familiar because he ran every couple weeks for five years, and he was dependable because he kept winning. Sure, he lost some races but you always knew he’d come back and win some more, and you knew he’d be Horse of the Year because he always was. To those of us who watched him, he will always be unforgettable. But most of today’s fans were not around in the 1960’s, and Kelso’s name is seldom mentioned in discussions of the greats. I gave a copy of your (Steve’s) excellent biography of Kelso to a friend who had never heard of him because no one should miss knowing his story. It’s hard to say why some horses are remembered and others are not. Maybe publicity is part of it, and the Triple Crown races are the ones that get the most attention. Kelso and Flightline were as different as two horses could be, but one thing they had in common was that they were late developers and didn’t run in the Triple Crown. Maybe that’s a factor. But a lot of Triple Crown races have been won by very forgettable horses. So I don’t know the answer. But Flightline and Kelso both deserve to be remembered, and I hope they will be.
Jiffy, I really enjoyed reading your post. Kelso has always been an enigma to me. You know of his incredible achievements on the racetrack but very little about the horse himself. Reading Steve’s book on Kelso was the closest I’ve been to understanding more about the horse. I was there when Kelso and Fargo were presented just before the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1983 only to read that tragically he died the next day.
In Europe, Australia, and New Zealand the racing public seem to have better recollections of their yesteryear heroes due to them given more exposure to them through the media. In case you are unaware you can watch the Breeders’ Cup races through the Breeders’ Cup website.
Thank you. I was able to find some of the Breeders Cup races somewhere online that weekend, but I didn’t think about a Breeders Cup site. I’ll have to look them up.
It must have been exciting to see Kelso and Forego that day in honor of the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Before the Breeders Cup, that was the race to win if you wanted to be Horse of the Year, and it was run at two miles. The general feeling was that if you couldn’t go two miles, you probably didn’t deserve to be Horse of the Year. The best horses could and they did. It was indeed a different era.
Jiffy, search for “Kelso & Fargo – 1983 Jockey Club Gold Cup” on YouTube, they have a 3 – 4 minute video snippet of the event. Yes, I remember when the Jockey Club Gold was changed to 12 furlongs from 2 miles in 1976 and from 12 furlongs to 10 furlongs in 1990.
While Flightline would likely outrun Kelso, Forego, and John Henry in a hypothetical race, there can be no comparison on what they meant to people and racing. Those three geldings represent everything we love about horses and racing.
Couldn’t agree more, Todd. In England, it is the steeplechasers that are household names that the public adore. Phar Lap, in Australia, was so reliable in winning that he literally put food on the table during the Depression.
Phar Lap is so adored that his mounted hide is in the Museum of Victoria in Melbourne, his skeleton went to the National Museum of New Zealand in Wellington and his heart to the Australian Institute of Anatomy. Legendary.
Thank you for the Phar Lap info.. One worry i have is that so few of us are now physically connected with horses that they become points of information on a screen. I apply that to myself. Since the track i loved, Atlantic City, closed, i am rarely in the presence of horses.
You make an excellent point. As much as you become emotionally attached to certain horses while watching racing on TV or through the internet it is nothing like the physical, almost tactile, experience of being within close proximity of the horse while the excitement builds as the fans’ energy exudes, waiting for the major races to start.
You have my sympathy with the closure of Atlantic City, it was the best turf course in the US. At least here in Melbourne there is no chance of the major tracks being threatened by closure. They’re icons of the city/nation.
The outcome of the hypothetical race might depend on the distance. We don’t know how far beyond 10 furlongs Flightline could maintain his brilliance, but we know Kelso could beat almost anything at two miles because he did it five times. It may be a moot point because nobody has to go two miles nowadays, but I still hang onto some of the old standards.
I bet folks remember Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby win longer than Flightline.
Was just looking at the Belmont entries for saturday. The once great Suburban is being run as barely an allowance race. Really a shame. It seems that the few quality older horses which have not been retired are able to race so infrequently that they will wait for Saratoga. Something has really gone wrong with the breed.
Yes, I still miss what used to be known as the Handicap Triple Crown–the Metropolitan Mile on Memorial Day, the Suburban on the Fourth of July, and the Brooklyn in late July. Some great horses competed in those events, but now even if an owner wanted to win all three just for personal satisfaction, he couldn’t because the Metropolitan and the Brooklyn are run on the same day. I’d like to see the old schedule resumed–with hype and good purses but no handicaps–and see what kind of horses you could get. They wouldn’t be Kelsos and Buckpassers and Tom Fools, but I would hope that some good ones would show up, and the events would be an asset to racing.
Jiffy, by any chance did you see Tom Fool race? Investors always contemplated on whether the sire was better than his best son or not. Sceptre, once a regular contributor here, gave the nod to Buckpasser.
Although, NYRA have forsaken the Handicap Triple Crown I’m enthusiastic with their development of the Turf Triple Series.
No, I never saw Tom Fool race. When I became interested in racing, he was already at stud and Buckpasser was a foal. I mentioned his name because I believe he won the Handicap Triple Crown, which I was discussing. Buckpasser also won the three races but not in the same year so he didn’t get credit for the triple. I can’t compare the father and son, but I can say that Buckpasser is high on my list of all-time greats. He had his idiosyncrasies–he didn’t like to be hit, he often eased up if there was nobody in front of him so he couldn’t take the lead until the wire, and as a two-year-old he enjoyed unseating his rider in the post parade. But he had a finishing kick that was amazing and the fact that he took the lead so late made his races a thrilling experience. If he and Graustark had been able to square off in the Triple Crown, that would have been one of the greatest rivalries I can imagine. It was a huge loss to racing that that never happened.
Thank you, Jiffy, for sharing your memories. Buckpasser was always a favorite name of mine although I never saw him race and he was such an influential Broodmare Sire. Beautiful looking horse as well.
Richard Stone Reeves, the well known painter of race horses referred to Buckpasser as having perfect confirmation. He was my second favorite race horse after only Man O’War. His broodmare sire was War Admiral which only cemented my affection for Buckpasser.
Hi everyone:
I just sent a message to the powers that be at Churchill Downs, venting my thoughts and feelings about the Baffert ban. Here it is:
As a lifelong racing fan, I am incensed that Churchill Downs has arbitrarily extended its banishment of Bob Baffert, his stable, and his OWNERS from Churchill Downs Inc racetracks through the end of 2024. What are you people thinking? He’s kept his nose clean for two years and his violations are no worse than that of other high profile trainers, such as Todd Pletcher. Give you fans a break, and a dedicated horseman a chance. This business is so hard, and to penalize the most brilliant of its participants is regrettable and will be moreso in hindsight. Hall of Fame jockeys such as Cal Shilling and Johnny Loftus and trainers such as Sam Hildreth were subjected to extended bans. The careers of Shilling and Loftus were destroyed as a result. Hello! Baffert is already a Hall of Fame trainer. Get a grip!
Well done Ms. Blacktype.
Complaining forever is academic! BB among several are bad for racing…..period!
No matter what you think of Baffert, the punishment is high handed and unfair. The same is true of the way Churchill treated Saffie Joseph (whom they just reinstated).
Yes, Saffie Joseph was guilty until proven innocent and punished until somebody realized there was no case against him. But at least he did get reinstated. Baffert didn’t. Years and years–we don’t know how many–of banishment and punishment for twenty trillionths of a gram of a non-performance-enhancing substance doesn’t make any sense. There’s got to be some sort of personal vendetta against him. Do we know who is responsible for the new penalty? Is it the stewards or the CDI management or somebody else?
My money is on William C. Carstanjen, CEO, of CDI, then Board Chairman Alex Rankin whom both have been named in lawsuits by Baffert’s team time after time and subsequently probably have cost them or CDI hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to answer all the suits and appeals.
CDI has an P & L statement as well as a budget as most companies do and this legal expense have cost them dearly. Obviously, they see Baffert as a pest that needs to be squashed by any means possible.
Loser normally pays legal fees, especially if they initiated it.
Usually not…especially the defendant’s attorney fees.
Okay they each pay their own fees, there’s an exception in some states if it was considered a frivolous appeal or lawsuit.
Thank you for answering my question.
Hero worship!
Well, I respectfully disagree with your letter to Churchill Downs.
Baffert abused Churchill Downs.
He stated in November of 2020 after Gamine’s overage for betamethasone that he was hiring a veterinarian to oversee medication compliance. He never actually employed the person despite a press release announcement he was hired.
I have known several persons who have worked for him and describe him as a micromanage. Nothing would go into his top horses without his full amd complete knowledge. And now suddenly he did not know Otomax has betamethasone in it.
Baffert then holds a preemptive press conference before the KHRC or Churchill Downs was able to issue their own release.
Baffert had been emailed by the KHRC what the new rules were for betamethasone and the new KHRC zero tolerance policy.
Baffert’s legal team then started suggesting that Churchill Downs, the KHRC and NYRA were biased against him to distract from the merit of the KHRC argument for disqualification.
In 2022 Baffert went on Fox News to suggest that he was a victim of cancel culture because of the disqualification, suspension and Churchill Downs ban. He did it again in 2023 insisting he did nothing wrong.
Baffert has a right to defend himself.
But Churchill Downs has an equal right to safeguard their products the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby.
By Baffert insisting he did nothing wrong, he expects Churchill Downs to allow him on the grounds as a trainer without any guarantees that he will not engage in the same misconduct.
Baffert ran roughshod over state regulators throughout the country until Churchill Downs and the KHRC put their foot down to hold him accountable. The jig is up for Baffert. Either he accepts responsibility, apologizes and commits to not do it again, or he will never train again at Churchill Downs.
Baffert made this mess.
Now he has to clean it up.
Perhaps time to add a little humor to these discussions.
The horse most likely to have outrun Flightline would be The Black Stallion (Shatan).
Have a great weekend everyone!
Loved those books to distraction when I was a kid!
Me too!
Maybe Man O’War or Dr. Fager. But oh yeah, The Black would have eaten Flighline’s lunch.
We don’t precisely know why Flightline was given so much time between races. But in this discussion about greatness and Hall of Fame worthiness, does it matter? Why hasn’t there been more (any?) comment about the difficulty in competing against top company in Grade 1 races after long layoffs? I wish I had $10 for every top trainer who said after a loss, “He needed a race.”
Flightline’s four Grade 1 wins were extraordinary accomplishments. The layoffs cannot be presumed as beneficial.
Couldn’t agree more Roy. My understanding on why Flightline was raced so judiciously was because the connections only wanted optimum performances to create a mystique about the horse. As you stated, that is exactly what the connections achieved.
How often are racehorses run with minor niggling injuries in the US? Flightline was raced as the Europeans race their champion racehorses – sparingly and at their peak. Good for them, and good for the connections of Flightline.
Your understanding is off base.
Flightline missed his entire 2 year old season because of the very serious injury in his stall that resulted in that horrific scar on his right hip. The white hair scars on his neck are from the iv ports that were inserted (stitched in) so that antibiotics could be given to prevent infection in that hip wound.
On two other occasions he missed training from a pulled leg muscle and a hoof injury.
Mr Sadler described Flightline as being a feisty colt who was difficult to train. The colt wanted run full out everytime he hit the track. It took time and patience for Flightline to learn to control his speed. Mr. Sadler has credited his assistant trainer with achieving that with Flightline.
Something else that Mr Sadler said is that unlike many other horses he did not need a prep race.
Originally the Triple Crown races were in the plans for Flightline but the altercation with the stall latch took those plans off the plate.
It is my opinion that much of the success of Flightline should be credited to Mr. Sadler.
He is patient and understands the necessity of being able to harness that natural speed in that he rode eventing horses in his younger days. You can have a brilliant, highly talented horse but if you cannot control that speed, you have wasted that talent.
As Jim “Sunny” Fitzsimmons said…it is the trainers responsibility to devlope that talent, to bring the best out in a horse.
He also said that basically there two kinds of horses: one has good manners and one whose manners have been neglected.
Mr Sadler knew this..that Flightline had to have good manners to be a successful race horse.
Thanks for your speculation and here’s a direct quote from one of the owners.
“Mr. Sadler’s philosophy is we don’t really make a schedule for the horses, the horses make a schedule for us,” Hronis said. “So we’re going to train him up to the Pacific Classic … and when he’s ready to run again, he’ll be on the racetrack. That’s for sure.”
That seems to coincide with what Roy and I wrote.
LOL, your response was almost exactly what I expected.
Well, I guess it really doesn’t matter to me why he needed the time between races, but what does matter to me is the fact that when he was healthy he opted to avoid top competition.
Case in point, after his second win his connections were considering entering him in the Breeders Cup Sprint. They skipped the tougher competition.
Ok, so Flightline defeats handily the field in the Malibu Stakes. He is training and healthy, but no consideration is ever given by the connections to running in the Pegasus World Cup where he could face the Horse of the Year and two Breeders Cup champions.
So Flightline wins the Metropolitan Handicap. Well, before and after the race it is reported that the Whitney Stakes is under consideration for his next Starr.
See above for why the race would have been a test for Flightline. Not saying he would not have won, but it is the Graveyard of Champions for a reason.
So Flightline showed brilliance. He was the speed figure horse.
But he ran in only 4 Stakes races.
He never defeated a top class horse at a distance they were best at. He never set a stakes, track or world record. He defeated 4 multiple G1 winners in his career. Only two in the Breeders Cup Classic. Ghostzapper defeated 5 in his Breeders Cup Classic.
For me, Flightline is a nice runner. A fast horse. But mostly a question mark.
Exactly what top company did Flightline compete against in the Metropolitan Handicap off a 6 month layoff?
Speakers Corner was best at 7 furlongs. Against top company, 8 furlongs was too far. I know Speakers Corner won the Gulfstream Park Mile against modest competition, but his class allowed him to get the job done. Similar to Country Grammer who is not a strong ten furlongs horse, but he was able to win against competition who were not ten furlongs either.
Aloha West was better a quarter mile shorter.
And Happy Saver was better at two turns going longer.
So this top competition was mediocre at best.
Steve, is there any explanation as to why Smarty Jones has not been inducted in the Hall of Fame?
I am pretty sure he has been nominated at least once, maybe more.
Beecause of the few starts. But they wont be able to use that anymore with Justify and Flightline locks to get in. I will be presenting my case for Smarty to the committee this year. He rarely gets a vote by the nominating committee. Pat Chapman believes its because of her and retiriing him after the Belmont. But according to her no one knows the real story. I’ve been trying to get her to talk about it in print.
Thank you! Hope all your efforts pay off and he gets in.
He is so deserving!
Steve, thanks for that comment. I’m glad to hear that you’re going to put Smarty’s name forward. Like Lynda, I’ve often wondered why he isn’t in.
But Justify and Flightline have 4 G1 wins.
Smarty Jones has two. I love Smarty Jones, but the day he gets onto the Hall of Fame it will sadly have become meaningless.
Flightline marginally gets in. Winning Horse of the Year is likely what cinched it.
His resume is quite weak.
No stakes records.
No track records.
Defeated zero Eclipse Award champions past or future.
He defeated zero future Hall of Fame horses.
He ducked the Breeders Cup Sprint and Whitney Stakes.
He faced only 2 multiple G1 winners in his Breeders Cup Classic the lowest amount ever.
The top two horses in the race were compromised by distance and injury.
Sadly, Nest lost to Malathaat in the Breeders Cup Distaff or she wins Horse of the Year.
When coming to the ratings of racehorses, Timeform UK has always had the most respected international reputation since it was founded in 1948. Timeform has rated USA racehorses for about 30 years now.
Timeform’s Greatest Racehorses – Flat
Highest Timeform Annual Ratings (Flat 3yo+)
147 Frankel
145 Sea-Bird
144 Brigadier Gerard, Tudor Minstrel
143 Flightline
142 Abernant, Ribot
141 Mill Reef
140 Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Harbinger, Sea The Stars, Shergar, Vaguely Noble
139 Arrogate, Generous, Pappa Fourway, Reference Point
American Pharoah, California Chrome, Cigar have a ranking of 138, the same as Nijinsky. Easy Goer, Ghostzapper, and Sunday Silence have a rating of 137.
same as Nijinsky.
Flightline, with his lofty rating in Timeform, will never be forgotten.
Davids, if I remember correctly Baaeed finished with a Timeform number of 137 as well. And I maybe wrong but I believe the only non ‘American raced’ horse to race in America was Dancing Brave (lost in the ’86 BC).
Great list…gives another perspective to Flightline.
John, eventhough thus Timeform system did not apply to American racehorses when Secretariat was running, he was later assigned a 153.
Thanks Lynda.
John, unfortunately, the above information is not actually correct. Here is a snippet from the actual Timeform article:
“Timeform are happy to let others decide what constitutes true greatness and how important other attributes like versatility, consistency and longevity are alongside ability, but in terms of ratings, only Frankel (147), Sea-Bird (145), Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel (both 144) have ever been awarded higher end-of-year Timeform ratings.
As stated earlier, Timeform only began compiling US ratings in the 1990s, so it doesn’t have a published figure for Secretariat. In A Century of Champions, published by Timeform, but written by John Randall and Tony Morris, they rated Secretariat 144, Citation 142, Spectacular Bid and Seattle Slew 141 and Native Dancer and Affirmed 140 as the leading performers in America in the last century. US racing journalist Andy Beyer has been compiling speedfigures in America privately for over fifty years and publicly for over thirty and awarded Secretariat a retrospective rating of 139. His ratings are on a different scale to Timeform’s (and Randall and Morris) and, if translated to the Timeform scale, would put Secretariat on a figure in the low 150s.”
If you and everyone else would like to read the full article just search under Flightline: The Timeform Verdict
So tell me Davids ..is 153 not the low 150’s???
Timeform, DID NOT assign Secretariat a figure in the low 150s as you wrote above: “he was later assigned 153.”
If you read more carefully, the Timeform article states that Andy Beyer had retrospectively allocated Secretariat a rating of 139 and that:
“His [Beyer’s] ratings are on a different scale to Timeform’s (and Randall and Morris) and, if [Beyer’s ratings were] translated to the Timeform scale, would put Secretariat on a figure in the low 150s.”
Do you the see the difference? Timeform did not give Secretariat a rating, the discussion is about Beyer’s rating of Secretariat being translated into Timeform’s scale – there is a huge difference.
Please read below:
Earlier in the article Timeform state that: “ Timeform only began compiling US ratings in the 1990s, so it doesn’t have a published figure for Secretariat. In A Century of Champions, published by Timeform, but written by John Randall and Tony Morris, they rated Secretariat 144, Citation 142, Spectacular Bid and Seattle Slew 141 and Native Dancer and Affirmed 140 as the leading performers in America in the last century.”
Randall and Morris have impeccable credentials but are a little stingier than Timeform in their ratings. Nonetheless, Timeform published Randall and Morris’s ratings, thus, stamping their approval/acceptance.
For further reading may I suggest “Why we’ll always dispute official ratings” by Tony Morris.
Hope this clarifies things for you.
Excellent. You couldn’t have presented the difference between a rating and an imprecise comparison any clearer.
Thanks Roy. Timeform are always very ‘deliberate’ on their precise rating.
John, you can find a fuller list in the Wikipedia listing of Timeform and there is an article Flightline: The Timeform verdict which expands on their rating.
Thanks Davids.
Considering the lack of North American horses on that list…Flightline looks even better!…Secretariat and Spectacular Bid had THAT MANY better than them?
Matthew, you can look at a fuller list in the Wikipedia listing of Timeform.
Yes, Flightline will be forgotten.
He pales in comparison to the others on that Timeform list.
Flightline was never seriously challenged by any other horse. When he ran, it was not a question of will he win, but rather, how much will he win by. He was a shooting Star. Spectacular to look at but to short to remember. I believe he would have held his own against the all time greats, but we will never know for sure. All the other horses were too slow or in one case, distance limited. It would have been nice to have seen him and Life Is Good in a mile race. It was not his fault his competition was weaker.
It was quite obvious that he was somewhat fragile as Sadler waited and took a lot of time between races and took a lot of time to stretch him out.
As all Hall Of Fames in every Sport are watered down, he is a cinch.
Well said Eric.
Ruffian broke down 48 years ago on this date.
Hard to believe it has been that long ago.
The day the music died.
You got that right Steve.
I watched the race & was left in horror. My whole outlook on horse racing changed that day.
She was & still is my favorite filly. What a staggering loss.
Arguably the greatest filly that ever raced, maybe even an alltime great regardless of gender.
Still hurts all these years later.
The match race was on Sunday.
The track was like cement that weekend according to several riders.
Pretty sure the track record for 6F was broken the day before by an allowance horse named Sailors Watch…
Many great fillies and mares raced against colts without breaking down. Haskin would know far more about great racemares last not Ruffian than I do, but in the nineteenth century Europeans got to enjoy Kincsem, who won a whopping 54 out of 54 starts, despite being over-raced some of the time. The British also had Beeswing, one of Kincsem’s ancestresses, and she was very impressive over a long career too. The Americans had Fashion, Firenze, and Miss Woodford in the same period, all models of consistent brilliance. We now remember Ruffian because of her brief brilliance and very public tragedy on a national stage. In her day, people didn’t hold their breath hoping horses finished their races and works safely, but Ruffian’s soft pedigree and top-heavy conformation– combined with massive size– made her accident much more likely.
I instantly recalled how she tried to get the inflated prosthetic off her fetlock, smashing everything to bits. Sickening, especially since the TV feed kept showing it over and over. They don’t do THAT anymore.
Have similar visceral memory of Go For Wand and Bayakoa running in perfect syncronicity — until Go For Wand broke down. The poetry and agony, all in an instant.
Ruffian would have never raced again but had she not smashed the cast to smithereens as she was coming out from under the anesthesia she would have survived. She shattered her shoulder and elbow which was beyond repair.
I was watching the race and it affected me so deeply that I was unable to watch live horse racing for 20 years.
There have been several theories as to why she broke down. One of course is her breeding (her sire). Another one was that in that era most all weakling and yearlings across several breeds including Arabians were feed a very high protein feed in big quantities to accelerate growth. While it worked to accelerate growth it did not result the necessary bone density.
I think Lucien Lauren made the comment that she was as fast as Secretariat.
She, to this day, is greatest Thoroughbred filly that I watched race.
Not sure what the connections were trying to prove, usually with a top horse, there’s a widely agreed upon pinnacle to reach. They managed his career like he was a very good horse, who needed time between races, not like an all time great, which he might be, but you have to run the races.
Where can I find a summary of the “widely agreed upon pinnacle”?
Come on, you know the big races. The Triple Crown is the top pinnacle, for 3 yo’s. Some of the older horse series have disappeared. But you have to run what’s left, there are several Gr. 1’s in spring and summer. Quantity matters. that’s what all the other greats did.
Not to mention fall and winter.
Exactly.
Flightline skipped the Pegasus World Cup despite being healthy at the time.
Flightline skipped the Whitney Stakes where he could have taken on Hot Rod Charlie, Life is Good and Olympiad at the distance they were most comfortable at.
Heck, at 3 the connections were considering the Breeders Cup Sprint and passed.
Flightline defeated one of the weakest editions of the Breeders Cup Classic ever because the top two horses in the race, Epicenter and Life is Good, were compromised by injury and distance. No way does he win by 8 if Epicenter stated healthy.
Excellent thought provoking post Steve. This seemed to light a fire under several individuals. We go from Flightline to Bob Baffert. All I can say on the Baffert topic is that the penalty doesn’t fit the crime. Pletcher has had issues as well but I do not see any suspensions for him. I don’t much about the CDI so I won’t comment.
I did enjoy your post Steve, you make good points on both sides. I do believe Flightline will get in the Hall of Fame though.
Looking at his Breeders Cup Classic win, yes he beat Life is Good. But the latter should not have been in the race. He is not a 10 furlong horse. I believe he should have ran in the BC Dirt Mile. Horses today win a lot of Grade 1 races, but with slow times. The whole sport is watered down. Could Flightline beat Authentic & American Pharoah at Keeneland? Well those two ran a faster 10 furlongs so I would say no. Yes Flightline was geared down but so was Authentic & American Pharoah.
AP easily beat a TOUGHER field than Flightline did, IMO.
Flightline was a very unique horse. I stand by what I said months ago, he was an excellent race horse but NOT an all time great.
That would be blasphemy to Secretariat, Dr. Fager, Spectacular Bid, Man O War, Swaps, Forego, Seattle Slew & Affirmed, plus many others.
Hello Deacon.
I agree with several of your points including the sport bring watered down, winning but slow times and putting Flightline in the same category as Secretariat, Dr Fager, etc.
Would add Arrogate to your comment about Flightline and AP and Authentic. In a head to head I think Arrogate would win over Flightline.
Absolutely agree that Flightline should be in HOF.
I actually think Flightline might have been just that good and would have handled Authentic and AP. But there we get to the basic problem people have with Flightline in his abbreviated and heavily curated career. Had he run more races against more of the top horses, all this might have been less in question. In the BCC, he ran against the best they could send against him but one of his main challengers in the race was injured and could not finish. Another put in a brave run but was arguably not a mile and a quarter horse. It’s a wee bit frustrating but at the end of the day, I think he actually was just that good.
Affirmed, Alydar, Seattle Slew, Alysheba, Easy Goer, Sunday Silence, Forego—everybody except Secretariat and Spectacular Bid—–put Flightline in the race WHO IS FAVORITE?..
SEATTLE SLEW, who was getting faster and Could get the 10 f. distance.
Well maybe…Slew lost twice at four, double his losses at two and three.. maybe..but I doubt he would be favored vs Flightline….
I would like to throw in the overlooked Formal Gold. Since Beyer figures came into wide usage, the three fastest horses are Formal Gold, (several times), Ghostzapper, and Flightline.
I think long time fame and status would count for more than you seem to think.
Probably Affirmed or Seattle Slew
Thanks for the response Lynda. Ity is hard for me to classify Arrogate. Yes he ran 4 great races that were jaw dropping. He then hit the wall pretty fast & unexplainable.
I think he was better than Flightline buts just my opinion.
Of the 4 horses we have been speaking about I would take American Pharoah first, than Arrogate, Flightline & Authentic 4th.
Discussing the GOAT in any sport open leads to arguments. My dad swore that Swaps was the best horse he ever saw, he was from that era though. All my early years at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park & Del Mar I listened to many old timers who usually had differences of opinion.
Whether it was Round Table, Citation, War Admiral Mr. Ed it was funny watching them argue about it. Horses today are pampered beyond belief. Owners & traIners are ruining the purity of the race horse.
Thanks Deacon. I don’t think anyone considers Flightline an all time great. Not with 6 races. I dont see Authentic in the same breath as Pharoah. But I would have loved to seen more speed in his Classic. Turned into a boring race with Beholder scratched and Pletcher good horse going in the Dirt Mile.
I agree Steve Steve. I was only using his Keeneland BC Classic to make a point about Flightline.
6 races is not enough to to classify a horse as an all time great, at least not in my opinion.
Deacon, there is a stark difference between Pletcher and Baffert here in order of magnitude.
I want the book thrown at Pletcher, do not get me wrong.
But Baffert had overages with the same substance in arguably the top two race for colts and fillies on dirt in the World in consecutive years.
Churchill Downs always reserved the right to extend the suspension depending upon Baffert’s behavior.
Examine Baffert’s behavior.
He committed to retain a veterinarian to oversee medication compliance after the Gamine overage. He never followed through making weak excuses that the veterinarian he was to employ was stuck in Ireland. Why the heck did Baffert have to hire someone from Ireland? If Baffert were truly interested in the integrity of his barn he would have hired an alternative veterinarian until the issues with Covid dissipated. Perhaps you are unaware, but Jerry Bailey was always a strong supporter of Baffert. Baffert’s failure to hire a veterinarian caused Bailey to stop supporting him. Baffert still has yet to hire the veterinarian demonstrating he was never serious about it.
Then examine Baffert’s statements on Fox News last year suggesting he is a victim of cancel culture as if Churchill Downs, the KHRC or NYRA had no merit in their efforts to protect the integrity of the sport.
He allowed his attorneys to advance a position that Churchill Downs, the KHRC and NYRA are biased against him again calling into question the merits of those claims.
This year, around the Preakness Stakes,Baffert went on Fox News again and said he had done nothing wrong.
This is after the KHRC gave Baffert the minimum penalty of three months that they could give.
Baffert also continues to challenge the Medina Spirit overage with the KHRC despite losing every step of the way.
He and Zedan are well within their rights to do so, but so is Churchill Downs well within their rights to extend his suspension from training at VDI properties.
And what would you do if you had a habitual offender of the KHRC rules regarding betamethasone. An offender who is not contrite or remorseful as to his conduct at all. An actor who does not believe he has done anything wrong. And, as a result, has not committed to never doing it again? You would allow this individual who has perverted the names of the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby for all to see?
As I said, Pletcher is no angel and I support his receiving the harshest of penalties. But the circumstances are different. Baffert had 3 overages in G1 races within a year. Two of the overages were at Churchill Downs. Pletcher has had 1 at Saratoga and 1 where a horse was excluded from entering a G1 race as he should have been.
But these did not occur with the same substance in the top two races at the track in consecutive years.
They are totally different.
And Pletcher has not committed to hiring a medication compliance veterinarian like Baffert did and not doing it.
And Pletcher is not going on national TV complaining about cancel culture and the fact that he did nothing wrong. And Pletcher has not been accusing the trier of fact of bias. No, he is working through the administrative process.
With apologies to those interested in the Flightline story Thoroughbred Daily News had a good editorial to day about the CDI/Baffert ‘overkill” suspension extension. Points made…
“No one deserves to be penalized and penalized severely defending themselves”
“He (Baffert) did not do anything that would constitute a case of ‘continued disregard for the rules and regulations that ensure safety for horse and jockey….'”
“CDI gave no assurances that they will drop the ban at the end of 2024”
“CDI has a vendetta against Baffert and it is not right”
Agree.
I’ll have to look that editorial up. Baffert may actually have grounds to appeal this decision in the courts, as it is overreach in my opinion. Course he’s stuck in Kentucky. I doubt this will be one the Supreme Court will want to take up.
A total suck up piece. See my comments.
I believe that Flightline will be elected to the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so. We’ll be seeing many lightly raced horses elected in the coming decades, so why deny Flightline when he becomes eligible? As Steve Haskin noted, Justify is in the HOF with the same number of starts. Is his Triple Crown achievement more impressive than Flightline’s performances? I don’t think so.
Exactly Roy, All Along won 2 races in the US in 1983 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.
A.P. Indy won 8 races, lost 3 races, Arrogate won 7 races, lost 4 races both are in the Hall of Fame.
Flightline won 6 out of 6 races and holds the record of the longest winning margin in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Secretariat won 16 races with an averaged margin of six lengths which includes his epic 31 length in the Belmont Stakes. Flightline’s smallest margin of victory was six lengths while in his four grade 1 wins, he prevailed by an aggregate of 45 lengths with an average of 11.25 lengths per start.
Flightline will be in the Hall of Fame, you can bet your life on it.
I like to look at the level of competition they ran against. In the case of Flightline let’s examine those who he beat. Olympiad, Taiba, Life is Good, Country Grammer, Happy Saver and Baby Zoda are probably the most accomplished of the group of horses he beat. To the best of my knowledge none of the aforementioned went on to win anything of note. Matter of fact those horses can be considered average at best. I know you can pick out a race or two from that group but looking at the complete body of work doesn’t flatter Flightline one bit. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it, right or wrong.
So you’re okay about sticking with an opinion that’s wrong?
I like to look at the level of competition they ran against. In the case of Flightline let’s examine those who he beat. Olympiad, Taiba, Life is Good, Country Grammer, Happy Saver and Baby Zoda are probably the most accomplished of the group of horses he beat. To the best of my knowledge none of the aforementioned went on to win anything of note. Matter of fact those horses can be considered average at best. I know you can pick out a race or two from that group but looking at the complete body of work doesn’t flatter Flightline one bit. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it, right or wrong.
Life is Good won the the Whitney & Woodward Stakes, Pegasus World Cup, Breeders’Cup Mile;
Country Grammar has won around $15 million in prize money including the Dubai World Cup, Hollywood Gold Cup etc;
Olympiad won more than $3million dollars in prize money including the Jockey Club Gold Cup;
Taiba has won 3 Grade 1 races
Happy Saver won the Jockey Club Gold Cup etc.
Boy, do I wish I owned these ‘average’ horse.
The Life Is Good throwdown, into that backstretch headwind—had there been no wind that might have been an all-time horse race—he handled that horse and LIG was the best horse Todd and Irad ever had, per their own statements….
That said….the owners blew their big chance—they could have given racing a huge shot in the arm, but they retired him, and I understand why—money…..investment….I think the Hronis faction wanted to race him and nobody else..
That sounds liike Kosta. He loves racing his horses. But the breeder and original owner owns Lane’s End Farm, so the handwriting was always on the wall.
Matthew, I personally wanted Life is Good to run in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile again as I wanted the horse to leave the stage a winner. As you say, the opinion of Pletcher, Baffert et al was that Life is Good was of the highest quality.
I thought 10f was too far for Life is Good, when competing with a horse like Flightline. I speculated about10 lengths would be the margin but I was wrong, Flightline trounced him by over 12 lengths.
They raced Life Is Good in The Classic because they were SPORTING! He went too fast into that headwind, but they TRIED! They put up more than the Flightline owners did! They GAMBLED, and Horse Racing is a gamble!
We are talking about the Hall of Fame. The all time great horses. The best of the best. You might have an interesting conversation about Flightline but contemplating the required accomplishments (3000 hits, 600 home runs, 250 wins) he doesn’t come close.
You mean like All Along? All Along won 2 turf races in the US in 1983 and went straight into the US Hall of Fame.
It’s easy to pick an exception to the rule in any discussion for the Hall of Fame regardless of the sport. Looking at Flightlines entire scope of work does not qualify him that elite status.
She was Horse of the year and Champion grass Mare in 1983, before you go trashing All Along to make your vitriolic point.
OK WHO…trashed All Along?
I figured that if you say “trashing” and “vitriolic” in the same sentence you must be replying to a horrible post. But lo and behold, the comment to which you replied doesn’t qualify for either. The point was that if All Along gained entry to the HOF with just two U.S. races, Flightline surely would be a deserving honoree.
I thought he belittled her accomplishments and overlooked the fact that All Along also won the Gr. 1 Rothman’s at Woodbine, which was part of the turf series along with the 2 US races she won and may have figured into her US Hall of Fame entry.
It’s also a poor comparison. She raced 21 times altogether, at 3, 4 and 5 in closely spaced races, around the world. She was Horse of the Year, the only female turf horse to get that. And won the Arc, which some people think is the world’s greatest race. She was a turf horse.
Koufax won 150 and is considered the best ever lefty….I don’t care about HOF, but talking horses I can say with confidence Flightline was one of the ones..
So you think that every hitter in the baseball hall of fame had 3,000 hits and/or 600 home runs? That every pitcher in the HOF had 250 wins? Far from it. The VAST majority of inductees did not reach those thresholds. It’s the hall of FAME, not the hall of the ELITE.
1. Life is Good was distance challenged never coming closer than 4th place in a ten furlongs race.
2. At least you did not include Epicenter who had the best chance to defeat Flightline having won the Travers Stakes with a 112 BSF. So, the top two competitors of Flightline in the Breeders Cup Classic were compromised by distance and injury.
3. Country Grammer is an average horse at best who folds against tougher competition. He did not even make the Breeders Cup Classic and is a California horse and we know they are usually a step below the best.
4. Happy Saver did not win another race after winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup in 2021. He was better around two turns than the one in the Metropolitan Handicap. He had zero wins in 2022.
5. Rich Strike had 1 win in 2022. With his journeyman jockey he was totally overmatched.
6. Olympiad was better at 9 furlongs, the distance Flightline ducked when his connections said before and after the Metropolitan Handicap that they were considering the Whitney Stakes. When connections list two potential races amd choose the weaker one, they are ducking the tougher competition. The same thing they did with the Breeders Cup Sprint which they said they were considering after Flightline’s allowance win. They went in the restricted Malibu Stakes. At 10 furlongs in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Olympiad ran a 105 BSF in his win. He was better at 9 furlongs as his 111 BSF suggests in the Stephen Foster.
7. Taiba was a lightly raced 3 year old who ran well, but at ten furlongs he could not compete. He ran a 108 BSF winning the Pennsylvania Derby.
So your field in the Breeders Cup is pretty weak for Flightline.
Horse is retired – I’m not sure why people who aren’t huge fans of his would be mentioning him….no one mentions MSN o’War, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Bid, etc…; that’s just the way it is – I don’t think it means he’s been forgotten. I wouldn’t personally include him amongst the greatest ever, but no doubt he’ll get in the HoF first go. Then again, who knows? I think it’s a joke that Gulch isn’t in, so who knows what voters will think about Flightline’s abbreviated career?
Those other horses are mentioned all the time. You would think Flightline would have a social media following.
Steve, Flightline has a FB page that has 3,000 followers.
Not sure if he has a Twitter page.
His FB page is one of the places I saw his conformation photo. I do agree with your comment way down to my post that 8 months is a long time to wait for the photo.
From time to time there are comments about him on Jane Lyon’s page.
California Chrome by comparison has 6 FB pages and several thousand followers on each page. Would guess many follow the same pages. There are several administrators who post almost daily on a couple of the pages. Someone takes the time to post when the Chromes are racing and the results (all around the world).
Example, just a couple of days ago one of first fillies born in Japan won her first race on turf. Her grand damsire is Sunday Silence. She wired the field, very impressive, strong with a big stride.
Zenyatta still has a huge following as well as does Winx and Cody’s Wish.
Aiden O’Brien has a fan site Twitter page where all of the race results and new horses being added to the roster, interviews with Aiden etc.
As evidenced by his Vox Populi, Hot Rod Charlie had a huge following.
Guess I cannot explain it except to say that Flightline is one of the greats just not a “heart horse”.
And I think there is some truth to the comment someone made on here that Zenyatta and American Pharoah became more endeared because they lost a race. Justify is well known as a Triple Crown winner and he has so far proven to be a good sire but for the most part he just not as loved as AP or even Arrogate.
It may be the perfection thing…winning was too easy for Flightline, he never had to dig his heels in and fight for the win.
Lynda the big difference is that Zenyatta and Pharoah and Slew were proven Hall of Famers before their defeat and could afford a positive loss in which he or she ran super . Flightline’s reputation was based solely on his overwhelming margins so with his ultra light schedule he needed to continue that to maintain his reputation. He didnt have a Triple Crown sweep or a 15-race winning streak and a huge fan base to fall back on.
Thank you Steve for clarifying that.
Just want to say that I was not being critical of Flightline.
I genuinely feel that he will be nominated after the 5 year waiting period and most likely will get in on the first ballot.
Hopefully he will be a successful sire and for me that is important not so much about Tapit but his damsire Indian Charlie.
He will get the best mares and everything that can be done will be done to make sure he is successful.
However, at 200,000 a pop stud fee he will most likely have a book of well over 200 mares. There is a, at most, a 4 year window for the investors to get ROI.
It also eliminates most small breeders from being able to afford that fee.
History has shown us that the most successful race horses come from the small breeders.
On another note, totally off topic, I have reading a lot about Jimmy “Sunny” Fitzsimmons. What an interesting and delightful man he was. So insightful about Thoroughbreds and racing. Read last night that his best horse, in his opinion, was Nashua. Makes me wish we had more trainers today like him. He was an old school horseman and over the years I have been privileged to know a few like him.
Are u serious?
Betsy, if Flightline is successful at stud he’ll be remembered throughout the 21st century and forever. Hopefully, Coolmore, Godolphine et al will send some of their top broodmares to Flightline so he has a reasonable chance to sire a top turf performer in Europe.
It would be a joke if 13 for 32 Gulch had been elected to the Hall of Fame. And yeah…all those greats you mentioned are never mentioned. LOL.
Flightline too good not to be in the Hall of Fame. A great talent, produced a top performance every time. But who knows, there should be room for the amazing Da Hoss in the Hall of Fame. The only horse to win a Beeders Cup race in non-consecutive years. In my view an egregious omission. ps; Steve, thanks for continuing to write, it’s always a treat.
Thanks very much.
I can “see” the dark room, “smell” the stale gas and cigar smoke….as the CDI guys leered at the Preakness feed, “That SOB better not win!”…after a two year ban, and zero infractions—.he wins The Preakness, and as he walks into the winners circle he proclaims “I love Baltimore “!….and you could cut the vitriol with a chain saw—-“Let’s give him another year”, is muttered….
After pretty much staying out of the Derby preps during his two year ban…Bob should throw care to the wind and try to win as many Derby preps as he can….and make the 2024 Preakness a big race—leaving the 2024 Derby with an asterisk—-CDI unwittingly affects The Triple Crown, by omitting contenders…
CDI needs to get over their fragile feelings and quit acting like entitled blue bloods!
Sounds like BB.
Matthew W-I saw that coming a mile away. CDI was sending out signals that they had the option to extend Baffert’s suspension another year if anything should arise and give them reason. CDI was looking for the perfect excuse and his interview gave it to them.
As far as I gather Baffert wasn’t issued a gag rule on any rulings and was only expressing his first Amendment rights. And his answers to questions was his basic explanation in all his court appearances.
Looking at this from a distance is looks very pitiful, pathetic and just plain vindictive on CDI’s part.
Totally agree, John, Matthew and Bigtex. Don’t the folks at Churchill understand how much we all enjoy seeing the Baffert horses in the mix? I could say they don’t always win, but yeah, he has a remarkable record (six–arguably seven–wins) especially compared to any other trainer.
John, u defend him 24/7.
Mike, try getting over you BDS for once.
Sure, coming from an individual fawning over one barn,
The First Amendment has absolutely NOTHING to do with Baffert’s “right” to speak. Do you know anything about the meaning of the First Amendment? CDI is a for-profit company, not a governmental agency. As for the suspension, Baffert has never accepted responsibility for his offenses. His public utterances and his unwillingness to accept the penalties must be considered when applying penalties, similar to a judge passing sentence.
Bob Baffert does not work for CDI. He is not bound within the “for-profit” and individual paramaters. You following sentences is taken from CDI. Try again.
You don’t have a clue. Just stick to commenting on horse racing.
Baffert will never train again at Churchill Downs unless he apologizes for his idiotic interviews, take responsibility and admits he is in the wrong, and promises not to do it again. Just watch.
Perhaps BB should refrain from pushing back on CDI for over 24 mo.
He has every right to. Ever heard of the First Amendment?
And as long as Baffert whines, Churchill Downs has every right to deny him access to the grounds for the rest of his life. Churchill Downs can get along fine without Baffert, can Baffert get along fine without Churchill Downs?
He thought he was bigger than the sport.
He was wrong.
And Churchill Downs has every right to not allow him to ever train again.
The reality is, Baffert wants to train at Churchill Downs.
Churchill Downs could care less if he ever does again.
So Baffert ought to shut up, apologize, take responsibility for engaging in a legitimate overage and commit to not doing it again.
Because as much as Baffert has the First Amendment, Churchill Downs can see he never trains there again. Ever.
Actually the CDI management team is a group of 3 men and two women who are highly polished professionals with education and experience as attorneys, financial consultanting and corporate management strategies. Not one member of their top level executives bios mention race horse ownership. The CEO’s salary is 12 million dollars annually.
It is all about profit and brand protection and little to do with the sport. They will do what they want regarding Baffert and not care one way or the other what you, I or anyone else thinks.
As shameful as this extension of the suspension is, I think what CDI did to Saffie was worse.
Only after the necropsy reports on his trainees who died Derby Week came back as inconclusive other than a trace amount of rat poison in one horse was CDI forced to lift his suspension.
They have the goods on Baffert and will spin it and use it as long as they can to accomplish the end game, whatever that end game is.
Baffert came out with a statement that in effect said he had not said anything publicly in months about the Medina Spirit case which is mostly true. However his attorneys have been doing rhe talking for him with appeals, lawsuits against CDI.
Both CDI and Baffert are, pardon the pun, continuing the “beat a dead horse”. Both sides have their heels dug in and this matter could go beyond 2024.
I personally find this extended suspension to be ridiculous, very unfair and very detrimental to the spirit and sport of horse racing.
Perhaps there is a bigger target here not just the destruction of Baffert’s career.
We really never know what goes on behind closed doors or what forces or people are in control and that includes our Federal Government today.
It has all…start to finish with Medina Spirit left a very bad taste in my mouth for horse racing.
It is only my love for these horses and this sport in its purist form rhat keeps me coming back.
Maybe Bob’s clients, if they truly respect and trust him, need to play hardball with Churchill. A derby ignored by several of the best 3 year olds loses much of its luster. There are plenty of races.
Boycotts are successful in many cases and might work in this instance.
Fans can also have an impact. If enough boycott the Kentucky Derby it might have more of an impact than the owners.
Fans, in large enough numbers, could reduce the handle by not betting amd not buying tickets to the Derby.
Just think that CDI has gotten too big for their britches.
Lynda, i also agree with your comment about the federal government. I know we kind of dance around politics here, and rightly so, but times are troubling.
The luster the last 2 years is proof, it has already. Rich Strike has left the barn that made him a winner; Mage will have issues winning as well if I had to speculate. But I agree owners need to avoid the KD with their multi million horse for safety and point to the other races
Flightline is indeed a great horse, Steve! I tend to think about and remember the horses that race more often and are not quite as talented, but that is just me!
Completely off topic, but Churchill Downs has extended its ban on Baffert through the 2024 Derby, claiming he continues to “peddle a false narrative” about the nature of the betamethasone violation found in Medina Spirit after the Kentucky Derby. This is starting to look “arbitrary and capricious” to me. What’s Bob supposed to do, considering the New York Times continues to peddle the lie that he “injected” the drug into the horse, which he did not do. Apparently the CD authorities won’t be happy until he bends over backward to apologize. Hypocrites.
Much deserved!
CDI is out of control. They want to limit people thoughts and words. Baffert, along with others here that don’t like him, have every right to express themselves. It’s called the First Amendment.
The rules do not differentiate between injection and topical use. How the substance got in the horse’s system in a nonissue.
…IS a nonissue.
I am not sure that Churchill Downs has any room to criticize anyone after all of the deaths they have had there. It certainly makes BB violation for a minute amount of betamethasone look like one of the least of their problems
Just a point of information.
Arbitrary and capricious is a legal standard used to characterize the actions of the state, not a private entity. Churchill Downs is exempt from such a standard. The KHRC not.
I never found Flightline very interesting because from day 1, he was being presented as a commodity. No matter his talent or accomplishments, he couldn’t exceed expectations. Sadler did manage him well and was the right man for the job, not necessarily a compliment.
Not sure what you mean by a commodity. I think he did exceed expectations. I cant imagine they thought he would better than he was.
Flightline’s talent was kind of magical, and there isn’t much of that left in the world. Nothing wrong with money, but a group of already wealthy people seemed to be most concerned with monetizing Flightline rather than enjoying and sharing him.
Hard to tell without being behind the scenes. I’m not sure if he had any issues that curtailed hhis racing.
And i totally agree with you that no one running now could warm him up. In the last 20 years, maybe only Arrogate’s best could make him work, which is a concern for the breed.
I would take the following at their best over Flightline in the last 30 years…
American Pharoah
Arrogate
Cigar
Ghostzapper who smashed Flightline’s accomplishments with a 128, 124 in the Breeders Cup, 120, and a 118 in 4 races.
Justify
Skip Away
I only saw the horse on television, but there was no denying his magnificence even on the small screen. I just wanted to be able to watch him more and to be able to read more about him. Lightly raced horses always bear the weight of a defeat more heavily, but sometimes defeat helps to define the greatness. American Pharoah’s loss in the Travers is one example. That loss didn’t diminish him….. it added to his greatness. I miss the toughness and durability and rivalries of some of the truly greats of the past. It makes me sad that American horse racing is now all about the breeding shed. Flightline deserves to be called great for his incredible talent. But I think his connections cheated us, the racing fans.
Steve, if All Along is in the US Hall of Fame with only 2 US starts and Invasor is in the US Hall of Fame with only 5 US starts I can’t see Flightline having any problem joining the US Hall of Fame on first consideration. Flightline is a once in a lifetime racehorse.
For me, Flightline is in the same class as: Allez France, Brigadier Gerard, Dr. Fager, Frankel, Mill Reef, Nijinsky, Ribot, Sea-Bird, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, among others, the immortals of the turf. Timeform (UK) has rated only Secretariat above Flightline among US runners and that’s good enough for me.
Thanks Steve for revisiting this great horse. My opinion only 2 horses in 43 years that I could say no one would run faster than the Bid or Flightline. If Flightline ran this year, nothing would change regarding HOF unless he ran on turf. Currently the older dirt horses are not even close in talent to last years crop. So basically if Flightline was kept on dirt this year, all races would’ve been a walkover. Flightline is an easy HOF and should be remembered as an all time great.
If Flightline ran this year his string of monstrous victories would have continued, but I have to wonder if beating the horses we saw in the Foster would have enhanced his reputation.
Look of eagles horses I’ve seen (sensed?) in my lifetime as a horse racing fanatic: Dr Fager, Flightline, and Bulldog Hanover (standardbred). Not many considering the thousands I’ve seen race over my 60 year exposure to the sport of kings. Count me on the never to be forgotten all time great side of the Flightline debate. .
Steve, very thought provoking stuff. In the end, it’s all in the eyes of the beholder.
Case in point…just look at Bloodhorse’s top 100 whereas one voter punished Secretariat enouth that denied him the top spot, with the same panel failing to list the Cougar II in the top 100 even though this horse might have been the most versatile racehorse we’ve seen. Then you had Chinook Pass, a horse that is not in the Racing Hall of Fame yet had established a world record, an American record, tied several track records and basically re-wrote the chapter on horseracing sprinters.
And who can forget the mighty Zenyatta that prompted Allen Jerkens to say…”I’ve seen many of the greats like Citation and Secretariat and Zenyatta is a great as them” only to have Andy Beyer booed out of the paddock area at Holly (Hollywood) Park after his comments that Zenyatta didn’t belong in racing’s pantheon list of horses became known.
As for me and to borrow from Allen Jerkens-I’ve seen many of the greats from Dr. Fager, Buckpasser, Damascus, Spectacular Bid and Secretariat and Flightline was a great as them.
Beautifully stated! I had a close look at Flightline at the Pacific Classic—a hot day VERY hot at Del Mar and there were empty grandstand seats, that were priced $40….I sat in a free seat but mostly went all around the place, of many tiny bars and I scoops had 1/2 ledwas able to walk all the way up to the gate, ther passed me in the heat, turning around to walk to the gate, I yelled “YEAH HOO!” and Prat looked at me, I didn’t think I yelled it so loud bit I was also standing up on a picnic table…I never saw a horse do that to good horses like that, Spectacular Bid having been the other horse that I saw who was amazing, bit Flightline was amazing—I was also at The Malibu, and Prat shaking the reins and its all you need, mid-race acceleration! And he stayed like a mother on law….I only saw Bid ONCE and I saw Flightline twice. I WISH I had driven down for the Vessels Maturity, and the Expressum/Scoops Dynasty throw down Sat night this two were booking! An all-time Quarter Horse Racing throwdown! Scoops made up 1/2 length under a hand ride! Both being geldings t he Expressum=Scoops Dynasty rivalry continues
I mean WOAH,,I meant to say: Expressum made up a half length under a hand ride— at 440 he wins by 3/4 ….
It was astonishing and astounding that Bloodhorse left COUGAR II off of that top 100 list. To me, that was the most significant omission, because he was so obviously worthy of inclusion. A horse of the utmost quality, on turf and dirt, from 1 to 2 miles, whose achievements were certainly noteworthy.
I think one of the reasons some horses are so easily forgotten these days is because they come and go, in a flash, and are whisked off to stud so that the owners can collect all those absurdly (and unjustifiably) high stud fees. Each year, when the freshman sires lists come out I don’t recognize most of the stallions’ names! Seems that most of them ran a handful of times, and nowhere near long enough to make them memorable. I end up looking them up and it’s then that I realize who they are, but their memory did not stay with me.
As for FLIGHTLINE, he ran 6 times, over a period of 2 years, and no matter how fabulous and terrific he was, he did not stay around long enough to really be remembered over the long haul. COUGAR, on the other hand, made 50 starts through his 7 year old campaign, so he came back, year after year, and racing fans had an enduring star that was around long enough to make a lasting impact on people. JOHN HENRY and FOREGO were similar in that regard, in that they raced for many years. I think it’s the longevity that leads to the enduring memories. It’s hard to sit around reminiscing about a horse who ran who ran a few times, because it’s like a flash in the pan.
To each their own.
Flightline skipped top challenges. He was perhaps a once in a generation horse. We never found out because he was coddled.
His connections were considering entering him in the Breeders Cup Sprint after his second win. They chickened out.
After his G1 Malibu Stakes win, they never even considered entering him against Life is Good and Knicks Go in the Pegasus World Cup.
Flightline’s connections said that they were considering the Whitney Stakes which would have had 3 horses competing at their best distances in Hot Rod Charlie, Life is Good and Olympiad. They passed.
Flightline took on horses not at their best distances.
The Pacific Classic at ten furlongs is not a distance most horses can compete at. In the Breeders Cup Classic, the top two horses were compromised by distance and injury.
All sad but true.
Steve,
Great piece. I think Flightline was incredible. I feel lucky to have watched him race and win the Breeders Cup Classic. I was also able to meet him at Lanes End this past May. He’s a sweet horse, he tried to get in my purse I hope he doesn’t disappear into obscurity and I hope his progeny does well! He is a beautiful and very talented horse just wish he could’ve raced longer. Your writing is so amazing, always keeps us in touch with the sport and keeps us thinking. Thanks for that!
Thank you very much Teri. Glad you got a chance to see him. While I can understand both arguments I do feel he should still be remembered.
It might have been better for horse racing and horse racing fans if Flightline had lost in the Breeders’ Cup Classic rather than winning in a brilliant performance. Now his campaign can be seen as an ideal role model for other owners and breeders. He means less to the average fan than, say, California Chrome or even a horse like Hot Rod Charlie, nowhere near as good but fun to follow.
I’m thinking back to 1982 when a three-year-old not only won the Met Mile against older horses and set a track record but then won the Belmont by double-digit lengths. This is the sort of thing Flightline could have done–if he’d had three or four months between races. Conquistador Cielo did this in less than a week. Though he was clearly a remarkable horse, no one thought of comparing him to Secretariat, Forego, Seattle Slew, or Affirmed, to name only a few from the previous decade.
Conquistador Cielo did set one unfortunate precedent: when he lost in the Travers, due to clever race riding that kept him pinned to the heavy going near the rail–he lost what amounted to a match race with the lightly-regarded Aloma’s Ruler and both finished behind Runaway Groom, out in the middle of the track where the going was best–he was promptly retired to stud. That was highly unusual in those days.
The question for me isn’t whether Flightline was as good as Secretariat–obviously not–but whether he was as good as Conquistador Cielo, a much closer comparison, and I would have to say no.
I was thinking along the same lines as you during this year’s Triple Crown season. Perhaps all the media attention went to Secretariat 50th anniversary. Moreover, people’s attention span seems to be shrinking dramatically these days. But surely we should be making extra effort to preserve the greatest stories of the sport, and not just through HOF inductions. I’ve recently been rereading the BloodHorse Thoroughbred Legends series and have become immersed once again in the wondrous talents and courage of so many greats. Your volumes on Kelso and Dr. Fager have been standouts. You continue this tradition of celebration through this blog, but I wish we had more media outlets to provide insights that stir the heart and embed admiration of outstanding horses into the consciousness of all concerned with The Sport of Kings. Perhaps his hoped-for success at stud will remind us down the line of Flightline’s amazing accomplishments. In the meantime, I’m so grateful we have you to keep this consciousness alive.
I really appeciate that Gale. Thank you so much. I am tying to keep this one media outlet alive, as well as the memory of the truly great horses of the past. Even the not truly great.
First two turn race he beat the Dubai World Cup winner by 19 1/4 lengths, and Bob said Country Grammer was peaking…..speaking of Bob, CDI punished him for what he did—and now they’re punishing him for what he thinks..
I may be crossing the line here, but it seems CDI may be emulating our “justice department.”
CDI is a farce and detriment to the game. The KD day this year was an embarrassment, and handling of baffert looks pure revengeful. Hope they get sued and lose. Baffert hasn’t had a positive in 2 plus years. Give us the sport a break from your spiteful ignorance. If not careful, CDI might have a backlash from its customers.
How so?
Country Grammer is no great shakes.
Flightline skipped tough races.
His connections were considering the Breeders Cup Sprint after his second win. They chickened out.
After an impressive performance against restricted company in the Malibu Stakes his connections never even considered the Pegasus World Cup where he could have taken on two Breeders Cup champions at their best distance.
And despite saying they were considering the Whitney Stakes at the Graveyard of Champions they chickened out for the weaker Pacific Classic field.
Flightline faced only 4 multiple G1 winners in his career. Only 2 in the Breeders Cup. Ghostzapper faced 5 in his Breeders Cup Classic.
There is no comparison. Ghostzapper is the better horse. He actually raced. Flightline would sprinkle a race in now amd then between layoffs.
Sad, but true.
Flightline’s Pacific Classic was impressive, but I found Beholder’s more so. Racing fans knew and loved Beholder, which made her win even more special. Flightline would show up in a race every couple of months, do his thing, and disappear again. His victories were impressive, but our memories are short. For the casual racing fans, Flightline is probably long forgotten.
Absolutely agree.
Folks will remember Rich Strike longer than Flightline.
A great post, Steve! To me, Flightline was more like the mythical Pegasus than any flesh-and-blood great like Secretariat, Cigar, or any of the others mentioned in the comments below — even Arrogate, who had a similarly short career but did overcome challenges and obstacles, confirming his greatness. Otherworldly, undeniably great, but gone from the track far too soon. As Lynda said, I will watch the development of his offspring with great interest.
Excellent description, Ms Blacktype. In Europe, Sea-Bird is still regarded as the best they’ve ever seen. Sea-Bird raced 8 times, winning 7 times and second once.
Vermeer, the painter, has 36 paintings officially recognized, Picasso has some 13,500 recognized paintings. Both painters are regarded as the master painters of their time. Volume of work doesn’t determine genius, masterpiece. Either you see it, or you don’t.
If Flightline is not entered in the racing Hall of Fame, it’s the racing Hall of Fame that is diminished, not Flightline. When you see the most accomplished horse trainer in the history of the sport, with some 100 Classic races won, Aidan O’Brien, snapping photos of Flightline like any other racing fan you know the horse’s importance.
Eloquently said, Davids. If Aiden O’Brien knew he was a great one, who are we to quibble?
I must look for videos of Sea-Bird. He is one of the true greats of the 1960s, and that it saying something.
Ms Blacktype, there is a 10 minute video on YouTube called “Sea-Bird – World Champion Racehorse – 1965” is quite good but not the best of quality. Apart from this, you are somewhat limited to his Epsom Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe wins which are a few minutes long.
It’s always the problem you are so limited in actually seeing the champions of yesteryear. Good luck in your search.
I am in the camp that he will be forgotten UNLESS he turns out to be a top sire.
He was a top runner for his time/crop. And yet I ask how many stakes, track and world records did he set? As compared to Secretariat or American Pharoah?
I realize Justify did not but he did win the Triple Crown.
I understand he become too valuable to insure or to lose but couldn’t we say the same for many other recent top stakes winners of their crop who went on to continue to race (like American Pharoah, Zenyatta, California Chrome, Gun Runner, etc.)?
Thanks Steve….
ITA
Happy 4th of July, Steve,
As for fireworks, Flightline ranks right up there. As someone who was lucky — VERY LUCKY — to have been alive to see Secretariat in person both on the track (at his Belmont S., no less) and thereafter at Claiborne, I have grown weary of the comparisons between him and Flightline. For me, there is no comparison between the two and none can be made, but only for the reason(s) you elucidated: they lived, raced, and were managed in different times. It’s the same reason you can’t compare the presidencies of Lincoln and FDR; they lived in different times with very different challenges. I worship Secretariat and I admire Flightline. I wish more people had seen the former run before claiming the latter was his second coming, is all. Thank you for your terrific article.
Happy 4th Patti. I could not have said it better. Everything you said was spot on. Thanks.
Oh, yes you could have “said it better” …..because you ALWAYS do! . I also agree with commenter “SW” about Flightline’s story being “almost as sad as it is awesome.” You could see that in WPT’s Terry Finley’s eyes as he watched his horse cross the finish line for the final time. Those eyes spoke volumes. Cheers, Patti
Steve,
As usual. Your writing style encompasses the sport as well as the sport has captivated your career. So that’s saying volumes when you feel the presence of something special after all your years of observing these athletes. This story is almost as sad as it is awesome. I think all horses are spiritual but some know that they are.
Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And I totally agree about Flightline and his story being both awesome and sad.
Nice article exploring both sides, Steve. I am one of those who was blown away by Flightline, and for me, his overwhelming dominance outweighs the fact that he was lightly raced. I never expected them to continue racing him due to the cost of insurance vs. what he could earn in the breeding shed. I think he does belong in the Hall of Fame. I would not say he was Secretariat by any means, but that Pacific Classic that he ran was truly breathtaking and reminiscent of the way Secretariat ran away from everyone in the Belmont.
I was sort of hoping he would be infertile and they’d return him to racing, but that didn’t happen. And by all accounts he loves his new job; I heard somewhere that for the first month he was breeding he did not want to leave the breeding shed when the deed was done.
I’m lucky enough to be meeting him in September and looking forward to just being in his presence.
Have a great time in September. You will love seeing him. And make sure you see Quality Road, He exudes personality and is fun to be aound.
Yes! Quality Road is great fun! Looking forward to seeing all the stallions and the farm.
Flightline was impressive in his wins. But the wins just seemed too easy for him and we never had the chance to see how much heart he had. We never saw him rally from last to first in heart stopping fashion like Zenyatta in her Classic win, to dig in and win at the very last stride, bringing a nation together as did Tiznow in his 2001 Classic or Affirmed in his Triple Crown duel with the great Alydar. Flightline has the speed numbers and winning distances to allow him to called great, but I just can’t group him with the horses I listed and too many more to mention.
Because of his lack of races, I felt no personal connection to him at the Breeders Cup. His winning margins and his speed were phenomenal, yet left me empty. There was no real hype with such a short career, no engagement with this fan. Knowing the Classic was his last race left me with a ho hum feeling, which translates into, I don’t think about him. It will be interesting to see what he throws, so I’ll see, in three years, if my mind has changed.
It’s tough separating his accomplishments, as few as they are, and his engagement with the fans and their interest in him. Thats what makes him polaizing.
If other extremely gifted thoroughbreds had been so carefully managed as to have only 6 starts by the end of their 4yo season, they probably would have remained undefeated. I wouldn’t have such admiration and fondness for them, though.
(Riva Ridge, Alydar, Easy Goer, Holy Bull)
As for the look of eagles, I saw it in Barbaro while watching him prepare for the Kentucky Derby at Keeneland. I have never been so certain of a horse winning a race in my life. The Derby was his 6th win in a row, and he had officially turned 3 only a few days before the race.
I saw Flightline win the Breeders’ Cup and I filmed him walking back after the race, but I have never watched the video because, as noted in the article, I don’t think about him anymore.
As or your last sentence that is why I wote the column and the headline. It seems as if he is still just as polarizing now,
Steve, first off, I think you offer a very compelling and balanced discussion on both sides regarding Flightline.
I certainly have not forgotten him and he has been in news twice lately; one was his conformation photo and the other was the announcement that he successfully got a very high percentage of mares in foal after he had settled in beautifully upon retiring. The one thing that stood out in his conformation photo was what great bone he has in his legs. That is rare these days.
As to Vox Populi, yes I voted for Cody’s Wish and would have more than once if I could have. Flightline’s record was up against a heart touching relationship between a racehorse and a teenage boy with the a rare disease that will limit his life to a couple of decades at best. The heart won over the head.
I think now we wait, as you mention, to see if he can reproduce himself in the breeding shed when so many others have not been able to do so. I know I will be looking for photos and videos of his first crop and following them to the racetrack.
There are racehorses that I think belong in the Hall of Fame and have not made it in and Smarty Jones is at the top of my list. If Flightline gets in on the first ballot it may open the door wider for Smarty.
No sense in my fretting anymore about the direction that the racing and breeding of Thoroughbreds has gone in recent years in the United States. I can either choose to enjoy the horses and the sport or I can leave. Whole-heartedly agree that most likely will never see the likes again of horses like Secretariat and others as mentioned below.
Because I have come to love turf racing I am enjoying the accomplishments of horses in other countries like Auguste Rodin and Equinox at the moment and the accomplishments of jockey Holly Doyle and the success of Frankel as a sire. I am still following Chrome and his first crop will be racing later this year.
Guess what I am trying to say is that there is a whole world of horse racing out there that we can enjoy in addition to American dirt track racing if we choose to until our next colt, gelding or filly sensation comes along…maybe even Zenny’s last foal…she might be the one!
Well said, Lynda. As for being in the news twice, they both came from Lane’s End Farm, so that is more advertising than news or conversation. I want to see mentions of him come from racing fans. And as for the photo, 8 months is a long time to wait to post a conformation photo by the farm at which he is standing.
As much as I love Flightline, he was no Secretariat. Secretariat WAS the horse that got me full fledged into Horse racing. Secretariat ran on all surfaces. Secretariat was the winner of the Belmont by 31 lengths. Secretariat was the GOAT
I dont know of many people who claim he WAS Secetariat.
The two most breathtaking horses I have seen in the past 30 years were Flightline and Arrogate, with Flightline the more breathtaking of the two. I would take any day that over a horse like Cigar, who racked up a lot of victories against weak fields but never took my breath away. A horse like Flightline is why we all watch.
Agree about Arrogate, and Flightline’s main strength was taking your breath away. That’s all you need to know about him.
Had I decided to write about him on The Vault, I would have described him as the eternal enigma. When he was retired, I understood that he was basically too valuable to risk an injury & insurance would never cover the cost of losing him. Interestingly, just after Auguste Rodin’s (Deep Impact o/f a winning Galileo mare), Aidan O’Brien told the Racing Post that the colt would run again but as for the Arc, Coolmore would be “easy on him” since his bloodlines make him too valuable to lose on the turf. As far as Flightline is concerned, I belong to the he-needed-to-do-more contingent, while I acknowledge that his brief career was indeed brilliant. But it struck me as more a publicity campaign than anything else in his final appearance, orchestrated to attract potential breeders to a talent who is beautifully-bred.
Aidan said they would be easy on him if the course at Longchamp came up soft. He is a firm course horse and Longchamp can be extremely testing on soft ground. And Aidan said that minutes after losing one of his best 3-year-olds.
As for publicity to attract potential breeders, you just stated what racing is all about today. Avoid defeat and depreciation at all costs.
Your usual excellent analysis, sir. As someone who’s followed racing since the 1960s, I can only agree that the likes of Kelso, Secretariat, Spectacular Bid, and Cigar will never return or be duplicated. At the top, racing has become secondary to breeding and sales. At the bottom, a shrinking foal crop (not all a bad thing), closing tracks, and public pressure have made life perhaps even tougher for the horses, owners, trainers, everyone involved.
What may be another trend is that fillies and mares have begun to dominate race rankings and awards in this century, not only in the US (Azeri, Zenyatta, Rachel, and Havre de Grace all taking HOY), but also in Australia (Sunline, Makybe Diva, Black Caviar, Winx) and Europe (Enable, Goldikova, Zarkava, Ouija Board). These days I look for a few top fillies and geldings and second-rank colts for favorites to follow.
Thanks very much and I couldnt agree more about the fillies. I will add Beholder to that list. And your last sentence is spot on.
Definitely Beholder– three Breeders’ Cup races, and 1:59.77 for the Pacific Classic, and a record of 26: 18-6-0, and in the Hall of Fame with seven other fillies and mares foaled in this century alone.
When it comes to Flightline, I really don’t have strong feelings one way or the other, because he just wasn’t around long enough for me to fall in love with him. There’s no denying his talent, I was at the Breeders’ Cup when he won, and it was definitely impressive. I just had a hard time caring, knowing that he was going to be immediately whisked off to the breeding shed. The inevitability of it made what should have been a great celebration of crowning a champion just feel kind of sad….
You are definitely not alone