Class Performance

performance chart seems, well, pretty meager: only six starts including his maiden race and his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic 19 months later. But his was, perhaps, a classic case of less is more. Each time he broke from a gate, his execution was increasingly powerful and impressive.

Afer winning his debut in April 2021 in a maiden special weight at Santa Anita, Flightline moved to the Del Mar Toroughbred Club a few months later and smashed the allowance feld there by 12¾ lengths for a fnal time that was only .45 seconds of the track record set in 1973. His stakes bow came next, in the grade 1 Malibu Stakes at his home track. With regular jockey Flavien Prat in the irons, Flightline had what appeared to be his easiest victory yet, coasting to an 11½-length lead, blowing away all rivals, including three-time winner Baby Yoda.

Laid up again due to a strained hock, Flightline didn’t race for six months, when he traveled to the East Coast for the frst time, for the grade 1 $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. His 4-year-old debut in what is considered a stallion-making race presented a steep step-up in company but it proved no obstacle. Despite a worrisome frst half mile, Flightline again made mincemeat of his opponents, capturing the lead and jogging to the fnish by six.

In September 2022, Flightline was back at Del Mar for a start in the $1 million Pacifc Classic, a race that ofered new challenges: It would be his frst time racing at a distance of more than a mile, and the relatively inexperienced horse would now face not one or two but fve graded stakes winners, including Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer. Looking back now, it seems frivolous to have