Praise flows for Flightline after superstar colt’s retirement
Flavien Prat cannot wait to ride the great Flightline’s progeny in the years to come.
They were his thoughts after reflecting on what an honour and privilege it was to ride the four-year-old over his remarkable unbeaten career.
The legendary colt – who many feel is the best American racehorse of all time – was retired to Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, the day after his breathtaking runaway victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland.
“I’m just really happy for him. I can’t wait to ride his babies,” champion rider Prat said.
“It’s been a great joy to share the journey with him.
“He’s an amazing talent. He has speed and he carries it.”
The son of Tapit won the 1 ¼ mile Classic by a staggering 8 ¼ lengths – as the -250 favourite with online bookmakers – to finish with a 6-0 record.
It was truly astonishing the ease with which he passed four-time Grade 1 winner Life Is Good at the quarter-pole, Todd Pletcher’s four-year-old then tiring because of the great effort needed to lead Flightline with his exceptional cruising speed.
“I was just feeling like I was in a good cruising speed where I wasn’t using him too much,” Prat said.
Olympiad for Bill Mott was the eventual runner-up.
After Flightline’s unprecedented 19 ¼-length victory in September’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the middle-distance superstar retired with a combined winning margin of 71 lengths from just six starts.
“I think it’s great he goes as a stallion, and he’s sound and undefeated,” Prat said.
“The connections have managed him so well.”
Flightline’s ownership syndicate, comprised of five groups, has yet to determine a stud fee.
A 2.5 per cent fractional interest in him will be auctioned at Keeneland on Monday (US time) ahead of the track’s November Breeding Stock Sale.
“We would like to thank trainer John Sadler and his team for the incredible work they did with Flightline,” Lane’s End’s Bill Farish said in a release.
“His historic performances are a credit to their expertise and unwavering efforts to bring out the very best in the horse.”
Flightline’s 1 ¼-mile time of 2:00.05 was second-fastest at this distance in Keeneland history, trailing only Authentic’s 2000 Classic win in 1:59.60.
The ease in which he recorded such a time was what made him so great, according to Prat.
“That’s why he’s good – he has a huge cruising speed,” he said.
Sadler – who likened Flightline to the “LeBron James of racing” even before his unforgettable Pacific Classic triumph – went further in his praise on the weekend.
“The pundits will write for history ‘is this the best horse to ever run? Or is he one of them?’” he said.
“That’s for other people, but for me he’s the best of all time.”
For Kosta Hronis of Hronis Racing, Saturday’s win was mission accomplished after a short but spectacular racing career.
“I think for Flightline to do this on a world stage was important. He needed to stamp this because there are still doubters,” he said after Flightline’s Classic triumph.
“But we have a hero, a champion. He’s undefeated. He would have been the favourite in the Dirt Mile, the Classic, the Sprint, maybe a turf race today.
“He’s America’s horse. He’s done everything possible. He’s stepped up to every challenge.”