Lexington-Bound Flightline Delivers Penultimate BC Work

Flightline  sailed through his final hometown workout for the Nov. 5 Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland with an exhibition of controlled power through a six-furlong, pre-dawn move Oct. 22 at Santa Anita Park, timed in 1:11 4/5 by official clockers.

As usual, assistant trainer and former Breeders' Cup-winning jockey Juan Leyva was aboard Flightline for trainer John Sadler, as the 4-year-year-old son of Tapit   commenced his work at the five-eighths pole and motored on past the wire to the seven-eighths, able to be tracked most of the way only by the flashing lights attached to Leyva's helmet.

"Those lights are moving awful fast," cracked Bob Baffert, who watch Flightline's work from a clubhouse box seat next to Sadler.

Saturday's work was Flightline's fifth formal exercise at one-week intervals since his 19 1/4-length tour-de-force in the Sept. 3 Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar. That was his second start of the year for owners Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing, following his six-length cruise in the June 11 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park.

"I like to think of the Malibu as really his first start of the season," Sadler said, referring to the Runhappy Malibu Stakes (G1) run Dec. 26, 2021, Santa Anita's opening day. Flightline won that seven-furlong race by 11 1/2 lengths.

In what has become both jaw-dropping and predictable, the bay colt's Saturday work looked very much like his Oct. 15 move, which looked very much like his Oct. 8 work, all of them unfolding at around 6:40 a.m. PT.

Peering out at backstretch poles deep in the shadows, Sadler stopped his watch at :12 2/5 for the opening eighth and :24 2/5 for the first quarter as the lights on Leyva's helmet tracked into the far reaches of the home turn.

"Here's where he picks it up," Sadler warned.

Work of the Day from @santaanitapark—Flightline worked 6 Furlongs in 1:11.80 on October 22nd, 2022, for trainer @sadlerracing. @westpointtbred @Hronis_Racing @1stbet pic.twitter.com/QeKtUz9Xsn

— XBTV (@WatchXBTV) October 22, 2022

Right on cue, Flightline and Leyva threw down an eighth in :11 2/5 around the turn for three-eighths in :35 4/5. They reached the eighth pole in :47 4/5 and the finish line in 1:00 1/5, all on Sadler's watch, before hitting the seven-eighths pole in the official 1:11 4/5. Sadler got him two ticks slower.

"That was as good a move as he had before the Pacific Classic," Sadler said. "What I really noticed today was how, when he passed the finish line, he launched himself into that last eighth into the turn."

Slowing Flightline down is sometimes akin to attempting to stop a runaway train. Leyva sent his subtle "whoa" signals as they decelerated through seven furlongs in 1:24 2/5 and a mile in 1:37 3/5, again on Sadler's watch.

"I liked this work a lot because this track is much deeper and more tiring than Del Mar's," Leyva said later. "You'll see how this translates in two weeks."

Fair warning. Flightline has impressed his local audience to the extent that only two Santa Anita-based horses are aiming for the Classic—the Bob Baffert pair of Taiba  and Country Grammer . Hot Rod Charlie , from the Santa Anita stable of Doug O'Neill, has been on the road since the spring and is already prepping at Keeneland.

Gary Young, the private clocker and racing manager for Zedan Racing, owner of Taiba and part owner of Country Grammer, looked up from his watch as Flightline galloped into the backstretch darkness and sighed, "We're gonna need a bigger boat." That line originated in the killer shark movie "Jaws."

Still, the opposition is formidable, at least on paper, led not only by the Baffert twosome and Hot Rod Charlie, but also including Life Is Good  , Epicenter , Olympiad  , Happy Saver  , and possibly Rich Strike . Sadler was asked who among them concerned him the most.

"They're all nice horses and very accomplished," the trainer replied. "But I think I'm in a position where they have to worry about me."

Flightline is scheduled to leave Santa Anita by van in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Oct. 23, for a FedEx cargo flight to Louisville, Ky., out of Ontario International Airport, 25 miles to the east.

Rene Quinteros, one of Sadler's veteran foremen, is to accompany Flightline to the airport and then turn him over to FedEx handlers. On a separate commercial flight, Cesar Aguilar, Sadler's other foreman, will travel to Louisville in time for Flightline's arrival and take him by van to Keeneland, on the western outskirts of Lexington. They will be met at Keeneland Sunday afternoon by groom Adolfo Correa, while Sadler and Leyva's commercial flight to Lexington is scheduled to be there in time to greet their horse as well.

"We're ahead of the game," Sadler said. "He's ready to run, which gives us some flexibility on when we'd work at Keeneland, just enough for him to get a feel of the track. It will depend on the weather."

Back at the Sadler barn after Flightline's work, it was business as usual. Once Leyva peeled off the tack, Quinteros led the colt around the tow ring, veering sometimes from the path into the wide stable road. There, Flightline sniffed the damp morning air and searched the sky for his favorite birds, with Quinteros indulging his every whim until it was time for Correa to give the big colt a bath.

With the possibility of retirement to stud hanging over Flightline, Sadler was asked if his help was treating this final working day as a melancholy farewell to their stable star.

"Not really, because even if he is going to stud, there's always the chance he could stay in training for the Pegasus," Sadler said, referring to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park.

The breeding season traditionally begins in February. Flightline, when he is retired, will stand at Lane's End Farm, located just a few miles from Keeneland.

"One way or the other, I think he'll come back here after the Breeders' Cup anyway," Sadler added. "But right now I can't think of him being gone. I might cry."