Flightline, BC Classic Honored at World Racing Awards

Flightline  's thrilling sequence of six victories from as many starts identified him as without equal in 2022, and that was rubber-stamped Jan. 17 when he was bestowed with the accolade of Longines World's Best Racehorse.

The award was presented to Flightline's connections at a ceremony in London, England, by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The IFHA compiles official rankings for elite racehorses in racing jurisdictions the world over.

Although the award was something of a formality, the IFHA's panel of international handicappers sprang a surprise by ranking Flightline on a par with Frankel. The latter's official rating of 140 was the highest given to any racehorse since North American-trained horses first appeared on the world rankings table in 1995. The panel allocated Flightline a provisional rating of 139 after his scintillating victory in the Pacific Classic (G1), but that was upgraded by a pound at the gathering of international handicappers in December.

Flightline's trainer, John Sadler, was accompanied in London by four representatives of the ownership group that campaigned the unbeaten colt. Flightline's breeder, Jane Lyon, was on hand, together with Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds; Bill Farish of Woodford Racing; and Stephanie Hronis, representing the Hronis family. They were eloquence personified in their short acceptance speeches, and their sense of jubilation will doubtless resurface when the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year is dispensed in Florida Jan. 26.

"Everybody has treated us fabulously here in London," Sadler said from the winner's podium. Then, as he reflected on the global reach of the awards, he added: "This horse (Flightline) ran medication-free, which fits well with the international community moving forward."

Lyon, whose Summer Wind Equine bred Flightline, cast her mind back to the bay as a weanling, when he grazed the same paddock as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  's half brother by Tapit  , Triple Tap . "I spent all of my time playing with the other foal," Lyon said. "I'm very hands-on with all my babies, but I didn't realize how fabulous (Flightline) was going to be. All my attention was on the wrong horse."

Sadler said that when Flightline was in training he was unwilling to advance the colt as the equal of Frankel, who retired unbeaten after 14 starts at the close of 2012. "We are all a bit superstitious when horses run," the trainer said. "We watched Frankel's races and we had tremendous respect for him, but now that it's over we can say our horse was great."

Flightline eclipses Cigar as the highest-rated U.S.-trained horse in nearly three decades after Cigar earned a rating of 135 in 1996. This effectively means that in a "fantasy" handicap race involving the two equine giants, Flightline would have to spot Cigar four pounds. Other dirt horses to earn superior rankings in recent years include American Pharoah (134 in 2015) and Arrogate  (also 134 in 2016 and 2017).

As for Flightline's superiority over his contemporaries, he was ranked five pounds superior to Baaeed  (135), the outstanding turf racehorse last year; and 14 pounds ahead of both Nature Strip  (126), the best horse in Australasia and the world's top-rated sprinter, and Equinox, the best horse in Japan. This quartet filled the first four spots on the global standings list.

In a domestic context, Flightline was rated 15 pounds ahead of Epicenter   and Life Is Good   (125), both of whom shared fifth place in the global standings with Prix du Jockey Club (G1) and Coral-Eclipse Stakes (G1) winner Vadeni . Horses trained in the U.S. thus filled three of the top seven spots. 

The pronounced margins of superiority separating horses at the top of the 2022 global standings are rare indeed and serve to highlight Flightline's brilliance. Baaeed's mark of 135 would have topped the world rankings table in all but three of the previous 19 years. The six-time group 1 winner, whose unbeaten streak was snapped on the last of his 11 starts in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) at Ascot Racecourse in October, was rated fully 10 pounds superior to Vadeni, the second-best horse in Europe last year.

As with the Association of Tennis Professionals Rankings and Official World Golf Ranking, the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings establish a pecking order among elite Thoroughbreds. However, the rankings differ markedly from other sports in that a figure for each horse is allocated on the basis of that horse's career-best performance.

Once established, that figure is set in stone, however much the horse in question may underperform thereafter. Rankings in tennis and golf are established by a player's performance over a 12-month rolling period.

The world rankings, which are updated monthly throughout the year, also spawn two other categories in addition to the world's best racehorse. The Longines World's Best Horse Race Award is determined after ratings for the first four finishers in each group 1 or grade 1 race are averaged out. That award in 2022 went to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), which flaunted an average rating of 126.75.

"Breeders' Cup is honored and humbled to have received this award in a year that has seen amazing Thoroughbred racing in the U.S. and around the world," Breeders' Cup president and CEO Drew Fleming said at the event.

And the Longines World's Best Jockey award for 2022 went to The New Zealand-born, Australia-based James McDonald, who triumphed by a wide margin over Ryan Moore and William Buick in a points-based formula. McDonald was presented with his award at the Hong Kong International Races gala dinner last month.