The Breeders’ Cup Classic favorite has arrived at Keeneland. What’s next for Flightline?
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2022 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington.
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Anticipation escalated considerably for next week’s 39th annual Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Keeneland Race Course when one of this year’s most talked about Thoroughbreds put hooves on the ground in Lexington on Sunday.
Flightline, an undefeated but lightly raced 4-year-old trained by John Sadler, arrived at Keeneland as the prohibitive favorite for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, the richest race of the World Championships to be run in Lexington on Nov. 4-5.
Flightline will be racing for the first time in Kentucky enveloped in both intriguing mystery and unmatched hype. Because of an early-career training injury, Flightline was unable to race until his 3-year-old season last year, when he won his first three career races.
The son of Tapit burst onto the national radar the day after Christmas last year when he won the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park in his Grade 1 debut — by 11 ½ lengths.
Since then, Flightline has raced twice. He won the $1 million, Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park by 6 lengths on June 11, then romped to a breathtaking 19 ¼-length win in the $1 million, Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sept. 3.
Upon arriving Sunday, Sadler told Claire Crosby of the BloodHorse that Flightline looked good after a workout at Santa Anita on Saturday, landed in Louisville on Sunday and was vanned to Keeneland. The coming days are all about the horse getting acclimated.
“Just for him to settle in well. We’re not looking to do anything,” Sadler told Crosby. “The hard training is done. We just want to get him accustomed to his surroundings, let him see the Keeneland track and let him enjoy this beautiful place.”
We’ll learn more about Flightline’s expected challengers in the Classic when pre-entries are revealed Wednesday for all 14 Breeders’ Cup races. One likely contender looks to be 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike.
“Rich Strike is doing as good as he ever has, and (owner) Rick (Dawson) feels that he deserves the chance to take on the best in the world,” trainer Eric Reed said Sunday.
Rich Strike most recently ran second to Hot Rod Charlie in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs on Oct. 1.
Other possibilities include Bob Baffert’s Taiba; Todd Pletcher’s Life Is Good and Happy Saver; Steve Asmussen’s Epicenter; Doug O’Neill’s Hot Rod Charlie and Bill Mott’s Olympiad.
The two-day Breeders’ Cup, which will award more than $31 million in purses, begins with five World Championship races on Friday, Nov. 4 and concludes with nine more on Saturday, Nov. 5.
The third edition of the Breeders’ Cup in Lexington in the 39 years of the World Championships will be televised or streamed nationally by NBC, USA, Peacock and FanDuel TV (formerly known as TVG).
2022 Breeders’ Cup
What: World championships of Thoroughbred horse racing, including 14 races over two days.
When: Nov. 4-5
Where: Keeneland Race Course in Lexington
This story was originally published October 24, 2022 at 12:39 PM.
