What we learned: Flightline is best Classic winner ever

Flightline might not race as often as other great older dirt champions in the last 40 years, especially when considering the old-school campaigns of Cigar and Skip Away in the 1990s. Flightline requires more rest in between races than even many of today's horses, such as Life Is Good.

But whenever Flightline does show up to compete, he treats fans to a memorable performance that all racing fans can remember forever.

Saturday at Keeneland, Flightline did not disappoint anyone watching when he turned in another incredible performance to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Flightline’s Classic win did not come without work; he had to chase a fast and talented opponent in Life Is Good through the early stages.

Here is a recap of the race, including the initial battle between Life Is Good and Flightline, and Flightline’s dominance by the stretch run.

To give himself the best chance, Life Is Good needed to go for the front under Irad Ortiz Jr. no matter how hard Flightline went after him. Life Is Good broke sharp and soon found himself with Flightline right to his side.

Life Is Good managed to sprint to a slight cushion before the first turn and held a half-length lead over the machine-like Flightline in second. Once Life Is Good and Flightline rounded the turn, the pair sprinted away even faster.

After an opening quarter in 22.55 seconds and half-mile in 45.47, Life Is Good opened up on Flightline to lead by two lengths, while Flightline had 11 lengths on the third-place Hot Rod Charlie, who led the “B flight” of runners. When one or two speed horses create a large separation early, it strongly hints at a fast pace as the other horses cannot keep up.

Life Is Good held his cushion over Flightline into the far turn, but Flightline closed back the gap by then. The two of them put together a head-to-head battle as they rounded the second turn before Flightline took over at the top of the stretch and cleared Life Is Good to his inside. At this point, Flightline began to draw clear into his own world.

Under mild urging from Prat, Flightline won by 8 1/4 lengths, which is the second shortest winning margin of his six starts. But this is Flightline’s most memorable win because of his talented pace opponent Life Is Good. Flightline needed to work hard to keep up with him early and put him away, and he still dominated the race in the stretch run.

Flightline completed the 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.05 for a 121 Beyer Speed Figure and 144 TimeformUS Speed Figure. Given the 20-point scale difference between the two brands, the two speed figures are roughly the same.

No one else in the history of the Breeders’ Cup Classic has dominated the race as impressively as Flightline. Sure, there were editions of the Classic with more exciting stretch battles, such as in Tiznow’s two wins in 2000 and 2001, or when Blame held off Zenyatta for a narrow win in 2010. But in terms of sheer power and dominance, Flightline’s edition is hard to top.

Cigar has been a legendary figure in racing history, and he won the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Classic by only 2 1/2 lengths. Skip Away won the 1997 Classic by six lengths at Hollywood Park, but he arguably won one of the weaker editions of the race. American Pharoah won by a similar margin in 2015 to complete an almost perfect 3-year-old season. Still, he did not need to go to war with a great pacesetter such as Life Is Good. 

By the top of the stretch, Flightline won an all-out war with Life Is Good, and then he still dominated the field late as though the battle did not tire him.

When Flightline crossed over Life Is Good in the stretch, it gave Life Is Good the finishing blow and discouraged him from still trying. Life Is Good came into the Breeders’ Cup Classic with questions about stamina, as he faded to fourth earlier in the year in the Dubai World Cup (G1). Both of the times he missed the trifecta came in 10-furlong routes.

Nevertheless, trainer Todd Pletcher and the rest of Life Is Good’s connections deserve respect for giving the Classic a shot and trying to win, rather than use rating tactics that would hand over the race to Flightline.

Flightline remains shorter on accomplishments compared with most other champion older dirt routers of recent times. Yet, his mockery of the Classic field at Keeneland brought him one step closer to being considered a legend without any argument. His raw ability alone puts him in the same breath as any great horse.

In fact, talent-wise, Flightline has shown himself better than any Classic winner of the race’s 38-year history, both with his Classic win and previous five wins. Flightline cannot endure a full campaign, but he probably could beat any historical dirt champion if he came into the race rested and prepared.

Flightline's connections opted to retire him to stud, so he will not have the chance to catch up in terms of overall accomplishments and go down as an all-time great.

But his Breeders’ Cup Classic will be known as a special performance and used as a standard by the next generation to judge all future winners of this race.