Fastest weekend runners: Flightline and everybody else
There's Flightline, then there's everybody else. That pretty much sums up the list of the weekend's fastest stakes runners.
Pick your superlative to describe the 5-for-5 Flightline's 19 1/4-length blowout in Saturday's Grade 1 Pacific Classic. By the numbers, though, the 4-year-old colt trained by John Sadler earned a 117 Brisnet Speed Rating, a 126 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form and a 152 TimeformUS Speed Figure.
Here are a couple of Twitter posts to put his accomplishment in perspective.
That's not to say there weren't other nice performances over the weekend. Country Grammer, the one who was closest to Flightline on Saturday, earned a 130 from TimeformUS. "I think he thinks he won," said his trainer, Bob Baffert.
And Olympiad got triple-digit figures from all three rating services for his bounce-back win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).
But Flightline's Pacific Classic, with Flavien Prat aboard, was incomparable – at least in recent years.
Here are the figures for the weekend's graded-stakes winners, with the highest Brisnet Speed Ratings, along with Beyer Speed Figures from Daily Racing Form and TimeformUS Speed Figures, where available.
| Horse | Race, distance | Jockey | Brisnet | Beyer | TimeformUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flightline | Pacific Classic (G1), 1 1/4 miles | Flavien Prat | 117 | 126 | 152 |
| Wicked Halo | Prioress (G2), 6 furlongs | Tyler Gaffalione | 102 | 87 | 115 |
| Olympiad | Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), 1 1/4 miles | Junior Alvarado | 101 | 105 | 126 |
| Awesome Strong | Florida Sire Affirmed, 7 furlongs | Miguel Vasquez | 99 | 80 | |
| Lieutenant Dan | Green Flash (G3), 5 furlongs (turf) | Juan Hernandez | 97 | 99 | |
| Vigilantes Way | Violet Stakes,1 1/16 miles (turf) | Paco Lopez | 97 | 92 | |
| Law Professor | Tapit Stakes, 1 mile 70 yards (turf) | Julien Leparoux | 96 | 95 | 123 |
| Midnight Memories | Torrey Pines (G3), 1 mile | Ramon Vazquez | 96 | 90 | |
| Chop Chop | Kentucky Downs Juvenile Fillies, 1 mile (turf) | Reylu Gutierrez | 95 | 73 | 91 |
| Gold Phoenix | Del Mar Handicap (G2), 1 3/8 miles (turf) | Prat | 95 | 98 | 121 |
| Virginia Joy | Flower Bowl (G2), 1 3/8 miles (turf) | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 95 | 98 | 117 |
| Annapolis | Saranac (G3), 1 1/16 miles (turf) | Ortiz | 94 | 96 | 118 |
| Hong Kong Harry | Del Mar Mile (G2), 1 mile (turf) | Prat | 94 | 102 | 121 |
| Zestful | Budweiser Special, 7 furlongs | Alejandro Medellin | 93 | 81 | 111 |
| Bound by Destiny | Blue Hen, 5 1/2 furlongs | Jeremy Rose | 92 | 75 | 99 |
| Slow Down Andy | Del Mar Derby (G2), 1 1/8 miles (turf) | Mario Gutierrez | 92 | 86 | 110 |
| Thin White Duke | Lucky Coin (G2), 5 1/2 furlongs (turf) | John Velazquez | 92 | 91 | 114 |
| Feast | Rumson, 5 furlongs | Jose Ferrer | 91 | 92 | |
| Forester's Fortune | Vice Regent, 5 furlongs (turf) | Daisuke Fukumoto | 91 | 91 | 109 |
| Lynx | Florida Sire Susan's Girl, 7 furlongs | Edgard Zayas | 89 | 68 |