Flatter: Small sample makes Flightline best ... as it should

Del Mar, Calif. 

Has anyone suggested yet that Timmy Trumpet should be at the Breeders’ Cup to play “Narco” before the Classic? Certainly before the 2023 Belmont Stakes.

Now that I have that out of the way – and now that Edwin Díaz and the New York Mets have provided us all with an incurable earworm – it is about time for some random thoughts a day before Flightline makes 1-5 look like a bargain at the turf-surf junction.

A thin ‘1’. Flightline has been the consensus No. 1 horse in America since he ran away with the Met Mile (G1) nearly three months ago. Until he races Saturday in the Pacific Classic (G1), it is on that mere basis that he is considered the best of 2022. The minority of us who voted for Flightline to be last year’s top male sprinter on the basis of his lone Grade 1 victory in the Malibu were reasonably criticized for making too much of too little. But is that not the same case with weekly media voters this year? Comme ci, comme ça.

Regressing? Something I have heard a few times since I got here Wednesday to cover Flightline was that he did not impress as much in the Met Mile as he did in his three starts in California. Really? A mere, six-length victory inspired that critique? Daily Racing Form said his Beyer Speed Figure was 112, a reversal of the 105-114-118 progression he showed through his first three races. That sort of perceived regression felt like nitpicking about Tom Brady throwing for a lower percentage of touchdowns in 2021 than he did in 2020.

Quick quiz. Without looking, name the three millionaire earners in the Pacific Classic. The answer is a scroll down away.

Strange calendar. This marks the first time the Pacific Classic has been held in September since Richard’s Kid won in 2009. It also was odd this summer’s Del Mar meet would be stretched nearly a week past Labor Day. Kentucky Downs might be a victim of this quirk in the calendar. Not that clashing turf stakes were going to attract the same horses, but one would think there may be a noticeable impact on all-sources handle.

It does not fit. Sorry. I cannot get used to the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) being at Saratoga. And I really cannot get used to the Woodward (G1) being run at its third different track in as many years.

What’s in a name? I purposely wore a TVG cap to Del Mar on Thursday, the first day under the channel’s new name FanDuel TV. There have been myriad reassurances from Flutter management and its acolytes of an unflinching commitment to racing. What else could those beach promos with happy TVG, er, FDTV hosts be telling us about preserving that half-day of racing between noon and midnight Eastern? The problem is I have been in this game – media, not horse racing – too long to think that a company making changes will not scratch the itch that yields more money. Call me a cynic, but the millions invested in Kay Adams tell me the NFL is wagging this tail. Besides, aren’t we watching races more and more on our phones and laptops now?

Gambling on the gamble. One trainer knowing my background in sports gambling asked me this week which of two dueling California ballot propositions would win in November? Proposition 26 would limit sports betting to bricks-and-mortar facilities, including racetracks. Proposition 27 would open it to wagering on apps. According to the Sacramento Bee, close to $400 million have been spent on campaigns to pass one of two sports-gambling propositions that will be on California’s November ballot. Most Native American tribes want Prop 26, saying the alternative would cripple the casinos they have operated for decades. FanDuel and DraftKings have backed Prop 27, pointing to the much bigger percentage of dollars that would theoretically benefit all. My two cents say a proposal that omits phones and tablets might appear to help horse racing, but it is rooted in an era when horses were more often seen with buggies.

Pennies for your thoughts. I did a double take again when I saw the prices from the first race Thursday at Kentucky Downs. It became the third track to display penny breakage in its payouts. It still was weird to see $25.62 to place and $12.18 to show, but it looked better than $25.60 and $12.10.

Oh, that. When the phrase “unnatural stimulation of horses” became the euphemism of the week after Gerard Melancon’s arrest and profession of innocence, how many of us were not thinking buzzer?

Answer. Country Grammer has earned $10,897,320, mostly from the Middle East. Express Train has $1,365,800. And believe it or not, Stilleto Boy, whose biggest win was in a Grade 2 race, has $1,091,175.

A writer’s Rushmore. This week Jay Privman announced his retirement will take effect with the close of the Del Mar summer meet. When I saw him Thursday and suggested he was on the Mount Rushmore of turf writing, he said, “I don’t think so.” But I do. As for the other three faces? Off the top of my head and adding a sliver of research, I would include Joe Hirsch, Charles Hatton and Bill Nack. I could be talked into others – but not off Jay. His was a Ripkenesque career, albeit in a few uniforms as has to be true in the media these days. Between his part-time start at the Los Angeles Daily News and his 24-year finish at Daily Racing Form, there also were three sets of Times – Racing, New York and Thoroughbred. The gaping void we will feel Sept. 12 will be Jay’s missing byline.