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With A 118 Beyer, Flightline Heads Into 2022

The team that puts out the Beyer speed figure numbers made it official Monday morning. 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) is really, really, fast.

Flightline was given a 118 Beyer figure for his sensational performance in Sunday's GI Runhappy Malibu S. at Santa Anita, which is the top figure assigned to any horse this year. Prior to the Malibu, Flightline and Baby Yoda (Prospective) were tied for the best number on the year, a 114. Baby Yoda finished second in the Malibu, but was never a threat to Flightline, who won eased up by 11 1/2 lengths.

According to the Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman, the 118 is the highest number given to any horse since Shancelot (Shanghai Bobby) got a 121 when winning the 2019 GII Amsterdam S. at Saratoga. Shancelot was trained by Jorge Navarro, whose years of doping horses under his care have been well documented.

“We've waited a long time for a horse like this and I think we have one,” said Terry Finley, who heads the West Point Thoroughbreds syndicate, one part of an ownership groups that also includes Hronis Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine LLC and Woodford Racing, LLC. “He's a special horse. He's a gift. You can throw out superlative after superlative. To me, he's a gift.”

Flightline had already made headlines before his first career start, selling for $1 million at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale. Making just his third lifetime start after very impressive wins in a Santa Anita maiden and a Del Mar allowance, Flightline was tested for class in the Malibu, and couldn't have passed any more easily. After breaking a step slowly, the 3-year-old took control early on, started to draw clear on the turn and then galloped away from his rivals without ever being asked by jockey Flavien Prat. He was nearly in a walk when crossing the wire after completing the seven furlongs in 1:21.37.

With a horse who did not make his debut until April of his 3-year-old year and , who has raced just three times over the span of eight months, trainer John Sadler has been very deliberate with Flightline. That's not about to change. He said Monday that he had not picked out a next start for the colt and was not in any hurry to do so.

“No specifics,” he said. “I have said that everything is on the table. He's the kind of horse that when he's right and ready to run that's when he's going to go. I'm going to take it one step at a time. I've got a good ownership group. They keep stressing do what's right for the horse. That will be my guiding principle.”

Finley said that all decisions regarding a racing schedule will be made by Sadler.

“Dale Romans gave me some good advice,” he said. “He said the best input you can have is to make sure you don't have any input. In the army they called it unity of command. John doesn't need any help from us. He's done a super job and he's made all the right moves. It will be well thought out and he'll have him ready to run no matter where he winds up.”

The only thing Sadler would commit to is that Flightline's next race will not be a sprint. The Malibu was the longest start of his career.

“The big step that I know for sure is that we want to get him stretched out,” he said. “Where and when, I don't know yet. I don't think he has any distance limitations.”

While Flightline is expected to have a more complete campaign next year than he did this year, don't expect him to run seven or eight times. He may just be the type of horse who is so fast than he needs ample time between races. Another very fast horse who was handled that way was Ghostzapper (Awesome Again).

“I'm going to be very mindful of his campaign,” he said. “I think there will be articles about this later in the week, that they've never seen a horse that is faster. So some of the traditional rules may not apply. We expect next year to go a lot different than this year because when you do right by a horse, you build a better product going forward. It's an exciting time. There's nothing written in stone, but I am mindful of the fact that I need to be careful.”

Considering that he is by Tapit and, therefore, should do his best running at longer distances and that Sadler-trained horses usually don't reach their peak until turning four, or even five, could Flightline actually get better?

“That is possible,” Sadler said. “There is so much to look forward to out there.”

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With Triple-Digit Beyer, Sky’s The Limit for Flightline

The fastest 3-year-old in training will not be found in the field for Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby.

In one of the most impressive debuts turned in by a 3-year-old colt in years, 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) not only won Saturday's maiden special weight at Santa Anita by 13 1/4 lengths, he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure (video). Based on the numbers, that makes him faster than any of the 20 horses lining up for the Derby. His stablemate, Rock Your World (Candy Ride {Arg}), earned a 100 Beyer when winning the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, which gives him the only triple digit Beyer number in the expected field. Life Is Good (Into Mischief) earned a 107 when winning the GII San Felipe S., but has been sidelined.

“We really thought the world of him, but you never really know until they get on the racetrack,” said co-owner Kosta Hronis. “He travels really well. He makes it look really easy and he kind of floats over the track. He does things effortlessly. We think he has a bright future and looks like a special colt.”

Flightline broke on top in his debut and reeled off an opening quarter-mile in :21.59 seconds, but seemed to be going easily. With Flavien Prat aboard, he started to draw away on the turn and kept extending his lead, even though Prat wrapped up on him well before the wire. His final time for the six furlongs was 1:08.75.

“Flavien said he really did it so easily and that he was not even breathing hard,” Hronis said.

Hronis Racing owns Flightline along with Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing.

Due to the belated debut, Flightline is not in line to run in any of the Triple Crown races. The major summer stakes for 3-year-olds could be on his schedule, but Hronis said that the owners and trainer John Sadler have not mapped out any plans for their rising star.

“He runs so fast, so we'd like to keep things spaced out,” Hronis said. “Since it was just his first race, we'll just see when he's ready to come back. When he's ready to go, I'm sure we can find a 3-year-old colt race where he will fit right in. But, no, we don't really have anything targeted at this point.”

Flightline, a $1-million purchase from the Lane's End consignment at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, suffered through a setback last year just prior to when he was scheduled to be sent to Sadler's Santa Anita barn, the reason why he didn't debut until Saturday.

“About a week before he was scheduled to come to California, he cut himself,” Hronis said. “He has a scar on his butt on his right hind. They had to stitch him up. It was just something that happened at the barn and nobody really knows what happened or how he did it. But that set him back. Because we always thought he was a special colt, we gave him 60 days off to let him heal up right.”

Had Sadler been more aggressive, he might have been able to get Flightline to the races in January or February, which would have given him enough time to make the Derby. Hronis said that was not anything the connections ever considered.

“That's just not our style,” he said. “We like to be really patient and let the horse tell us when they are ready. Would having him in the Derby be fun? Yes, it would have, but at same time you don't want to do anything to jeopardize their careers. It is the Sadler-Hronis philosophy. We like to be patient and let the horse tell us when they are ready to go. We're never going to push them.”

Over the last many years, the Hronis Brothers have been among the most successful owners in the sport, but most of their biggest wins have come with older horses. Rock Your World will be their first Kentucky Derby starter.

“We bought a lot of nice yearlings in the past, like [Eclipse Award and GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner] Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky),” Hronis said. “They just came around a little slower. Rock Your World developed and matured a little faster than ones we've had in the past. We haven't changed our buying or training philosophy. These ones just happened to come along faster than ones we've had in the past. To get a 3-year-old to be able to run a mile-and-a-quarter the first week in May is not easy.”

Bloodstock agent David Ingordo said he had had his eye on him for some time before signing the ticket at Saratoga.

“Lane's End handles a lot of the sales for Jane Lyon out at Summer Wind,” said Ingordo. “We went out shortly after some of her yearlings turned a year old, in February or March of their yearling year and they were showing us a chestnut Tapit colt out of American Pharoah's dam who turned out to be Triple Tap. And there was a chestnut and a bay, and I kept looking at the bay, and they said you need to look at the chestnut, because the bay is the one she's thinking about keeping. We went back a few times through the spring, and the bay one was the one I always liked.”

Fast-forward to August, and Ingordo was on a Tex Sutton plane with a load of horses when they hit turbulence.

“The guys asked if I could go back and grab a horse, so I grabbed the first horse and I was standing there and I looked at him and said, 'oh, there you are.' I only realized he was there when I was holding him on the plane. He was an expensive colt, but it all worked out in the end.”

Spending $1 million on a yearling is also something that hasn't been in the Hronis playbook.

“We spent that much money because we knew we were going to partner up,” Hronis said. “The seven figures was not just us. We would never do that by ourselves. It's too big of a risk. I've seen a lot of $1-million horses in $20,000 claiming races. The fact that the breeder, Summer Wind, stayed in is important. That showed that they believed in him, too. When you have partners like we do, it's easier to absorb that kind of horse.”

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Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card: No Risk, No Reward

A trio of graded stakes for 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail was contested on Feb. 6, and all three races – two of which offered 17 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 basis to the top four finishers – look more like steppingstones than definitive contests. Most of the horses contesting these races were unproven at the stakes level, but you have to start somewhere. No risk, no reward.

None of the weekend's races has been overly productive for Triple Crown success.

The Grade 3 Withers has been around since 1874, run at different New York tracks but only moved to February at Aqueduct in 2012. Before that, Bernardini used the Withers in 2006 as a tune-up for his victory in the G1 Preakness Stakes. No winner since has been victorious in a Triple Crown race.

The G3 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs has been a gateway race to bigger and better things for several horses in recent years. Most notably, Tapwrit, the Davis runner-up to McCraken in 2017, would win that year's G1 Belmont Stakes, doing one better than 2016 Davis winner Destin, who fell a nose short of Creator in the Belmont. Both Tapwrit and Destin were trained by Todd Pletcher.

Finally, the G2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita – the only one of the three races not offering Kentucky Derby points – has a solid roster of winners led by 1997 Kentucky Derby-Preakness victor Silver Charm and by 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. At seven furlongs, it's often used as a starting point for 3-year-olds getting ready to stretch out to longer distances.

Before we look at those three race winners, there was also a highly anticipated maiden event on Sunday at Santa Anita involving one of the most hyped horses of the year, Bezos, a colt by Empire Maker from the Bob Baffert stable. The massive colt, weighing in at over 1,300 pounds, was being compared to horses like Triple Crown winner Justify, who didn't make his first start until mid-February. Bezos had trained forwardly last year, from early May through late July. Baffert backed off until late in the year, with the colt breezing 10 times from early December until his debut, where he was made the 3-5 favorite.

Bezos, ridden by Mike Smith, got a perfect trip in the 6 ½-furlong race, sitting just behind dueling pacesetters for the opening half mile. But when the field turned for home, Bezos came up empty, winding up seventh of nine runners, beaten 15 ¼ lengths by a 20-1 longshot named Dream Shake, a Twirling Candy colt making his career debut for Peter Eurton.

Dream Shake is geared down nearing the wire by Joel Rosario

With Joel Rosario in the saddle, Dream Shake broke alertly from the outside post and remained wide throughout. Eighth after the opening quarter mile (in a slow :23.40), Dream Shake made a strong run from inside the half mile pole to the quarter pole that brought him into contention. He quickly moved to the lead while still wide, was under an aggressive hand ride from Rosario and got one tap of the whip in midstretch while pulling away. He was wrapped up in the end, winning by 4 ¾ lengths in 1:17.34 on a fast track and earning a 96 Beyer Speed Figure that was higher than any of the weekend Triple Crown prep stakes winners.

Bred by Dunwoody Farm, Dream Shake was a $32,000 pinhook from the Keeneland September Yearling Sale that Cary Frommer sold for $75,000 at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in training. He races for Exline-Border Racing, SAF Racing and Richard Hausman.

Now, on to the three stakes races. My Report Card grades are on an A to F scale and are subjective, based on my personal “eyeball test,” Beyer Speed Figures from Daily Racing Form, historical significance of the race and perceived quality of field.

Feb. 6 Withers Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Aqueduct

Risk Taking was made the 19-10 favorite off a solid maiden win in his third career start on Dec. 13 going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct. Trainer Chad Brown debuted the Medaglia d'Oro colt sprinting at Belmont October 10 when he raced in seventh throughout. Next start was going 1 1/16 miles on turf, where Risk Taking was a non-threatening sixth. Blinkers were added for his maiden-breaking score and that seems to have awakened Risk Taking.

Risk Taking and Eric Cancel at the wire in the Withers

The Withers field included Capo Kane, the runaway winner of the one-turn Jerome Stakes (graded by me as a C-) on Jan. 1, and Jerome runner-up Eagle Orb. As expected, Capo Kane set the pace, with Eric Cancel keeping Risk Taking in a pocket while racing sixth in the early going. Approaching the far turn, Cancel found a seam and gradually began to gain on the leader, turning into the stretch less than three lengths behind, then ranging up alongside and passing the drifting out leader, Capo Kane, in the final furlong. Risk Taking drew off to win by 3 ¾ lengths, stopping the clock in 1:51.91 and getting an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, a big improvement from his maiden breaking 82 Beyer. Todd Pletcher-trained Overtook, a lumbering Curlin colt coming off a maiden win going one mile, was up for second after trailing early.

Neither the winner or the runner-up showed any early speed or quick acceleration, but both look like further distances would be no problem. There's probably a reason both Risk Taking and Overtook were left in New York for the winter rather than head to Florida where the waters are a little deeper for Triple Crown hopefuls.

From a pedigree standpoint, Risk Taking is by a proven stallion who has sired Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, the brilliant Songbird, and G1 Breeders' Cup Turf winner Talismanic. Risk Taking, bred by G. Watts Humphrey Jr., is out of the Distorted Humor mare Run a Risk and traces back to a very successful female family developed by Ogden Phipps, including fourth dam Con Game, who produced Seeking the Gold and Fast Play, and fifth dam Broadway, who produced Ruffian's sire Reviewer. Risk Taking was purchased on behalf of Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables for $240,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Grade C

Feb. 6 Sam F. Davis Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Tampa Bay Downs

Todd Pletcher-trained Known Agenda was made the 3-2 favorite in the field of 12 in this 1 1/16-mile race, but 3-1 second choice Candy Man Rocket got the job done in workmanlike fashion in his first time around two turns for trainer Bill Mott. The Candy Ride colt, ridden by Junior Alvarado and owned by Frank Fletcher Racing Operations, was one length the best over stablemate Nova Rags (by Union Rags), who had the benefit of a race over the track (winning the Pasco on Jan. 16 and getting a grade of D from me) but also making his two-turn debut.

The third-place finisher, Hidden Stash, gained 4 1/4 lengths on the winner in the final furlong, according to the Equibase chart, and visually did not appear to be accelerating as much as the winner was slowing down.

The final time of 1:44.30 came after a six-furlong clocking of 1:10.80 and mile split in 1:37.22, meaning a final sixteenth in 7.08 seconds and a final five-sixteenths in 33.50. The winner received a Beyer Speed Figure of 85, the same as his maiden win.

Candy Man Rocket and jockey Junior Alvarado winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes

My first thought after watching the Davis was that Bill Mott is not the kind of trainer who is going to try to pound a square peg into a round hole. Candy Man Rocket looked sensational sprinting to a 9 ¼-length victory at Gulfstream Park Jan. 9 in his second career start. He was good enough to win at 1 1/16 miles over a fairly weak field, but it's hard to make a case that he's going to get better as the races get longer. I would not be surprised to see this colt doing his best racing at seven furlongs to a mile in the spring and summer.

From a pedigree standpoint, Candy Ride has been very successful at stud and was a classic-distance winner himself. Like Risk Taking, the real quality in Candy Man Rocket's female family is in the fourth generation where you find 1983 Broodmare of the Year Courtly Dee, dam of Althea and other stakes winners.

Grade C-

Feb. 6 San Vicente Stakes, seven furlongs, Santa Anita

Gary and Mary West's homebred Street Sense colt Concert Tour was favored at 2-5 but was all out to get by Bob Baffert stablemate Freedom Fighter (by Violence) to take down the winner's share of the $200,000 purse. The latter, away at 5-1 odds, set the early pace in a five-horse field, dueled with the quick California-bred gelding The Chosen Vron, then forgot to read the odds board as he continued to roll down the stretch, not giving way to Concert Tour until the very end, beaten a half length. That was Freedom Fighter's first start since winning his debut at Del Mar Aug. 1 at 1-2 odds, prevailing by a head in a five-furlong tilt.

Concert Tour (outside) overtakes Freedom Fighter in deep stretch to win the San Vicente

The winner also won his debut on Jan. 15 at even money, earning an 88 Beyer Speed Figure (compared to Freedom Fighter's 79 last year).

Baffert has won this race 11 times since Silver Charm's victory in 1997 and said after Concert Tour's victory that he likes using it as a progression for horses like Nadal, the 2020 winner who then stretched out to two turns, taking both the G2 Rebel and a division of the G1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn. Don't be surprised to see Concert Tour try a similar path, as Baffert's No. 1 Derby prospect, Life Is Good, will remain at Santa Anita to contest the G2 San Felipe Stakes on March 6.

Sire Street Sense was precocious enough to win the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at two and won four of eight starts at three, including the Kentucky Derby and G1 Travers at 1 ¼ miles. Concert Tour's dam, Purse Strings (by Tapit), wasn't the most successful racemare, not breaking her maiden until her 12^th career start and never racing again, but she appears to have produced a good one in Concert Tour.

Grade B

Coming up this Presidents' Day weekend are the G2 Risen Star from Fair Grounds on Saturday and Monday's G3 Southwest Stakes from Oaklawn.

Previously:

Feb 2 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

Jan 26 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

Jan. 18 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

Jan. 3 Triple Crown Weekend Prep Report Card

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Knicks Go Sets Sizzling Pace, Easily Wins Dirt Mile For Cox

Knicks Go came into Saturday's $1-million, Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with just one previous stakes win – the G1 Breeders' Futurity over the same Keeneland dirt track as a 2-year-old in 2018 – yet was sent away the 9-5 favorite over a field that included 2019 G1 Preakness winner War of Will, 2020 G2 Blue Grass Stakes winner Art Collector and recent G2 Kelso Handicap winner Complexity.

Ridden by Joel Rosario, the son of Paynter ran like a 1-9 shot, going to the lead immediately, setting sizzling fractions of :21.98, :44.40, 1:08.25 and 1:20.76, then cruising to a 3 1/2-length victory with his rider never asking him. Knicks Go covered the one mile on an obviously fast and speed favoring surface in a track record 1:33.85.

Liam's Map set the previous record for the little-used distance at Keeneland when winning the 2015 Dirt Mile in 1:34.54. The run-up for today's Dirt Mile was 190 feet, compared to 210 feet in 2015.

“It looked like he was going easy,” said Rosario.”I didn't know how fast he was going. He went 44 (seconds for a half mile). That was very fast. He was able to hang in there and have a kick at the eighth pole. It was a very good performance.”

Owned by the Korea Racing Authority and now trained by Brad Cox, Knicks Go returned $5.60 on a $2 win wager. Jesus' Team finished second, a nose ahead of Sharp Samurai, who encountered trouble in the early stages of the race. They were followed across the wire by Complexity, Owendale, Mr. Freeze, Rushie, Art Collector, War of Will, Silver Dust, Mr. Money and Pirate's Punch.

Bred in Maryland by Angie Moore and sold for $87,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Knicks go was initially trained by Ben Colebrook. In addition to his Breeders' Futurity victory, Knicks Go finished second behind Game Winner in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs in 2018 after dueling on the front end throughout with Complexity, who wound up 10th that day.

For Knicks Go, the Juvenile began a 10-race losing streak that extended through the entire 2019 season. The colt was transferred to Cox and responded with two allowance/optional claiming race victories going wire to wire: the first at Oaklawn on Feb. 22 when he won by 7 1/2 lengths and the second at Keeneland on Oct. 4, winning by 10 1/4 lengths. The Beyer Speed Figures of 100 and 107, respectively, were well above his previous career best of 93 when second in the 2019 Ellis Park Derby behind Gray Magician.

The Dirt Mile was Cox's third Breeders' Cup victory in 2020. He won two on Friday with Aunt Pearl in the G1 Juvenile Fillies Turf and with Essential Quality in the G1 Juvenile.

“He's very fast and he loves Keeneland as well,” Cox said of Knicks Go. “We picked the horse up last winter and he really loves it here. Joel did a fantastic job of asking him to be forwardly placed and he responded well. They went very quick and he was able to keep going. This is a good race for him with the short stretch. A lot of things were in his favor today. He's a very aggressive horse, he loves to train. He's just a very classy horse.”

A representative of the Korea Racing Authority indicated Knicks Go would eventually go to stud in South Korea, which is in the process of improving its Thoroughbred industry's breeding program. No determination was made if Knicks Go (named for a breeding/selection process known as K-nicks) would continue to race or be retired.

Other comments following the Dirt Mile.

Second-place trainer Jose D'Angelo (Jesus' Team) – “He has done great work (training) at Keeneland. Every day, every week he improved. He likes this track. He is the best horse I have trained in the USA and in my life, too. I am very sure that in his next race, he will be closer to a win.”

Second-place jockey Luis Saez (Jesus' Team) – “I was wishing I could take him outside but if I did I would have been wide. But he ran a good race. He tries so hard.”

Third-place trainer Mark Glatt (Sharp Samurai) – “We're pleased with finishing third. A little unfortunate in the first turn. I want to watch the replay and see what happened. Irad said the one horse came out on him and made him check on heels there. I think that may have potentially cost him second. You spend quite a bit of energy and are also then farther back. He just ran into a buzz saw after that with Knicks Go. I thought down the backside we were in a decent spot and then third around the turn was pleased and would think they would have to stop for sure given the pace scenario. He's extremely versatile. He runs seemingly as well on dirt as he does turf and hopefully we can find a good race that he can win.”

Fourth-place jockey Jose Ortiz (Complexity) – “Good trip. The track is super fast. I felt like we went in :46 and change and the winner held on.”

Eighth-place Brian Hernandez Jr. (Art Collector) – “We had a good spot. Going down the backside I was able to hop outside the 2 (Sharp Samurai) on the lead and just see if I could make a run from that point. They were just faster than him today. He couldn't make up the difference on them.”

Eighth-place trainer Tommy Drury (Art Collector) – “That was it (what Brian said). Those were my thoughts. Down the backside you're thinking that these things should soften up and come back to you a little. Just didn't happen today. They kept going.”

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