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Del Mar Summer Meet Set New Records on Multiple Fronts

Highlighted by the buzz around Flightline (Tapit)'s stellar GI TVG Pacific Classic performance in the track's signature event, Del Mar had record wagering and field size for the 31-day summer meet that ended Sunday, as well as a continued excellent safety record for the fourth consecutive year. There were no catastrophic injuries among 2,688 starters in the meet's 294 races.

The 83rd summer meet at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) set new records for average daily handle with $18.69 million a day, an increase of 1.5% from last year's $18.41 million, which was the previous record. Total wagering for the meet increased to $579.24 million, compared to the $570.78 million wagered during the 2021 summer session. In addition, on-track business increased with average daily wagering of $1.52 million, which represented a 4.8% growth from 2021. Total attendance of 278,702 was up 16.1% from 2021's total of 240,030.

With an average of more than $800,000 in purses per day, field size reached 9.77 for turf races and 8.67 for main track races. Together they combined for a Del Mar record of 9.14 horses per race, well above last year's average of 8.45 and among the top in field size for the entire country.

“Just an incredible meet on all levels,” said Joe Harper, Del Mar's CEO. “All season long the racing was ultra-competitive and extremely safe. Our racing office, led by Tom Robbins and David Jerkens, was phenomenal. We're also very appreciative of the support we received from our fans and our players both here on track and all across the country.”

In addition, Del Mar's “Ship & Win” program had its best season yet with 222 new runners shipping in to race well ahead of last year's record 186 shippers.

“This meet is the culmination of a year-long plan to revitalize California racing and return it to its rightful place as one of the best circuits in America,” said Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) chairman Gary Fenton. “A big thank you to our partners at DMTC and our members. Without owners there is no California racing and they continue to make a strong statement that Del Mar is their favorite place to be.”

Rider Juan Hernandez, who won five graded races at the meet, captured the jockey title in a runaway with 49 total victories. Umberto Rispoli trailed in second with 27 wins for the meet. Hernandez won his first rider's title at Del Mar last fall.

In contrast, the trainer's title was so close that it came down to the last day of the meet. Bob Baffert got a victory with Cave Rock (Arrogate) in the GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity, a win that put him on even terms with Phil D'Amato. The two finished the day tied with 19 wins apiece. It's D'Amato third summer title at Del Mar and his fourth overall, as well as Baffert's eighth (but first title at Del Mar since 2003). A total of 70 different trainers won races at the meet.

The leading owner crown went to the partnership of Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, who finished first both in number of wins and money won. They won a total of nine races (35%) and purses of $849,680. Hronis Racing was the runner-up with wins (six) and J. Paul Reddam's Reddam Racing was second in purses ($628,834).

Racing will return to Del Mar for the Bing Crosby meet, which runs Nov. 11 through Dec. 4.

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Flightline to Lane’s End Upon Retirement

Edited Press Release

Flightline (Tapit-Feathered, by Indian Charlie), who is rated among the best racehorses in history after his momentous 19 1/4-length victory in the GI Pacific Classic this month, will enter stud as the property of a syndicate at Lane's End Farm upon the conclusion of his racing career.

From a prolific Phipps family, Flightline was bred by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Farm and is raced by Summer Wind in partnership with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing. A $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase from the Lane's End consignment, Flightline is trained by John Sadler and has been ridden in all five of his starts by Flavien Prat.

Flightline displayed star power right from the beginning, winning on debut in April of 2021 at Santa Anita Park. His 13 1/4-length victory earned him 'TDN Rising Star' status and a Beyer Speed Figure of 105. He was scintillating in a first-level allowance at Del Mar at second asking, winning by 12 3/4 lengths and earning a 114 Beyer.

Making his stakes debut in the GI Malibu S. in December of 2021, Flightline continued to assert his dominance, winning by 11 1/2 lengths for a 118 Beyer. Next seen in the GI Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park on June 11, Flightline overcame a troubled trip to score by six lengths, earning a 112 Beyer.

The Pacific Classic on Sept. 3 was Flightline's first attempt stretching out to two turns and a mile and a quarter. It proved to be his most dominant performance to date, as he drew off from G1 Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer (Tonalist) and GI Santa Anita H. winner Express Train (Union Rags) to win by 19 1/4 lengths, earning a Beyer of 126–the joint second-highest Beyer since Daily Racing Form began publishing Beyer Speed Figures 30 years ago. Thoro-Graph assigned Flightline a – 8 1/2, the fastest number it has ever given out. Flightline's Pacific Classic performance resonated overseas, too: Timeform assigned him a rating of 143, the highest number ever given to an American-trained horse. Flightline also sits atop Timeform's 2022 global rankings, ahead of Shadwell's unbeaten European superstar Baaeed (See The Stars {Ire}). He has earned nearly $1.4-million, and is being pointed for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 5.

Flightline is out of Jane Lyon's Feathered, a daughter of Indian Charlie who won the GIII Edgewood S. at Churchill Downs and finished second in both the GI American Oaks and GI Starlet S. and third in the GI Frizette S. It is an excellent Phipps family, the third dam being the GI Matron S. and GI Acorn S. winner Finder's Fee (Storm Cat), and the fourth dam GISW Fantastic Find (Mr. Prospector).

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Flightline Given Fastest Ever Thoro-Graph Number

Thoro-Graph, which has been computing speed figures for 35 years, gave Flightline (Tapit) a negative 8 1/2 for his win in the GI TVG Pacific Classic, the fastest number it has ever assigned to a horse. The previous record was a negative 8, the figure Frosted (Tapit) ran when winning the 2016 GI Metropolitan H.

Flightline was given a 126 Beyer figure. That is the second fastest Beyer number ever, trailing only the 128 that team gave to Ghostzapper (Awesome Again) when he won the GIII Philip H. Iselin H. at Monmouth Park in 2004.

Even though he gave Flightline the fastest number he has ever given to a horse, Jerry Brown, who owns Thoro-Graph, said he chose to err on the side of caution and that had he not the figure would have been much faster.

“When I first looked at it I could have given this horse a much better number,” he said. “There were only two dirt routes on the card and neither had big fields. When substantial proportions of those fields don't fire you're left to make figures off a very small number of horses. That makes it difficult. If I had the other horses he beat running anywhere near what they usually run he would have gotten a negative 11 1/2.

“As a figure-maker, you have to sometimes decide which scenario is most likely. You're already going to give a horse the best number of all time, even if I did it the way I did it. You have to decide which is more likley, that several other horses he ran against did not fire or they did fire and Flightline ran a figure that would be like breaking the sound barrier or a human running a three-minute mile. If you give a horse a minus 11 1/2 you're talking about Bob Beamon stuff. (Beamon shattered the record for the long jump in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, breaking the old record by nearly two feet). That was my choice, go with a figure that would have been the sort of thing that happens once in a billion or have several horses that ran behind him, ones who are usually pretty consistent, just not run their race. I chose to go the way I did and he still wound up getting the best figure of all time.”

Brown said that if Flightline runs another sensationally fast race in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic he may take another look at the Pacific Classic number.

“If he wins the Breeders' Cup and it looks again like the figure should be a minus 11 1/2, I'll give him a minus 11 1/2,” he said. “That would also make me go back and look at the Pacific Classic again. We do review races.”

While Brown has no problem rating Flightline's Pacific Classic as one of the greatest performances ever in racing, he will be picking against the 4-year-old in the Classic. One of the theories behind the Thoro-Graph numbers is that very fast performances take their toll on a horse.

“If you look historically at the horses that have run almost this fast, a couple of them, Midnight Lute (Real Quiet) and Ghostzapper, held it together,” he said. “But if you look at horses who have run very fast, either relative to what they have done before or relative to the breed, where they have run a figure that is incredible compared to the rest of the horses out there, these horses generally don't hold together. That doesn't always necessarily always manifest itself in the same way, but it usually manifests itself in some way. And you're dealing with a horse here who, apparently, has enough issues that he's only made a few starts. So the question is what happens now? People say there is plenty of time between now and the Breeders' Cup. Yes. But there's also plenty of time for things to go wrong. A lot of training will take place between now and then. A race is not the only place where a horse could get hurt.”

Brown bet against Flightline in the future wager bet for the Classic.

“I spread out a fair amount in the future wager,” he said. “He's odds on and I don't think he's 1-2 to make the race. That's not to say that he's an unsound horse or anything like that. It's just that horses generally don't survive running that fast.”

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Lyon Looking Forward to the Future With Flightline and His Siblings

After watching her undefeated homebred sensation Flightline (Tapit) demolish the GI TVG Pacific Classic field by 19 1/4 lengths Saturday, Jane Lyon was in just as much awe as the rest of the racing world.

“It was unbelievable,” Lyon said. “The fact that I bred him almost doesn't come into my mind. I don't take credit for any of that because I think a horse like this is a gift. After not running until a very late 3-year-old, he is just seems like he is getting better every day and more mature. He is just now coming into himself. That's not something you can plan. I am very proud of him.”

Lyon was so amazed by Flightline's latest accomplishment that she decided she simply could not part with his yearling half-brother by Curlin and withdrew the colt–who is named Eagles Flight–from next week's Keeneland September Sale.

“We will see what Flightline does in November [in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic] and I'm going to make my decisions from that point,” Lyon said. “I'm partnering already in two of my horses [out of Feathered]. I've been thinking about it and it would be hard to part with him and the [Into Mischief–Feathered] filly, if Flightline is what they say he is.”

The breeder continued, “Somebody interviewed me for a podcast, I think in Europe, and they had met [husband] Frank [Lyon] long time ago. Anyway, a question they asked me was, 'Well, after that race, what do you think Frank would have said?' I said he probably would have said why didn't you keep all of him? That really put it into focus.”

When asked if Lyon would consider partners on the Curlin colt, she said, “I have not made that decision. I need a little time. My world has just exploded since last week. I need to savor it. Everyone who has come to see this colt has been extremely positive about him. If Flightline is capable of doing what he did at Del Mar in the Breeders' Cup, I will have just as many people, if not more, interested in [the Curlin colt] after that.”

The other son of Feathered that Lyon owns in partnership is Flightline's unraced 2-year-old full-brother Olivier. The colt RNA'd for $390,000 at Fasig-Tipton's Saratoga Sale last year, after which WinStar acquired majority interest in the gray. He has been training at WinStar's training center with Rodolphe Brisset and his last breeze was at Keeneland, going five furlongs in 1:02.20.

Flightline's MGSW dam Feathered (Indian Charlie) produced an Into Mischief filly this year and was bred back to Tapit. The filly will be retained by Lyon and one day join her dam in Summer Wind's star-studded broodmare band.

“I will be keeping her as well. She's a lovely filly,” Lyon said. “She's very independent.”

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