Tag: Flightline

Flightline Overcomes Eventful Trip in Hill ‘n’ Dale Met Mile

A few strides into the running of Satuday's GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park, John Sadler, the trainer of 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit), admitted to a bit of a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“When I saw him behind early, I wanted to throw up on myself,” he said.

Despite some very anxious moments, particularly at multiple junctures during the opening 440 yards of the stallion-making test, the $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga graduate proved more than equal to the task, as he strode clear late to score by a half-dozen lengths over fellow 'Rising Star' Happy Saver (Super Saver). The Met is a 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI BigAss Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

“He overcame trouble. That's the storyline,” Sadler continued. “He had a rough trip and took up a couple times but still circled around and proved much the best.”

Drawn gate one going Belmont's one-turn mile–tricky enough for seasoned horses, let alone one making just the fourth start of its career and first of the season–Flightline was slowly into stride, but quickly recovered and looked as if he was going to sneak through underneath his chief market rival and GI Carter H. romper Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) to make the running nevertheless. That was not the case, as the door was soon slammed shut by Junior Alvarado aboard the progressive Godolphin galloper, and Flightline was eventually–wisely–eased back and into the two path by Flavien Prat to do the chasing through a quarter that was posted in :22.78.

Already niggled at as they hit the half-mile following a taxing internal quarter mile in :22.23, Flightline still traveled well and took it to the front-runner in earnest on the turn, poking a head in front fully three furlongs from home and daring the likes of Happy Saver–already a Grade I winner around Big Sandy–and GI Breeders' Cup Sprint hero Aloha West (Hard Spun) to come and get him. But there were no such miracles, as Flightline pinched a break after six furlongs in 1:08.54–a split faster than that posted by champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in Friday's GII True North S.–and was kept to his task in the final furlong, as Happy Saver ran past Speaker's Corner to claim second.

“We're just thrilled to have an undefeated horse, who won easy again today,” Sadler commented. “Things didn't really go well for him early in the race. He suffered from a slow start because of the one post. Then he got cut off a little bit going down the backside. He just overcame the adversity and proved himself best.”

Few horses–if any–have put together a streak to begin their careers as impressive as Flightline.

No secret when unveiled at 9-10 going six panels at Santa Anita last Apr. 24, he earned 'Rising Star' honors with a 13 1/4-length success (105 Beyer) and graced the final days of last year's Del Mar meeting with a 12 3/4-length demolition of a first-level allowance/optional claimer Sept. 5 (114 Beyer). Despite his vast inexperience, Flightline was, for a time, under consideration for a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, but connections ultimately passed, opting for a preparation towards the age-restricted GI Malibu S. He won that seven-furlong event Dec. 26 with similar condescension, crossing the line some 11 1/2 lengths clear (118 Beyer) of Baby Yoda (Uncaptured), with future Grade II winner Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) back in third. Flightline was to have made his 4-year-old debut in the GII San Carlos S. at the Great Race Place Mar. 5, but he missed some time with a strained hock. Three months and one week later, he turned one of this country's most prestigious races into a one-horse rodeo.

“It's really gratifying to get here after the hiccup we had with him,” Sadler explained. “We weren't rushed. We had plenty of time to train him for this. To his credit, he's a very good trainer. He's such an athlete. Winning the Met Mile is so gratifying. It's such a historic race and a stallion-making race and he's all of those things. He's the whole package.

“He'll go back to California Tuesday. Ask me what we're going to do from there and I don't know. Flavien says distance is no issue and we want to try two turns. That's in the plans. But we go one step at a time. He's lightly raced. This is his first start this year.”

If Sadler was playing it close to the vest, part-owner Kosta Hronis was slightly less coy.

“It looks like [GI] Pacific Classic at Del Mar next. If him and Mr. Sadler want to do it, that's the direction we'll go.”

Pedigree Notes:

Flightline becomes the second of his tremendous sire's progeny to win the Met, joining Frosted, who led home a Tapit one-two when defeating Anchor Down by better than 14 lengths in 2016.

Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine acquired Flightline's dam, winner of the GIII Edgewood S. and placed in the GI American Oaks, GI Starlet S. and GI Frizette S., for $2.35 million when carrying to War Front at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale.

Feathered, whose own granddam won the 2000 GI Acorn S. for Ogden Phipps, is responsible for three winners from as many to race, including the War Front filly she was carrying at the time of her purchase, Good On Paper, who produced a colt by Sir Prancealot (Ire) for her first foal this year. The mare's 3-year-old Voron (Pioneerof the Nile) is a winner in one juvenile start in Russia and her 2-year-old Olivier–a full-brother to Flightline–is in training and breezed three-eighths of a mile in :37.20 at the WinStar Training Center May 21. Feathered is also represented by the yearling colt Eagles Flight (Curlin) and foaled an Into Mischief filly May 17. She has since been bred back to Tapit.

Saturday, Belmont Park
HILL 'N' DALE METROPOLITAN H.-GI, $925,000, Belmont, 6-11, 3yo/up, 1m, 1:33.59, ft.
1–FLIGHTLINE, 124, c, 4, by Tapit
1st Dam: Feathered (GSW & MGISP, $577,474), by Indian Charlie
2nd Dam: Receipt, by Dynaformer
3rd Dam: Finder's Fee, by Storm Cat
'TDN Rising Star' ($1,000,000 Ylg '19 FTSAUG). O-Hronis Racing
LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Summer Wind Equine LLC, West Point
Thoroughbreds & Woodford Racing, LLC; B-Summer Wind
Equine LLC (KY); T-John W. Sadler; J-Flavien Prat. $535,000.
Lifetime Record: 4-4-0-0, $794,800. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Happy Saver, 122, h, 5, Super Saver–Happy Week, by
Distorted Humor. 'TDN Rising Star'. O/B-Wertheimer Et Frere
(KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $185,000.
3–Speaker's Corner, 125, c, 4, Street Sense–Tyburn Brook, by
Bernardini. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-William I. Mott. $100,000.
Margins: 6, 2 3/4, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.45, 6.40, 2.75.
Also Ran: Aloha West, Informative.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Prat in a New York State of Mind for Belmont Stakes Day

ELMONT, NY – There will be a capped crowd of 50,000 on hand for Saturday's blockbuster GI Belmont Stakes program. Nobody will have a better seat in the house all day than jockey Flavien Prat.

The 29-year-old Frenchman will be aboard 2-1 morning-line favorite 'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) in the final leg of the Triple Crown. He will also pilot unbeaten sensation and fellow 'Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) in the prestigious GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. Both will exit from post one.

WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay, CMNWLTH and Siena Farm's We the People will take on seven rivals–including GI Kentucky Derby upsetter Rich Strike (Keen Ice), Derby fifth-place finisher Mo Donegal (Uncle Mo) and the filly Nest (Curlin)–in the 1 1/2-mile Classic. He's clearly the one to catch off his 10 1/4-length, front-running romp for trainer Rodolphe Brisset in the Belmont slop in the GIII Peter Pan S.

With Saturday's forecast calling for cloudy skies and temperatures nearing 80 degrees, he'll have a fast main track to work with this time.

“I think the talent is there,” Prat said. “His Peter Pan was a really good race. It's just a question mark with the distance, but it seems like we are all in the same boat.”

The unbeaten Flightline, pound-for-pound the most exciting horse in training, has won his first three starts in Southern California for trainer John Sadler by a combined margin of a whopping 37 1/2 lengths, led by his last out jaw-dropping score with a gaudy 118 Beyer Speed Figure in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. Dec. 26. He will face off against the ultra-talented GI Carter H. winner Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) as well as last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Aloha West (Hard Spun) in the highly coveted stallion-making race. The $1-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling and 3-5 morning-line choice is campaigned in partnership by Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, breeder Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing.

“He feels like a special horse,” Prat said. “He's been responding really well to everything we ask him to do. He could be any type of horse.”

Some of Prat's other high-profile mounts on the absolutely loaded 13-race card include:

  • Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile) (GI Acorn S.) (Brad Cox) (6-5)
  • Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) (GI Longines Just a Game S.) (Chad Brown) (even-money)
  • Adhamo (Ire) (Intello {Ger}) (GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S.) (Chad Brown) (4-1)
  • Bonny South (Munnings) (GI Ogden Phipps S.) (Brad Cox) (8-1)
  • Pappacap (Gun Runner) (GI Woody Stephens S.) (Mark Casse) (10-1)

Prat's rapidly growing resume already includes wins in the first two legs of the Triple Crown and a trio of Breeders' Cup victories. In the irons aboard promoted 2019 GI Kentucky Derby upsetter Country House (Lookin At Lucky) as well as last year's GI Preakness S. hero Rombauer (Twirling Candy), he looks to go one better in the Belmont following a huge second-place finish aboard Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) in 2021. Prat won last year's GI Manhattan S. on the Belmont undercard aboard Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}).

“Whether it's the Belmont, Preakness, Derby or Breeders' Cup weekends, this is the goal when you're a jockey,” Prat said. “You want to ride the best horses and face the best riders. That's the main goal. When you have the chance to ride and participate in these types of weekends, I'm obviously really grateful.”

After dominating the scene in Southern California for the past few years, Prat, somewhat surprisingly, shifted his tack to Belmont–home of the deepest jockey colony in the country–earlier this spring. His goal for the remainder of the year is simple: win an Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding jockey.

“I was doing really well out there, but if I ever wanted to try New York, I felt like it was the right time to do it,” Prat said of relocating to Long Island along with his wife and two young children. “Try to keep improving my riding style and see what we can do out here.”

It's no coincidence that recent Eclipse Award winners Joel Rosario (2021), Irad Ortiz, Jr. (2018-20), Jose Ortiz (2017) and Javier Castellano (2013-16) all called the Big Apple home. Prat, represented by agent Brad Pegram, was an Eclipse finalist last year while boasting a career high in victories (246) and earnings ($23,214,813). Prat's first full season riding in North America was 2015.

“That's the whole point, to ride with the best riders in the country and also to try to keep improving,” Prat said.

He concluded, “I'm really happy here.”

Stars Come Out on Belmont Stakes Day…

Quality over quantity.

In addition to an intriguing renewal of the GI Belmont S. and a showdown for the ages in the five-deep GI Hill 'n' Dale Met Mile,

there will be six other Grade I events, albeit with some short fields, held on Saturday's star-studded program.

Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) will cut back in distance to a one-turn mile in the GI Acorn S. after suffering the first defeat of her brilliant career while tiring to fourth in the GI Kentucky Oaks. She will meet just four rivals in the Acorn, led by the streaking Matareya (Pioneerof the Nile), a good-looking winner of the GII Eight Belles S. on the Oaks undercard.

The undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings), a dominating return winner in the GII Pat Day Mile S., puts his unblemished three-for-three record on the line against five fellow sophomores in the GI Woody Stephens S. The 1-2 morning-line favorite won last year's GI Champagne S. at Belmont in the fall before scratching from the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a stress fracture in his left shin. The seven-furlong contest is named in honor of the legendary late trainer Woody Stephens, who won five consecutive renewals of the Belmont Stakes from 1982-86.

Champions Letruska (Super Saver) and 'TDN Rising Star' Malathaat (Curlin) will clash in a highly anticipated GI Ogden Phipps S. The former has five top-level wins to her credit, including a wire-to-wire tally in this race last year, and is perfect in two attempts since a forgettable performance in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Last term's GI Kentucky Oaks heroine Malathaat, a good third in the Distaff, kicked off her 4-year-old campaign with a well-timed win in Keeneland's GIII Baird Doubledogdare S.

The best wagering opportunities of the day will likely come in two of the grass stakes.

Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) returns for the 13-deep GI Jaipur S. after pulling off a 10-1 upset last year. Arrest Me Red (Pioneerof the Nile), a last out winner of the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint S., is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

A field of 10, led by GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. winner Santin (Distorted Humor), MGISW Gufo (Declaration of War) and GI Man o' War S. upsetter Highland Chief (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), will line up for the GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. Trainer Chad Brown has won the Manhattan a record seven times, and will send out a trio–Adhamo (Ire) (Intello {Ger}), L'Imperator (Fr) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire})–seeking a fourth straight.

Speaking of Brown, he will also saddle the three top choices–Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), a visually impressive heroine of the GII Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S. in her U.S. debut, MGISW 'TDN Rising Star' Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom) and 'TDN Rising Star' In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})–in the five-horse GI Longines Just a Game S. He won this race four straight years between 2017-20.

First post for the 13-race program, featuring a trio of Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' events (Met Mile, Ogden Phipps and Jaipur), is 11:20 a.m. ET. Post time for the Belmont Stakes is 6:44 p.m.

National television coverage of Belmont Stakes Day will begin on FS2, where America's Day at the Races will air from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Coverage shifts to CNBC from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and NBC from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Click here for our Belmont Stakes day video preview from TDN Writers' Room.

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Terry Finley Previews Flightline’s Met Mile on the TDN Writers’ Room

The long-anticipated return of undefeated superstar Flightline draws more excitement by the day, especially now that the John Sadler-trained son of Tapit has arrived at Belmont Park in preparation for Saturday's GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan H. Terry Finley, whose West Point Thoroughbreds campaigns Flightline along with Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine and Woodford Racing, has been counting down the days until the Met Mile for quite some time. Finley joined this week's TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to chat with hosts Joe Bianca and Bill Finley about the upcoming showdown between Flightline and his top competitors.

“When you think about the race on Saturday, it's not a gimme,” admitted West Point's President and CEO. “I wish it was, but it's not. They don't give million-dollar races away for free. We've got other Grade I winners in there including Breeders' Cup Champion Aloha West (Hard Spun) and Speaker's Corner (Street Sense), who is one of the most talented horses that we've seen in a while. We're going to have to show up in a big way on Saturday. I think we will but man, it's going be a heck of a race.”

Asked about where Flightline could wind up next assuming all goes well in the Met Mile, Finley could not give a definitive answer.

“I really have not posed that question to anybody in the partnership or to John Sadler,” Finley said. “I know John has been thinking about it. I've always thought John was a great trainer and a great person, but to see him perform over the last 18 months has been otherworldly. Obviously he's thinking about either Del Mar or Saratoga and I'll leave it up to him because he has made the right choice step after step after step. We'll put our trust and our confidence in John and his team to do the right thing by this horse.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, Lane's End, XBTV, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, West Point Thoroughbreds and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers previewed the GI Belmont S. and the rest of Saturday's card at Belmont, but lamented the small field sizes in some of the day's most prestigious races. Click here to watch the show; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Stars Come Out on a Steamy Wednesday Morning at Belmont Park

ELMONT, NY – With the rising sun making its way through cloudy skies, GI Belmont S. longshot Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) began to get into his gallop on the clubhouse turn on a steamy Wednesday morning at beautiful Belmont Park.

Sporting plenty of trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.'s flashy yellow-and-blue stable colors, the GI Preakness S. fifth-place finisher continued to catch the eye upon return while jogging along the outer rail with his neck arched. He stood briefly by the gap and soaked up plenty of attention from a handful of photographers as he headed off.

Unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Jack Christopher (Munnings) certainly made his presence felt while stepping onto the track at 7:13 a.m. The blaze-faced, 3-year-old chestnut puts his perfect three-for-three record on the line for Chad Brown in Saturday's GI Woody Stephens S.

Fellow 'Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) made his way through the tunnel about 40 minutes later. Trainer Rodolphe Brisset was all smiles in the irons aboard the GI Belmont S. morning-line favorite as he jogged alongside the pony. The runaway GIII Peter Pan S. winner–equipped with a pair of cotton balls in his ears–had his mind on the task at hand while understandably getting a little hot, cruising down the lane under a very snug hold.

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Aloha West (Hard Spun), meanwhile, got plenty of love from his groom while exiting the track by the gap. He meets the powerhouse duo of unbeaten 'Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) and the streaking Speaker's Corner (Street Sense) in a GI Hill 'n' Dale Met Mile for the ages. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, responsible for 2017 Belmont S. winner Tapwrit (Tapit), will also be well-represented in the main event with the filly Nest (Curlin).

The aforementioned Flightline, last seen romping in Santa Anita's GI Runhappy Malibu S. Dec. 26, was one of the first to train after arriving from John Sadler's Southern California base Tuesday afternoon.

With GI Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike (Keen Ice) opting for some lighter exercise on the training track following a very powerful and visually impressive gallop on Tuesday, champion Letruska (Super Saver) enjoyed the spotlight on the main track after the break ahead of her title defense in Saturday's GI Ogden Phipps S. Things did not go exactly as planned, however, for the five-time Grade I winner after a little schooling session in the paddock.

With what appeared to be a chord from her exercise rider's walkie talkie swinging between her legs, Letruska was seemingly undeterred and galloped lightly down the sun-splashed stretch. She was pulled up just past the wire while being met by the outrider as training hours began to wind down.

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