LEXINGTON, Ky. – About 6 a.m. each day this week, Flightline has entered the Keeneland track to train, the engines of the first planes of the day ready to depart Blue Grass Airport, just south of the track, begin to rev up. Juan Leyva, the exercise rider aboard Flightline, tells his supersonic colt “chill out. You don’t have to take off yet.” Departure time for Flightline is roughly 5:40 p.m. Saturday, when he looks to cap a brief but brilliant season – perhaps career? – in the $6 million Classic at Keeneland. Coming off his 19 1/4-length victory in the Pacific Classic on Sept. 3 at Del Mar, Flightline brings an undefeated record – 5 for 5 – and high expectations into the Classic, the last of nine Breeders’ Cup races to be run and 11th of 12 overall on Saturday. First post is 10:30 a.m. Leyva, who knows Flightline perhaps better than anyone, is expecting another otherwordly performance from the 4-year-old son of Tapit who has won his first five races by a combined 62 3/4 lengths. “I think it’s going to be a replay of the Pacific Classic,” Leyva said. “He’s been training the same way he was for the Pacific Classic. I’m pretty sure he’s going to show what he can do.” :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2022: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division John Sadler, the trainer of Flightline, won’t verbally express that same confidence, but the smile that crosses his face when he’s asked about his horse says more than words. “I think we’re in good shape, ready to go,” Sadler said. “Our thing will be keep our horse clear and let it happen from there.” Flightline is owned by a partnership that includes Hronis Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, Siena Farms, and Summer Wind Equine, the latter also being the breeder. They have not yet said whether this will be the colt’s final race before he heads toward the breeding shed, though that scenario is quite likely. In the Classic, Flightline, who will break from post 4 under regular rider Flavien Prat, figures to be laying second early off expected pacesetter Life Is Good, who has won 9 of 11 starts, including four Grade 1 stakes. “He’s a horse that has a high cruising speed,” Sadler said of Flightline. “He just has to stay out of trouble, that’s what we’re looking to do.” Life Is Good, trained by Todd Pletcher, is similar in that he too has a high cruising speed. He was a blowout winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile last year. This year, Life Is Good has won 4 of 5 starts in a campaign that began in the Pegasus World Cup – where he defeated 2021 Horse of the Year Knicks Go – and included a trip to Dubai where he finished fourth in the Dubai World Cup at 1 1/4 miles over a track Pletcher felt was too heavy for Life Is Good. Since then, Life Is Good has gone 3 for 3, including a victory in the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes over a sloppy Aqueduct track that was more workmanlike that observers have come to expect. Pletcher believes Life Is Good is coming into the race as he hoped. “He’s been ultra-consistent,” Pletcher said. “Some people were a little critical of his penultimate work here, I thought that was being a little picky. His final work was really, really good, kind of what we expected from him all along, his gallop-outs especially. That’s what gives us confidence to try the mile and a quarter.” About a Life Is Good-Flightline matchup? “I’m intrigued as a racing fan to see how it all unfolds,” Pletcher said. :: Bet the Breeders' Cup with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs. Join DRF Bets. Pletcher also has Happy Saver entered. That horse, beaten only six lengths by Flightline in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap in June, developed a quarter crack in a hind foot and did not train Wednesday morning. Pletcher was hopeful his blacksmith would be able to patch it up and the horse could resume training Thursday and still make the race. Olympiad seems to be the overlooked runner in this year’s Classic. He has won five graded stakes this year – including the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. His lone bad race came in the Whitney, where Bill Mott felt the horse was impacted by the heat. Under Junior Alvarado, Olympiad figures to be laying just off Life Is Good and Flightline. Epicenter and Taiba are both 3-year-olds taking on older horses for the first time. Epicenter, trained by Steve Asmussen, has not run since Aug. 27, when he captured the Travers, his first Grade 1 victory. Asmussen, a two-time Classic winner, believes that Epicenter “has flourished” in a campaign that included four Derby preps, a second in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and two graded stakes wins at Saratoga. “He’s got it in him. We’re good,” Asmussen said. “If he beats this field, he’s Horse of the Year. Having the best horse in training, what could be prouder? And that opportunity is there. Is it easy? Absolutely not. Should it be easy? Absolutely not. That’s what’s so special about this. They’re here. Everybody’s made it, everybody showed up and appears to be in great shape. We ought to hopefully have a race for the ages.” Taiba, trained by four-time Classic winner Bob Baffert, is just 3 for 5 in his career but has two Grade 1 wins – most recently the Pennsylvania Derby. “We’re approaching it as we know Flightline is a superior horse – he’s like the American Pharoah, the Arrogate, the Justify of the breed,” Baffert said, reeling off three of his all-time greats. “Life Is Good is very good also. I’m just hoping to get a good trip. [Taiba] is getting better with every race. I don’t feel he’s at his full potential yet. I think he’ll be that as a 4-year-old.” :: Breeders' Cup Friday and Saturday Past Performances are available now! Save up to 36% on BC essentials with a DRF Package!  Rich Strike upset the Kentucky Derby at 80-1 in May. He faced older horses in the Lukas Classic, battling to the wire with Hot Rod Charlie, who did nose him out. Eric Reed, Rich Strike’s trainer, said that battle with Hot Rod Charlie may have toughened up Rich Strike. “I think Hot Rod Charlie taught him a whole lot,” Reed said. “That was the first time he ever pushed on a horse that pushed him back and he came out of there really fired up. I think that was a good thing to run against that horse.” Hot Rod Charlie finished second in the Dubai World Cup and has been training at Keeneland ever since. He is coming off a gutsy win over Rich Strike in the Lukas Classic. “There’s still a little room for improvement, which he’s going to have to do,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. Dry but windy conditions are forecasted for Saturday afternoon in Lexington. The Keeneland crowd will be capped at 45,000. Fasten your seatbelts and keep your tray tables in their upright position. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.