Flightline in BC Sprint? It will be discussed
Flightline, the brilliantly fast undefeated 3-year-old, is under consideration for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 6, even though he has yet to appear in a stakes.
Trainer John Sadler said Sunday that he plans to meet with members of the expansive partnership that owns Flightline at the Keeneland yearling sales in coming days to discuss options.
Sadler said a start in a race such as the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship at six furlongs on Oct. 2 is not planned.
“We wouldn’t run before the Breeders’ Cup,” Sadler said.
Flightline has won twice in six-furlong races by a combined 26 lengths – a maiden race by 13 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on April 24, and an allowance race by 12 3/4 lengths at Del Mar on Sept. 5.
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Flightline earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 114 for the Sept. 5 win, which equals the highest figure of 2021. Flightline was timed in 1:08.05, the fastest clocking of the Del Mar meeting at the distance.
Sadler has mentioned the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 as a long-range goal for Flightline, who races for Hronis Racing, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, and Woodford Racing.
“I’ll meet with those people back there,” Sadler said of his upcoming trip.
If the BC Sprint is chosen, there is a matter of whether Flightline can gain a position in a field with a maximum of 14 runners.
The field consists primarily of horses that have won races with automatic berths, or runners who earned points in graded stakes.
A panel of racing officials ranks pre-entered horses should the race draw more than 14 hopefuls. A horse such as Flightline would gain a berth if the race does not have more than 14 pre-entries, or if selected by the panel.
“It will be fun to see how they do it,” Sadler said.
Horses such as Flightline without graded stakes experience are rare, almost unheard of, in a Breeders’ Cup race for older horses.
In the last three years, the BC Sprint has drawn 11 to 17 pre-entries and had final fields ranging from 8 to 14 runners.