Flightline wows, Baffert winless in an extraordinary Breeders’ Cup weekend at Keeneland

Highlights from this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland:

Who was up?

Flightline: Wow. That’s all that can be said after that performance. One of the best horses in the world attempted to run Flightline off his feet in the opening stages of the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday. He didn’t come close. Life Is Good led in the early going, Flightline chasing every inch of the way, and those two entered the stretch on relatively even terms after putting down a series of fast fractions. It was an incredible show to that point. What happened next was extraordinary. Flightline simply ran away from Life Is Good and toward a permanent spot in horse racing’s history books. As Life Is Good faded in midstretch — a valiant effort, but not nearly enough — Flightline simply kept going. And going. And going. He seemingly had plenty left in the tank, if he needed it. He didn’t. Jockey Flavien Prat turned around as soon as he passed the sixteenth pole. There was nobody there. Prat geared Flightline down, and soon after the duo crossed the finish line for the sixth time together. Six victories. All runaways. “Brilliant is his normal,” said trainer John Sadler. “He didn’t disappoint. He never has.” The Keeneland crowd was buzzing for the entire run and popped loudly at the end. Those in attendance were left to contemplate what they’d just seen as Flightline galloped out, turned around and made his way back toward the grandstand. When he reappeared, that crowd went wild again. Prat heard the cheers, stood up a little in the saddle and pointed down emphatically at one of the most magnificent Thoroughbreds anyone has seen in a long, long while. “This is one of the great horses of all time,” Sadler said. “I think history will show that.”

Malathaat: The most thrilling finish of the weekend was won by one of this Breeders’ Cup’s greatest competitors. Malathaat came into the Distaff with nine victories, two second-place finishes and a third-place showing in 12 career starts. Her only third was in last year’s Distaff. Her only two seconds were behind Clairiere, who she met again Saturday afternoon. She also entered Saturday overshadowed by her stablemate, Nest, the 9-5 favorite and top 3-year-old filly. This Distaff was a different story, with Malathaat winning a three-horse photo finish that wowed the Keeneland crowd, giving her four wins in four career starts at the track. Blue Stripe was second, Clairiere was third and Nest was fourth. After the race, Shadwell Farm’s Gregory Clarke didn’t shut the door on a return to racing for the 4-year-old star. “Wouldn’t it be lovely if she stays in training?” Indeed it would.

Ireland: The country was responsible for six winners across the weekend’s 14 races. Irish-born trainer Aidan O’Brien trained three of those Irish-bred winners, and Charlie Appleby trained the other three. Six of the seven Breeders’ Cup races on the turf were won by Irish-breds. The only outlier was the Turf Sprint, which was won by Pennsylvania-bred Caravel, a 42-1 shot trained by Louisville native Brad Cox.

Who was down?

Bob Baffert: The embattled trainer had five entries in this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup races. He left Lexington with zero Breeders’ Cup victories. His best shot was the odds-on Juvenile favorite Cave Rock, who was caught by Forte in the stretch for the first loss of his young career. Baffert’s well-regarded National Treasure finished third in that race. His Speed Boat Beach finished ninth in the Juvenile Turf Sprint as the second betting choice. Baffert ended up having just one runner Saturday — following the morning scratch of Laurel River in the Dirt Mile — and that was Taiba, who finished third behind Flightline and Olympiad in the Classic.

He did unveil a new star Saturday, sending the regally bred Arabian Knight — a $2.3 million purchase — to an impressive debut victory in the first race on the undercard. Arabian Knight was ridden by John Velazquez and is owned by Amr Zedan, the same connections as Medina Spirit, who crossed the Kentucky Derby finish line first last year, then was DQ’d due to a positive drug test, which resulted in Baffert being banned from the 2022 and 2023 Derbys.

Arabian Knight’s performance will put him on the early Derby radar, but Baffert won’t be able to train him there, and the son of Uncle Mo won’t be able to accrue Derby qualifying points as long as he’s in Baffert’s barn (unless his continued legal appeals pay off). Oh, and to add insult to Baffert’s only bright spot of the weekend: he was booed by some in the Keeneland crowd after Arabian Knight’s victory.

Surgery for Epicenter

As the Keeneland crowd feted Flightline in the frontstretch, the second-betting choice in the race — top 3-year-old Epicenter — was being vanned off the other side of the track.

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up pulled up in the backstretch of the Classic. He was able to walk onto the horse ambulance.

Breeders’ Cup officials said later Saturday night that — after being transported to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington for further evaluation — Epicenter was diagnosed with a repairable displaced condylar fracture to his right forelimb, leaving horse racing fans hoping for a positive outcome for one of the sport’s biggest stars.

Epicenter underwent successful surgery Sunday morning.

“The prognosis is excellent for him to be a healthy sire,” trainer Steve Asmussen said afterward.

Key numbers

45,973 — That was the on-track attendance for the Breeders’ Cup on Saturday, with a two-day attendance total of 85,824 for racing’s World Championships.

$122,918,607 — The Saturday handle, a Breeders’ Cup record. The two-day handle was $189,060,373, which was also a record for the event and an 18 percent increase from the total handle of $160,472,893 at the 2020 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

Up next

The Breeders’ Cup returns to Santa Anita Park on Nov. 3-4, 2023, and the California track will host horse racing’s World Championships for a record 11th time. Churchill Downs is next on that list, hosting the event nine times, most recently in 2018. Belmont Park has hosted four times, and Keeneland now joins Gulfstream Park and the defunct Hollywood Park with three Breeders’ Cups.

The last word

Flightline’s trainer, John Sadler, summed it up perfectly after Saturday’s monumental performance:

“How do you describe greatness? This is a rare horse. It happens every 20 or 30 years. One of the best American racehorses we’ve seen in a long, long time. And I’m talking back to Secretariat, Seattle Slew — you know, you go through the list.”

Sadler started to choke up before finishing that thought.

“And what I’ve tried to be is a good steward to him. Be fair with him. And if you’re good with your horses, they’re good with you.”