Most of us have had a week to recover Flight route Fever. It’s a seasonal bug — that is, it shows up once a season — and it usually comes and goes quickly. But when it touches, oh brother! Victims are despised, only know how to babble excessive praise while temporarily losing all ability to think rationally.
After days of cover-up, this writer emerges with a fresh appreciation of great moments from his personal past, memories of performances that dare approach the few minutes Flightline spent to decode TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.
The rules are very simple. They must become good horses in the important races, who at the height of their power, decisively separate themselves from the respectable competition.
Besides, I have to be there, for nothing can replace the emotional imprint of a flesh-and-blood experience. So here goes. The memory bank is open for business. Nine stunning displays of uncontrollable purebred superiority, capped by Flightline. Sherman, setting up a Wayback Machine for…
January 29, 1966. Bold bidder wins $134,500 Charles H. Strub Strub at Santa Anita . Park by six lengths in a record time of 1:59 3/5, marked by a tick of the 10 far mark set by the Round Table six years ago.
Bold bidder with his connections in the winner’s circle after the 1966 Strub Strub at Santa Anita Park
Bold Bidder was the son of Bold Ruler and Alabama Stakes High Bid winner, who would go on to win the national championship that year as the top old horse. Strub’s third-place finisher was Terry’s Secret, a son of Terrang who won the Hollywood Derby and the Malibu bet and beat the older horses in the Sunset Handicap and Del Mar Handicap.
At the time, did I know how good a horse must be to do what Bold Bidder did that day? No way. But I got the idea.
May 18, 1968. Dr. Fager won $119,600 California Shares at Hollywood Park, beating the three-length Gamely champion mare at the finish of a mile and a sixteenth in 1:40 4/5 , reduce the speed.
The Californian racer is Dr. Fager’s second stop in a 7 to 8 racing season in which he will sprint, trail, run on grass, carry weights and cure the common cold, or seem to be. so.
Legend has it that trainer John Nerud was told before he left New York that Dr. Fager would carry 126 pounds on allowance terms. When told on arrival the number was 130, Nerud shrugged and said it would make no difference.
It didn’t.
July 3, 1977. JO Tobin won $316,400 Swaps Stakes (G1) in eight lengths, trailing Bill Shoemaker in 1:58 3/5 for miles and quarters.
The race should have gone to Seattle Slew, the undefeated Triple Crown winner who had a Hollywood Park gate presence and caused a stir in the local media. Seattle Slew, however, was not impressed. Tired from the Triple Crown trail, he pushed through the motions and finished fourth, 16 miles behind the winner.
Seattle Slew’s debacle is distracted by the eye-popping effort of JO Tobin, a son of Never Bend whose mental and physical illness has prevented him from making his Hall of Fame career. When he’s right, though, he’s nearly unbeatable. The 1978 Eclipse as a co-champion sprinter was the least the game could do to his legacy.
Spectacular bid wins Santa Anita 1980
March 2, 1980. Spectacular bid runs the best race of his career to win the $350,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) over five long runs in a cold windy rain.
It was a two-time champion’s display of superiority in poor conditions against very good horses such as the Flying Paster and Beau’s Eagle, consisting of three separate moves over an uncomfortably slippery surface while carry 130 pounds.
The spectacular bid didn’t run as fast as four weeks earlier in Strub Stakes (G1), when he broke the one-mile and one-quarter track record set by his son, Bold Bidder. However, he has won five more and is growing in profits with every stride. We cheered to keep warm. There isn’t anything dry in the house.
April 18, 1982. Lemhi Gold, son of Vaguely Noble, telegraphs the champion he is about to become with a seven-match win in the $300,000 San Juan Capistrano (G1T) handicap. Perrault, who had just finished ahead of reigning Dark Horse of the Year John Henry on the pitch, came in third.
Although he resisted attempts to make the classic horse at 3 years old, Lemhi Gold may be the second best horse ever trained by Lazaro Barrera. His subsequent achievements at the Marlboro Cup (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) were just as impressive as his San Juan.
November 10, 1984. Princess Rooney lit the inaugural Breeders’ Cup show at Hollywood Park with a best performance of the day at the $1 million Distaff (G1).
Winning seven over the likes of Life’s Magic, Adored and Miss Oceana was a stunning display, and the time for 10 lasted faster than the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) climber a few hours later there.
May 1, 2009. Rachel Alexandra wears a $554,500 Kentucky Oaks (G1), winning 20 1/4 lengths at the end of the mile and 1/8.
It was the perfect and poignant farewell to trainer Hal Wiggins, who brought her to the great threshold she would go on to forge new relationships. As for “who did she hit?” That day, please note that Gabby’s Golden Gal, who tried to run with Rachel early, came right back to win the Acorn Stakes (G1).
Rachel Alexandra dominated the field in the 2009 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs
August 22, 2015. Beholder won the Pacific Classic by 8 1/4 lengths, two minutes per mile and one quarter under Gary Stevens.
Beholder has proven his class on nine feathers, so distance is not an issue. But even the best mares rarely get a chance to clash with males, at least at the highest levels of dirt in North America. Beholder’s jaw dropper brought racers back to memories like the Princessnesian in the 1968 Hollywood Gold Cup and the Bug Brush in the 1959 San Antonio game, which is a rarity. We didn’t expect there would be another show like this. And after that …
September 3, 2022. Flightline wins the $1 million Pacific Classic in 19 1/4 lengths. The rest is nowhere.
