The world’s best racehorse put on a show on October 29 as it went through its final job preparing to start in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on November 5 at Keeneland.
With an apron at the crowded Lexington racetrack, Flight route hit the track shortly after retiring from renovations at 7:30 a.m. ET, standing out among a sea of competitors as he sailed past the opening quarter in: May 25 en route to five ships in at 1:00 3/5. The undefeated child of Tapit Powerful gallop with casual gymnast Juan Leyva in the iron.
“Usually what we do at home is the same as what we do today,” says Leyva. “It’s just an easy five-eighth. We don’t need to show any more speed than he already has. We know he’s a fast horse. So just a little bit of maintenance to get him going. keep him on the ground so he doesn’t. race week is too fresh.”
Leyva wears a strobe light on his helmet when he works on Flightline, who often comes to the track in the dark while training John Sadler.
“He knew when the lights were on, it was time to go fast,” says Leyva. “As soon as I turned it on, you could see his ears prick up and he knew what it was. But now, at this point, he’s really nice to me. He’s still holding on but not losing. control. It’s just a nice, direct feeling. He wasn’t hard to pull up today because I let him gallop. He galloped: 26 out of seven out of eight… there’s a lot more, but if he can pull it up, he still wants to go a little bit more.”
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Sadler, who watched the work from near the finish line in the stands, said he was pleased to see that Flightline had cruise control throughout.
“We just wanted to see him smooth and in himself this morning and he did it,” he said. “Being turned around at seven-eighths, back-and-forth on number five, and working with strings, galloping at seven. It’s a very good piece of work, true to himself. That’s it. just what we wanted to see. We didn’t want to do too much because he was there. We didn’t have to bring him up, we just had to keep him the same.”
Sadler mentioned Leyva’s skill in coaxing Flightline into keeping his breakneck speed.
“(The flight path) can be tough but Juan has done a great job riding him,” he commented. “I’ve said many times, Juan riding in the morning is as good as you’ll get, so I’m very lucky to have him.”
Flightline is scheduled to walk into the barn on October 30, return to the track for an easy jog on October 31, and gallop on November 1 as the days count down to the Breeders engagement ceremony. ‘His cup goes to the owners of Hronis Racing, Siena Farm, Summer Wind Equine, West Point Thoroughbreds, and Woodford Racing.
“It’s going to be day after day until you get to the big day, but we’re there and the work is on schedule, so we’re pretty happy,” Sadler said.
