It is now two weeks downstream and there are still floating and jet games of Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) ravaged by Flight route continue to float in the past. The big guy was on display at Lane’s End Farm, innocent of the carnage he had committed, with the intention of doing in his next career what he did in the last. Hopes are high, but we know how that sometimes happens — don’t we Conquistador Cielo, Fusiachi Pegasus, Point Given?
It doesn’t matter what Flightline does at stud when it comes to his legacy as a racehorse. And while it’s as obvious as claiming your height doesn’t affect your IQ, there’s still a group of racing followers and fans who combine racing and breeding. in their view of the best Purebreds from different eras.
Do we appreciate Precisionist and Cigar less because they’re not spawning giants? Do we moderate our worship? Zenyatta because her ponies didn’t win, or because Rachel Alexandra because her incubation career was cut short?
For that matter, I would challenge anyone to name the only level 1 races that into naughty and faucet , the modern shapers of the breed. They each only manage six races, just like Flightline.
Recency is a passionate mistress, so the lasting buzz is created by Flightline’s Classic display. I’m sure it looks great on the big screen far and wide, but there’s nothing quite like that, totally focused on the crowd and the moment, when he lets the very fine horses dangle in the distance. . It was a brilliant, unforgettable performance that ditched the concept of competition and replaced it with a wave of pure jubilation at an athlete’s perfection.
Was it the greatest performance of all time? Who cares, and who is asking? No one is taken seriously, that’s for sure.
Gary West, a respected colleague, ran an opinion piece in the Thoroughbred Daily News this week, beginning with a sensible criticism of the stallion’s early retirement and ending with an oath. that Flightline would never get his vote as Horse of the Year 2022.
Having just survived a tumultuous midterm election cycle, I was hoping we could put off voting for the highly subjective Eclipse Award at least until Thanksgiving. But no, there must always be a horse race going on somewhere. (This is a good place to mention that NBC poll watcher Steve Kornacki, king of political horse racing, has received a membership to the Association of Writers and Broadcasters. Country. Provided without comment.)
In his opinion, West bases his “never Flightline” vote on 1) his pony retires after just six starts and b) his flimsy resume only three starts this year.
“Has he proven that he can transfer his talents to the pitch, as the Secretariat and Dr. Fager have done?” West writes. “Has Flightline proven he can beat quality competitors at 130 pounds or more, as Assault and Spectacular Bid and many other truly great racehorses have done over the years. Has Flightline proven he can successfully compete in the international arena that includes the world’s best horses and most successful performers, as well as make for curly , Tiznow , and Cigars? No, no and no.”
Flightline and jockey Flavien Prat after their win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland
Accurate enough. Neither do gentlemen wear powder wigs, nor do women wrap themselves in whale skeletons, nor do swindlers exchange barbaric words like, “Yeah, neither does the old man.” Breaking news—times change, and standards follow. But go ahead and judge a horse like the Flightline by the same measuring cups used for Challedon, Whirlaway, and Coaltown. That way is nothing but madness.
Flightline’s utter separation from the next best horses of his generation aside, there’s plenty of precedent for the short-lived Horse of the Year campaigns. The three races are the same as the Native Dancer’s total in 1953, and legendary columnist Jim Murray wrote, “The Native Dancer may be the greatest horse — this side of Man o’ War — that ever lived. .”
Three is one less than four, the number of races Ghostzapper needed to be the 2004 Horse of the Year, although I’m sure he got the points from the west wing of the party for continuing to train for one race next year. Four of Conquistador Cielo’s nine starts in 1982 were in allowance races, so let’s be honest. Count Fleet’s horse of the year almost became Flightline-esque in 1943 in his six starts, but all of that went against 3-year-olds. And on a planet far, far away—in 1983, in fact—All Along lost three of its four starts in France, then hit the verdant grasslands of America to overtake nearly the same group. in three major grass races to be named Horse of the Year.
The problem is, there are no rules. Such historical tidbits, however, mean nothing when faced with the argument that Flightline’s men shouldn’t receive the trophy at next January’s Eclipse Awards because they’ve kicked him off the stage. just when things are getting interesting. Scientifically speaking, it’s a sure-fire case.
Would a protest vote make a difference? Of course not. Thirty years ago, AP Indy was named 1992’s Horse of the Year by a 276-1 vote, that sole hold going to Lil E. Tee, the Kentucky Derby winner who won two of them. six departures. AP Indy, like Flightline, was a golden boy worth a lot more at the track than he was on the track, but he lost twice that year and fought back after a fall, just like Flightline. was interrupted the 2022 campaign in early spring by a bruised calf.
On the other hand, any suggestion that Flightline has no basis is refuted by a working stereotype that makes James Brown look like a deadlock. After the issue, starting April 10, he worked seven days at a time for nine weeks, then ran in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1). He was given a few weeks of galloping, then starting July 9 worked every Saturday morning for eight weeks, running in TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1), then working every Saturday in the six weeks leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
In California, Flightline is our way of telling time.
Is Flightline the Greatest Horse? It was a comment from a poor soul that could distract anyone, even the West. It’s a silly question indeed, defined in this case as both unnecessary and unanswerable.
It must have been enough for Flightline, the result of those six indelible appearances, to open the pores and release countless personal memories that evoke the concept of “greatest ever.” “. There have been many. You know who they are. Sometimes their noble reputation persists for generations and there are no living witnesses. Others are fleeting images on TV screens maintained by YouTube views.
For those who were able to reach and almost touch greatness as it passed in the lawn of Belmont Park, Racecourse Saratoga, Santa Anita . Park, Churchill Downsand Hollywood Park—well, lucky for us.
Toni Morrison wrote: “Definitions belong to those who define, not those who are defined.
It’s good advice for those who are debating greatness, how greatness is defined, and how worthy we are to it. Remember: Flightline was never asked to do what he did. He was simply let loose, and let’s see what happened.
