Speaking at the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Ceremony in London, trainer John Sadler talks about Flightline, rated equal to Frankel by a panel of international handicappers.
Flightline, longtime #1 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary Global Rankings, was crowned Longines World’s Best Racehorse at a ceremony in London on Tuesday [Jan 17].
With an official rating of 140 for his astonishing 19¼-length victory in the Pacific Classic, the unbeaten superstar was given a mark equal to the legendary Frankel. It was also the highest dirt figure ever awarded by the IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities) panel, well above the 135 achieved by Cigar in 1996.
Here, in his own words, trainer John Sadler talks about the horse whose six-race career climaxed in a memorable Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph.
I’m a career veteran and to have this horse in my career is such a blessing. He was a remarkable horse; most guys don’t get one like this ever.
My focus for two years was I was going to march alongside this horse. I missed a lot of family dinners and made some people upset because of the journey we went on together.
He never hid his talent. He came in, he looked great, trained great, he never disappointed.
The Pacific Classic in Del Mar was my favorite performance. He was so fast that day; the race was over at a mile and there is no telling what he would have done if he had been pressed.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic was probably the stronger field. You had all those Group 1 winners with Taiba and Life Is Good and Epicenter, so that was the championship. It was a great way to finish it off – but on the metrics, the 126 Beyer figure, the numbers for the Pacific Classic were just off the chart.
The Breeders’ Cup win meant everything. We wanted to run the table, as we say, and go undefeated and we did that. It warmed my heart when I was putting the rider up and right over there was John Gosden, who did his early years in California. There he was as a fan.
I guess we could have run him more times but he was a horse that didn’t need preps. He didn’t need one race to get ready for the next. He was so up above them, all he had to do was show up for the big days, best races, and he was going to be fine.
Comparisons to other horses are kind of joy killers but he is certainly the best horse we have seen in quite a while because of his brilliance and the fact he can go so fast over a distance.
We watched Frankel run and we thought that was a good comparison. I think it was also important for the international community that Flightline ran medication free, which was an accomplishment in itself. He never disappointed.
When he is running it is hard to show braggadocio or be aggressive because it is kind of bad luck, but now that it is over you can tell how great he was.
This year when we looked at bringing him back, who was he going to run against? He was going to need some three-year-old in the fall.
We would have liked to have him a little longer but our guiding motto is do what’s best for the horse so for that horse it was probably the right move to retire him.
But the story will keep going because he is so well bred. He has all the check marks for having a brilliant next career.
• John Sadler was speaking at Jon Lees at the Longines World's Best Racehorse Ceremony
• Visit the Lane's End website and the IFHA website
The world’s ten most expensive sires for 2023
Flightline: ‘The best I will ever ride’ says Flavien Prat – and there could be even more to come
‘Frankel might be the equivalent’ - focus on Flightline, the ‘once-in-a-generation’ horse
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires