Flightline
 

Impressive debut here.

I didn't look at the SA card yesterday. After I watched the replay I assumed it must be another Baffert monster. Good to see someone else out there has a good one.

Beyer 105

Loving everything about this horse. Know it's not Sadler's regular move to come east, but would think a race like the Woody Stephens would be a worthy next step. Opportunities for a 3yo of this caliber on the west coast are very thin for a long time, unless they're interesting in aiming for a 100k G3 like the Affirmed. Would think the Woody Stephens & Haskell would be much better game to shoot for.

Depends if they want to try and snatch a Grade 1 as soon as possible and secure the $1 million investment with a guaranteed stud deal or let the horse progress steadily against a diet of small fields before shooting for the moon in the summer in the Travers or Pacific Classic.

The Laz Barrera (7f), Affirmed (8.5f), and Los Al Derby (9f) are right on his doorstep and well-spaced.

There's probably a reason he didn't debut until April of his 3yo year.

Two sub 100 min 5/8 in a week. Looking at Del Mar condition book, there is a nw1 6f this weekend. Also a 1 mile closing day. Hope he shows up in the entries...

He's back on Sunday in the 8th race at DMR.

Freedom Fighter and a couple of other horses with at least some speed are also entered. So he should have to do some running early.

Flightline entered in the 8th on Sunday the nw1 at 6f and drew the outside post #8. If Flightline runs another cracker interesting to see what races they point him towards. Possibly the Sprint Championship at SA then the BC Sprint. Or maybe they look towards the Malibu Stakes instead.

Crazy fast performance and did it eased up. Wow!

He could have shattered the track record if only slightly challenged....The Sky's the limit with Flightline.

Zoom Zoom!!!!!

Wow! There are some red hot 3yo sprinters out there right now. Some of the potential matchups would be amazing. This one may stretch out.

i was rooting for flightline to go under 1:08!

very, very impressive though!!!

Beyer 114

So is he some kind of freak or he is a very good horse that will be tested a bit more in his stakes debut?

I never get too excited about this kind, horses with freakish talent that can't seem to race very often. Even if he wins in a romp, I'd be shocked if we see him race more than 4 times next year.

Right now, he's on course to be the next Army Mule. I hope we're wrong, but it's hard to be optimistic.

If he wins impressively Sunday he'll be a Grade 1 winner. That will give them less of an incentive to bring him back if he should have some minor issue that sets him back just a few months.

I want to see what this horse is made of. I'm hoping that someone gets aggressive and tries to run with him. Normally, that might be suicidal, but this horses is off a layoff, clearly has soundness issues, and has never been tested. There has to be some chance he cracks if pressed hard.

I'm not sure if Dr. Schivel has enough speed, but he stayed relatively close to Jackie's Warrior and Special Reserve. Those two are very fast. So maybe he can put some real heat on at some point.

Never raced without Lasix (whereas the similarly profiled Triple Tap has never raced with it).

Have to think Baby Yoda will be gunning from the gate (although he's not particularly quick from the gate) with the rail draw and getting shuffled back early in his last pair. Only weapon he seems to have at this point is his early speed.

Joke of a race, which once was one of the greatest betting races on the calendar. Always had a full field made up of top sprinters, a couple of second-tier route horses cutting back, a couple of Triple Crown trail comebackers, a couple of decent Cal-breds, a couple of late-starting types, and maybe even a turf horse.

Now even with this barely-beyond-team-workout field of 7 horses, we have to worry about either Flightline or Triple Tap (supposedly the 2 most talented horses in there) scratching out since they share common ownership. Stud deals will be compromised if something gets exposed...

The Malibu feels chalky.
It looks to be one or the other.
Flightline just glides over the track,he'll be tough.
FL really reminds me of the former Sadler runner Catalina Cruiser.
Dr. Schivel is a tough as nails class act.......still can't believe he lost the BC Sprint the way he did(that one cost me plenty).
The other contenders don't do anything for me.
Baby Yoda: Didn't like anything about his last race.......not drawn well either,the rail going 7F @ SA is a disadvantage.
Triple Tap: talented for sure,but had such a good setup last time.......don't like to play those types back.
FWIW:
Baffert has a late starting 3yo debuting the 4th Sunday(Shaaz)that looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger did in Pumping Iron.

I’d be against Triple Tap if he wasn’t trained by Baffert. I thought he got a good setup last time. IMO, that race was not as good as it looks, but with Baffert he’s eligible to take a step forward. So I’m less anxious to key against him in the exotics. I want nothing to do with him though.

yea, Shaaz worked wider in company with Triple Tap. Did more running and impressed that he kept up.


Malibu - Showcase for Flightline. Does he break, and run to form? Wow.


:5::4::7::6:

Wow - some high profile first time starters in there: $1.1 million purchase Shaaz, $900K Hopkins (also trained by Baffert), and Beholder's first foal Q B One (out of Uncle Mo).

That's one of the most interesting races on the card.

Normally i would agree..But in this case modern tech handicapping has kept this horse from racing to much, not physical issues. Sadler is big sheets guy and letting the numbers dictate the schedule. I believe after this race he will stretch out and look for the important distance races and hopefully a successful solid campaign...

I agree. I am more interested in the 4th than the Malibu. I hope the track is at least semi decent with all the rain.

Only took one race for me to be done with SA.
R2, Doug "Better living Through Chemistry" O'Neil scores with garbage.
Typical.

Why was that horse garbage?

Only had 2 lengths to find on the odds-on favorite in there last meeting (a drubbing by the ML favorite for a Grade 1 later on the card). Last race was a toss going 2-turns. Had only one pace rival (who had been running at lower levels) that ended up missing the break. Track has been sealed for multiple days, which usually helps frontrunners. Horse is 3 for 3 in his career (now 4 for 4) over SA main track. An Into Mischief that had showed enough early in his career to draw $1 million as a 2yo-in-training. Went off as an overlay (5-1 ML).

Slow horse, Beyer, TGraf, BRIS, proven loser, questionable form at best, soundly beaten by both the favs.....10-1, maybe.

He was the lone speed on paper, no?

Fastest horse from the gate, gets brave with clear lead, clouded form due to recent negative pace scenarios & route distance, both favs burning money in all starts against open company...5-1 on sealed racetrack w/ multiple graded stakes on the card.

Did you bet him?
Actually, I would not say he was lone speed,/ TG had him essentially tied with Sumo early, and and aside from his last race, Sumo figured to be right there challenging early. Same Sumo who beat him by 8 last sprint.

That is the story the connections tell, but the gaps in the workouts don't really lend much credence to it.

action bet 50cents 5 - 4 - 6
 

overthinking a valueless race?

probably have it :5::4::6::7: rather than :5::4::7::6:


the :6: Team Merchants 20/1 ml looks to be thriving in workouts,and watching a few of his races is fine in here to try to hit the board.

Big difference in ml odds between the :6: and :7:


also think the public may well agree with the ml in terms of ranking :1:BabyYoda and the :3: StilettoBoy higher than the 6.
///

not a Flightline superfan, but there isn't an adverse pace projected here.
Sadler does a solid job with workouts and pace-friendly spots of Hronis runners. i haven't seen any fitness/health issue on video, solid layoff numbers

Shaaz wins r4 MSW, but doesn't tell us a lot more than we know.
Big boy, lot of talent, has to stop lugging in as well as show consistent footwork.

Yes. I had the early Pick-3. I pressed the favorite, did not like the 5, and used the 6 because he was lone speed and clearly the "other horse" under the given scenario. I singled the 1st winner, who I thought should have been odds on, and pressed the 3rd winner, who also should have been a heavy favorite.

I don't love it when races come off the turf, but off the turf races are frequently great value races. I also don't get overly caught up in the results of races, as they are frequently related to how races are run, and am more than happy to take horses that may benefit on a given day when they have not in a previous race or two ( or more ).

Baby Yoda's Beyer best guess?

Flightline is about to be the most hyped horse since Arrogate. The possible soundness concerns are the only reason to pump the brakes even a little bit, because that was something else.

hyping a horse up
 

Yes, that's the "fun stuff". I'm already telling my buddy he is going to be another Spectacular Bid.

Wow - Flightline has won all three of his races by 11+ lengths. Included this Grade 1. Weakness of graded stakes these days aside - that was impressive.