Flightline’s memorable run set the perfect seal on an event that showed the extent to which US racing is beginning to find its feet after years of decline
An unusual lot at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale on Monday will put a price on Flightline, the brilliant – and now retired – winner of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. A 2.5% slice of the world’s best racehorse will be sold to the highest bidder and when the hammer falls, most guesstimates suggest Flightline will be worth at least $70m.
Rarity value alone will bump the price, of course, but Flightline did everything that any fan – or breeder – could have hoped to see in what turned out to be his final start. The winning margin of eight-and-a-quarter lengths was a record for the Classic, and Flightline powered clear, under a hand ride, after sitting just behind a blistering pace for the first mile.
