(Reuters) – Flightline lived up to the hype with another jaw-dropping performance to win the showpiece $6-million Breeders’ Cup Classic in Lexington, Kentucky, today, cementing his status as one of horse racing’s all-time greats.
Jockey Flavien Prat accelerated through the final turn to take the outright lead and was all by himself as he crossed the finish in the 1 1/4-miles race, some eight lengths ahead of second-place finisher Olympiad.
The Bob Baffert-trained Taiba took third.
Prat, who won at Churchill Downs in 2019 and triumphed at the Preakness Stakes last year, thrust his hand into the air as roars from the Keeneland crowd echoed through the Kentucky hills in the heart of American horse racing.
It was trainer John Sadler’s second Breeders’ Cup Classic win after Accelerate triumphed in 2018.
Flightline entered the race having drawn comparisons to the famed Secretariat after going undefeated through his five prior starts.
His win by an astonishing 19 1/4-lengths margin at September’s Pacific Classic positioned him as the overwhelming favourite in Saturday’s prestigious dirt track race.