Flightline delivered the performance that fans on both sides of the Atlantic were hoping to see in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Saturday, powering eight-and-a-quarter lengths clear of his field in the home stretch after cruising through the first mile behind a white-hot pace. We will never know for sure if Flightline is as good as Secretariat, the legendary Triple Crown winner in 1973, but the four-year-old now has a very strong claim to be the best American racehorse since.
Life Is Good, who took the Dirt Mile at last year’s Breeders’ Cup, scorched through the opening half-mile in 45 seconds in an attempt to burn off Flightline, who had won his five starts before Saturday’s race by an average margin of 12½ lengths.
