Wonder horse Flightline has been retired to stud after his devastating victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Saturday night.
Sent off the 4-9 favourite to win the $6million finale to the two-day fixture, the John Sadler-trained four-year-old and Flavien Pratt surged clear in the straight to beat Olympiad by eight and a quarter lengths.
The triumph took the unbeaten Flightline’s aggregate winning margin in his six career outings to 71 lengths, but yesterday it was confirmed the son of Tapit will join the stallion roster at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky.
“We would like to thank John Sadler and his team for the incredible work they did with Flightline," said the stud’s Bill Farish. “His historic performances are a credit to their expertise and unwavering efforts to bring out the very best in the horse.”
The move to retire a horse dubbed one of the greatest of recent times after just six career races was greeted with general disappointment by racing supporters around the world.
Flightline drew comparisons with the great Secretariat and there were great hopes he would remain in training as a four-year-old and tackle races such as the Dubai World Cup.
One racing fan tweeted: "Flightline retired as expected. Are you a great champion in any sport if you never once defended your title? 6 starts? You don't forge a reputation servicing mares in a barn. When they talk about champions he won't even be a footnote in racing history."
Another said: "Understandable due to money implications but another example of why flat racing will never reach the heights of national hunt regards capturing the interest of the casual racing fan. There is little time to create and develop an emotional bond to the stars of the show."
Three wins apiece for Aidan O’Brien and Charlie Appleby ensured European runners equalled the previous best of six successes at the self-titled thoroughbred World Championships.
