Flightline

Within a 48-hour period, Flightline (Tapit) won the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, was then retired and then a share in the future stallion sold for $4.6 million at Keeneland. With that in mind, the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland called upon co-owner Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds to wrap up the horse's racing career and to look ahead to his next career as a stallion. Finley was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. On the decision to retire Flightline, when asked if he understood why people...

Just a week and a half after GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic winner Flightline (Tapit) was officially retired and shipped from Keeneland Race Course down the road to his new home at Lane's End Farm, the Versailles-based operation opened its doors to members of the media for an up-close and personal afternoon with their newest superstar addition on Wednesday. With a group of nearly 15 in attendance, along with members of the Lane's End team, Flightline was walked around the stallion complex, displaying how well he has adapted to life...

With the Breeders' Cup returning to Lexington for the third time, headlined by the mighty Flightline (Tapit), the buzz in Lexington was electric from late October all the way through the nearly two weeks of breeding stock sales that followed the World Championships. Combine that with a deep and diverse buying bench and high demand and the result was gains in both gross and average for the 10-day Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, which ran from Nov. 7-16. "With the close of the November Breeding Stock Sale, Keeneland is nearing...

Online voting is now open to select the winner of the 13th annual Secretariat Vox Populi Award. Created by Secretariat's late owner Penny Chenery, the Vox Populi, or "Voice of the People" award recognizes the racehorse whose popularity and racing excellence best resounded with the public and gained recognition for the sport during the past year. Fans can vote in the online poll at Secretariat.com for one of three nominees selected by the Vox Populi Committee. Voters also have the option to write in a racehorse of their choice. The...

I don't think I've ever witnessed such runaway adulation. It was as though the commentators and analysts joined in a competition to see who could erect the highest pile of praise, and when somebody said Flightline might be the greatest horse of all-time--well, it was then that my head struck my desk under the avalanche of hyperbolic plaudits. And a day later, when his owners announced he would be retired, I immediately realized I couldn't vote for Flightline as Horse of the Year. That's why I'm writing: to explain my...

Within minutes of Flightline crossing the wire in another jaw-dropping victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, the question buzzing across the racing world was whether we would get the chance to see him race again. Many argued against his retirement, saying racing needs a hero and, at least right now and for the foreseeable future, he is certainly it. Some 16 hours later, we got our answer. The unbeaten sensation was retired to the Lane's End stallion barn, where he is already in high demand. Many were saddened to see...

Jim McIngvale (Mattress Mack) made history when the Houston Astros won the World Series. He made bets that returned $75 million when they won, the largest win ever in the history of sports betting. The bets were tied into a promotion McIngvale has used many times at his Gallery Furniture Stores in Houston. If he wins the bet, his customers get free mattresses. He's great at getting publicity for himself and his stores, but never had he seen anything like what happened with this bet, the story of which became...

Lexington, KY - While the Flightline connections have been busy at the Keeneland November Sale assembling a powerhouse group of mares to send to their new stallion, the superstar himself has been settling into his new home at Lane's End Farm. 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit - Feathered, by Indian Charlie) arrived at the Versailles-based breeding operation less than 24 hours after he cemented his place in history in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic. Accompanied by John Sadler's assistant and exercise rider Juan Leyva and barn foreman Cesar Aguilar,...

In less than 12 weeks the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU), a branch of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), will get to work, handling all drug testing and enforcement across the country. With that in mind, the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland called on HISA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Lazarus to bring us up to speed on the latest developments regarding her organization. Lazarus was this week's Green Group Guest of the Week. Lazarus said that seven of the racing commissions in the 14...

Flightline (Tapit) (139), who closed out his undefeated career in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic, maintains his commanding lead in the ninth edition of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings for 2022. In the Breeders' Cup Classic, Flightline pulled away from the field to win by a record 8 1/4 lengths. Olympiad (Speightstown) (124) was second, while Taiba (Gun Runner) (123) was another half-length back in third. Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) (122) also impressed during the Breeders' Cup World Championships and joins the rankings following his 2 1/2-length win the GI...

PROUD EMMA (Include) (Hip 876) is likely to visit Flightline for her next mating after summoning $1 million Wednesday at KEENOV from that superstar's breeder and part-owner Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Farm. The Grade III winner sold carrying her first foal by Charlatan. She was consigned by Bedouin Bloodstock.

About an hour or so after one of 40 shares in Flightline, a son of Tapit and the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, was sold for an unimaginable $4.6 million in an historic special session at Keeneland Monday, Flightline was led out of his stall at Lane's End and posed behind the stallion barn, oblivious to the hubbub on the sales grounds about 10 miles away. He's a stunning and athletic physical specimen, standing 16.2 hands, with length to go with height and balance. He's so well put together and pleasing...