2022 Breeders' Cup winner: Flightline (2/5) dominates on way to record-setting victory at Keeneland Racecourse

Flightline won by eight lengths to remain a perfect six-for-six in his career

By Steven Taranto

Nov 5, 2022 at 6:52 pm ET • 1 min read

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Flightline continued his undefeated career as a race horse in dominating fashion, winning the 2022 Breeders' Cup Classic by a sizable gap over the rest of the field. The 2/5 favorite helped set the pace throughout Saturday's race and sealed the victory by pulling away from Life Is Good, his closest challenger, in the stretch run. Flightline finished first by eight lengths over Olympiad, with Taiba finishing third.

The four-year old Colt now remains perfect in his racing career, with the Breeders' Cup marking his sixth victory in six starts. Flightline's win is the fourth victory at the Breeders' Cup for jockey Flavien Prat and the second win for trainer John Sadler.

FLIGHTLINE CAN FLY! 🏇🏼✈️ #BC22 pic.twitter.com/Y0gniZcAkU
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 5, 2022

Flightline's latest victory and the sheer form he showed -- Life Is Good was the only horse that managed to match his pace before fading away down the home stretch -- furthered his position as a potential once-in-a-generation horse. Flightline has been compared to some of the all-time greats -- including the previously incomparable Secretariat -- with victories at the Malibu Stakes, Metropolitan Handicap and Pacific Classic Stakes prior to Saturday.

Whether Flightline continues to race after this year is to be determined. But his quickly developing legacy made a proud jockey out of Prat, who said post-race that he didn't have to ask much else of Flightline to win Saturday's race.

"I'm just grateful to be on him. I just pinch myself every day -- 'Why me' -- and just try to enjoy it," Prat told reporters after the Breeders' Cup. "It's been a great journey, and I hope it keeps going."

The victory was also the second for a Sadler-trained horse in the last five years. Sadler had previously won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2018 with Accelerate, but he spoke of Flightline in particularly glowing terms compared to all other horses to come out of his stable.

"This is one of the great horses of all-time," Sadler told NBC Sports. "I think history will show that."