DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Flightline romped to a record 19 1/4-length victory in the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Saturday.
The 4-year-old colt left his five rivals in the dust after taking the lead on the backstretch under Flavien Prat, who flew in from New York and rode three winners on the 11-race card.
Flightline covered 1 1/4 miles in 1:59.28, just 0.17 seconds off the track record set by Candy Ride in 2003. He smashed the old mark for winning margin of 12 1/2 lengths set by Accelerate in 2018.
Sent off as the 1-5 favorite, Flightline paid $2.60, $2.10 and $2.10.
Trained by John Sadler, Flightline has won all five of his career starts by a combined 62 3/4 lengths. He had never run beyond a mile nor gone around two turns until Saturday.
Country Grammer, trained by Bob Baffert, paid $2.60 and $2.20. Royal Ship was another seven lengths back in third and paid $2.60 to show.
The victory gives Flightline an automatic berth with fees paid to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Nov. 5.
The race was run in September for just the second time in its 31-year history at the seaside track north of San Diego.
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