After Flightline cantered home 19 1/4 lengths ahead of the field in last Saturday’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar, comparisons are being made to Secretariat. Four-year old Flightline is undefeated in five starts, and won every time by a combined margin of 62 3/4 lengths. After the Pacific, he was awarded a Beyer speed figure of 126 – the second-highest in 31 years. The Pacific Classic is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” race, with this win, Flightline clinched a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland in Kentucky in early November.

“I told Johnny [Velazquez], don’t chase that horse he’s (Flightline) a really great horse; if you chase you won’t get anything. I wanted to run at least second to him. We got beat by an incredible horse; it was nice to see the crowd clapping for him and it was fun watching the performance even as a competing trainer; it’s something you don’t see every day. I knew my horse was going to show up, he was doing well and he didn’t chase the horse and he just got beat by a brilliant horse today.”

Bob Baffert, trainer of Country Grammar

What’s a Beyer speed figure? A horse’s pure speed. It how fast a horse has run in each of his starts.

HORSE	TRK	DATE	DIST	BEYER FIGURE
Flightline	DMR	03 Sep	1 1/4M	126
Epicenter	SAR	27 Aug	1 1/4M	112
Olympiad	CD	02 Jul	1 1/8M	111
Life Is Good	GP	29 Jan	1 1/8M	110
Americanrevolution	CD	02 Jul	1 1/8M	108
Stilleto Boy	SA	30 Apr	1 1/8M	108
Life Is Good	SAR	06 Aug	1 1/8M	107
Clairiere	BEL	11 Jun	1 1/16M	106
Express Train	SA	30 Apr	1 1/8M	106
Malathaat	BEL	11 Jun	1 1/16M	106
Mandaloun	FG	22 Jan	1 1/16M	106
Cyberknife	SAR	27 Aug	1 1/4M	105
Early Voting	PIM	21 May	1 3/16M	105

The winning figure for a race is based on three factors: the final time, the distance, and the inherent speed of the track (a calculation known as the track variant.) For losing horses, points are deducted according the lengths behind the winner and the distance of the race. Beyer’s team has calculated “par” times for various class levels and distances. After averaging final times for a specific card, the team determines how much slower or faster than par a racetrack was on a particular day. That number, called the Track Variant, is subtracted or added to the Speed Rating to determine the Beyer Speed Figure.

But is a high Beyer speed rating and 5 wins enough to bring Flightline up to Secretariat status? In the Pacific Classic, Flightline beat Country Grammar, winner of the Dubai world Cup, who also finished second in the Derby, but that’s the best quality horse he’s raced against to date. It will be interesting to see how he runs in the Breeder’s Cup and if he races as a 5 year old. He certainly is a fun horse to watch run.