Time for This Million-Dollar Baby to Enter the Ring

There is a race Aug. 15 at Del Mar that deserves its own reality show. Race 7, to be specific, with a cocktail hour post of 5:12 p.m. local time. Eight 2-year-old colts populate the field, all of them unraced and innocent, being asked for 5 1/2 furlongs of undivided attention. The purse is $100,000, tops for a California maiden race these days, but less than the purchase price of each of the half dozen starters in the lineup who went through an auction. Eight different sires are represented in the pedigrees, none of them, incidentally, named Into Mischief. One of them, of course, has to be a Flightline, and what a Flightline he is. Inshallah ("God willing") is owned by the KAS Stables associated with the royal family of Saudi Arabia. His dam is Bar of Gold, winner of the 2017 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Del Mar, at odds of 66-1. Bloodstock agent Pedro Lanz is the stable manager who raised his hand at $2.1 million to get the colt at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, then turned him over to John Sadler out West. Sadler was in his Del Mar stable office late one morning this week talking about Inshallah and others in the first crop of Flightlines popping up across the land, each of them burdened with the hopes generated by a stallion who had a brief but remarkable career. It was at Del Mar in 2022 that Sadler sent forth Flightline to win the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) by 19 1/4 lengths. Not 19 lengths, but 19 1/4. And, lest anyone suggest the Classic field that summer was of questionable quality, based on the cast of more recent renewals, let the record show that Flightline humiliated the winners of the Dubai World Cup (G1) and the Santa Anita Handicap (G1), eased at the end while coming within a blink of Candy Ride (ARG)'s track record for the mile and one-quarter. That was then. Now Sadler was about to unveil his first Flightline against colts by Uncle Mo, Quality Road, Jack Christopher, Mo Town, Constitution, Essential Quality, and Early Voting. The linemaker pegged Inshallah at 2-1, closely followed by Emancipate, a Cicero Farms homebred trained by Bob Baffert. The tack room conversation was turning to the Flightline phenomenon, both at the horse sales and his early runners, when from out of the blue there appeared at Sadler's doorstep nearly 130 years' worth of jockey agent history. Vince DeGregory and Tony Matos—racing's version of Richard Farnsworth and Wilford Brimley from "The Natural"—were greeted with the affection of all-time favorite racetrack uncles. Matos is a vigorous 81, while DeGregory will celebrate his 94th birthday Aug. 29, although he hesitates to tempt fate by making plans. "When I was young, I thought I would live forever," said DeGregory, who played trumpet and semi-pro baseball before turning full time to the agent's game in 1959. "I don't take any day for granted anymore. When tomorrow comes, I'll decide what to do tomorrow." DeGregory, born in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., can lay claim to representing 11 Hall of Fame jockeys at one point during his career, and Matos is close to the same number, in addition to a half dozen wins by his riders in the Kentucky Derby (G1). They first crossed paths in 1966 in New York. "I was just starting out," said Matos, a native of Puerto Rico. "I had C. H. Marquez when I met Vince. He was great, and he shared a lot of his secrets." Longevity must have been at the top of the list. Until just last April, Matos was representing the international star Mirco Demuro, when the former Italian champion was lured back to Japan. Soon after that, Matos picked up the reliable veteran Tyler Baze, who can be found in Del Mar's top 10 this summer. As for DeGregory, it has been several years since he has worked for a rider in demand, although apprentice Alfredo Bautista has been smart enough to have the veteran in his corner this summer at Del Mar. They have been active, with more than 30 mounts through this weekend. DeGregory is also helping apprentice Ali Husain, from Bahrain, gain a foothold in the local colony. Sadler supports both agents when he can and respects the history they embrace. It was in the Sadler shed row that the last generation of California's well-known Black grooms and exercise riders found their final days at the track, among them Joe Merriweather and Eugene "Snake" McDaniels. "We can't forget those guys," Sadler insisted. "They represented so much of where the game came from." And yet, racing is forever caught up in what's next. And this time of year, it is the 2-year-olds that command the spotlight. "When it comes to picking your 2-year-olds, you always have to pay close attention to the workouts, and to your trainers," Matos said. "Man, I've had a lot of good ones, too, going back to Wayne Lukas with Terlingua and Landaluce when I had Laffit Pincay, and for John Nerud before that in New York when I had Angel Cordero." Joel Rosario, now represented by Bill Castle, has landed the mount on Inshallah for Sadler. The Hall of Famer has returned to California in hopes of reinvigorating his career. It was Vince DeGregory who first brought Rosario to Southern California from the Bay Area in 2007, and it was Sadler who was an important backer, as the young rider navigated his introduction to the big time. Now they are reunited with a $2.1 million 2-year-old. Inshallah has been working steadily and figures to run well in his debut. Sadler, however, sprayed a light mist of cold water on the idea that the colt would be strutting his absolute best stuff at such a short distance as Saturday's 5 1/2 furlongs. "Across the board, all the Flightlines we've seen so far have the stride to run two turns," the trainer said. "As fast as he was, you wonder how can that be? But that's what he's getting. "I've got a Flightline out of Edgeway, a graded stakes winner sprinting," Sadler added. "She already acts like she want to go a mile. And, of course, Bar of Gold was a Breeders' Cup winner sprinting. So it looks like, even it they win going short, or run second or third, they're all going to be better when they go farther."