The eighth race of the day, a $54,000 maiden race raced at six furlongs, may be the most anticipated of the three graded stakes races on Monday's schedule at Santa Anita. This is because it features the premiere of Flightline's (Tapit) three-year-old half-brother, Eagles Flight (Curlin).
Eagles Flight receives training from John Sadler, just like Flightline.
“I am excited,” Sadler noted. “We've been working closely with him and he's showing good run and he's worked well in the company. We've got 48 hours to go and we're anxious to get him out there and see it happen.”
Eagles Flight, like Flightline, was first entered in the September 2022 Keeneland sale and was bred by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine. However, Lyon had a change of heart, pulled the horse from the auction, and made the decision to run the animal herself. Since then, Hronis Racing LLC, which formerly held a portion of Flightline, has joined as a co-owner.
According to Sadler, there were a few minor issues that needed to be fixed, which is why the horse did not race sooner.
“He had some immaturity issues last year at two,” Sadler stated. “He also had a little shin problem. We had to wait for that to resolve itself. Now he's trained up for his 3-year-old start.”
Eagles Flight began operations on March 27 and has been operating consistently ever since. On May 19, he breezed five furlongs in 58.80 seconds at his most recent session. Sadler is quite pleased.
“We're looking forward to getting started on Monday,” he remarked. “The pedigree speaks for itself. There are no secrets there. He's a good-looking prospect and we're expecting a good race from him first time out. He drew inside with the two posts, so he's got to get away cleanly. He had good training the last five, or six weeks with no interruptions. There were some weather issues earlier in the meet, but he's good to go.”
Sadler remained unafraid to draw comparisons between Eagles Flight and Flightline.
“He looks like a good prospect,” he mentioned. “But I don't really do the comparison thing, because, obviously that wouldn't be fair to any horse. He looks like he can run and we can't wait for Monday. I wish it was tomorrow.”
Flavien Prat has the call on Eagles Flight while he's in town for the three stakes. He took Flightline as well.
The dam Feathered (Indian Charlie) has not been very successful outside of Flightline. The 5-year-old Voron, often known as the Pioneer of the Nile, has been shipped to Russia. The next player in line was Olivier (Tapit), a full sibling who was sent back to Summer Wind last month to live out his days after failing to score in three starts.