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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Running the biggest race of a brief career, Flightline left no doubt about this year’s top thoroughbred.

The unbeaten colt posted another dominant run, overtaking Life Is Good entering the top of the stretch and pulling away to an 8¼-length victory in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Keeneland, and all but locking up honors as Horse of the Year.

“Brilliant is his normal,” trainer John Sadler said. “He didn’t disappoint, and never has. … This race, he’s just a remarkable, remarkable horse.”

The 4-year-old bay colt entered the Grade 1 race 5-0 lifetime with an average victory margin of nearly 13 lengths, making him the overwhelming 3-5 favorite over the eight-horse field that included Kentucky Derby upset winner Rich Strike and 5-1 second choice Epicenter. Flightline went off at 2-5 from the No. 4 post, and he and Todd Pletcher-trained Life Is Good, at 8-1, separated themselves from the pack with a blistering pace, building a 9-length gap through the far turn.

Sadler’s pupil was moving up at that point and eventually passed Life Is Good before the stretch, quickly building a 2-length gap that steadily grew from there. Olympiad (10-1) soon overtook Life Is Good with Bob Baffert-trained Taiba gaining, though both were far behind the horse who has earned lofty comparisons to legendary Triple Crown champion Secretariat.

His remarkable run in the Classic will likely ratchet up the praise, and the trainer didn’t shy away from it.

“He’s just that rare horse that happens every 20 or 30 years,” Sadler added. “One of the best American racehorses we’ve seen in a long, long time. And I’m talking back to Secretariat, Seattle Slew, you go through the list.

“What I try to be is a good steward to him. If you’re good with your horse, he’ll be good with you.”

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Flightline covered the 1¼ mile in 2:00.05 and paid $2.88, $2.92 and $2.30. His winning time was just off Authentic’s record of 1:59.60 set here two years ago.

Olympiad returned $12.38 and $7.16 for place and Taiba paid $4 to show. Rich Strike was fourth and Life Is Good fifth.

Taiba provided a high note for the embattled Baffert, who was back in Kentucky after stewards suspended him for 90 days earlier this year following a failed postrace drug test by disqualified 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. The colt gave him something to smile about despite starting on the rail at 8-1 odds.

“He has so much heart,” Baffert said. “He’s running against two outstanding 4-year-olds. I would have loved to run second.”

Epicenter, considered a strong Horse of the Year favorite with four wins and three seconds, was pulled up by jockey Joel Rosario in the backstretch with an injured right forelimb. He walked into a van and was taken to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital for evaluation.

While Pletcher came up short in the Classic, his filly Malathaat provided the day’s most exciting finish by winning the $2 million Distaff by nose over Blue Stripe and Clairiere and in a three-wide photo finish.

The 2021 3-year-old champion filly and 3-1 choice surged from the middle between the final turns and was on the outside among five horses in the stretch before she broke free with Clairiere to her left and Blue Stripe on the rail over the final 100 yards. Malathaat eventually caught Clairiere and nosed past Blue Stripe at the wire, which replay confirmed.

Blue Stripe was second by a nose over Clairiere, who beat Malathaat’s stablemate Nest (9-5) by 3¼ lengths.

“Where I was positioned, I thought we won,” Pletcher said. “And then every time I watched the replay, it seemed like it got closer and closer. I thought she won, but I wasn’t a million percent sure.”

The nine-race Breeders’ Cup card went off with partly sunny skies and stiff crosswinds blowing across the infield and backstretch. It became more overcast as the Classic neared but without precipitation.

Most importantly, the grandstands were full, a stark and welcome contrast to the 2020 edition held here without spectators because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other Breeders’ Cup races before a crowd of 45,973 at Keeneland:

  • $4 million Turf: Rebel’s Romance swept past the leaders with a furlong left and ran to a 2¼-length victory over fellow Irish-bred Stone Age. The race featured nine Irish horses, one from Brazil and another from China.

  • $2 million Filly and Mare Turf: Tuesday caught In Italian at the 1/16th mark and ran to a 1-length victory. The Irish-bred Tuesday won for the third time this year and ended a four-race drought.

  • $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile: Irish-bred Modern Games earned a ¾-length victory, one of two on the day for Charles Appleby.

  • $2 million Sprint: Elite Power won by 1¼ lengths over C Z Rocket, one of two wins for trainer Bill Mott.

  • $1 million Dirt Mile: Favorite Cody’s Wish caught and then outdueled Cyberknife in the stretch to win by a head. The colt was named for Cody Dorman, 17, who has Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. A postrace inquiry initially delayed the finish becoming official as stewards examined possible interference between Cyberknife, Slow Down Andy and Law Professor. The finish was upheld.

  • $1 million Turf Sprint: 42-1 long shot Caravel pulled the upset, going wire-to-wire in beating British-bred Emaraaty Ana by half a length.

  • $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint: Goodnight Olive moved to the front entering the stretch and won the seven-furlong Breeders’ Cup opener by 2½ lengths over Echo Zulu. She earned her sixth consecutive victory and fourth as a 4-year-old.

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Buckeyes seize No. 1; LSU, Canes rise as Tide fall

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Buckeyes seize No. 1; LSU, Canes rise as Tide fall

Ohio State climbed to No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll on Tuesday, LSU and Miami moved into the top five, and Florida State jumped back into the rankings at the expense of Alabama, which plummeted to its lowest spot in 17 seasons.

The defending national champion Buckeyes received 55 of 66 first-place votes to move up two spots after their win over preseason No. 1 Texas. Ohio State is at the top of a regular-season poll for the first time since November 2015.

The Longhorns dropped to No. 7 as the media voters shuffled the rankings following a topsy-turvy Labor Day weekend. It was only the second time — and first since 1972 — that two top-five teams lost in Week 1 and the first time that four top-10 teams lost.

Only three teams in the Top 25 are in the same spot they were in the preseason poll.

Penn State got seven first-place votes and remained No. 2. LSU, which received three first first-place votes, was followed by Georgia and Miami to round out the top five.

Oregon got the other first-place vote and was followed by Texas, the Clemson Tigers, Notre Dame and South Carolina.

LSU jumped six spots after winning at Clemson and Miami got a five-rung promotion for its victory over Notre Dame.

The biggest movers in the poll were Florida State and Alabama after the Seminoles’ 31-17 victory in their head-to-head matchup.

The Seminoles, who were 15 spots outside the Top 25 in the preseason, are now No. 14. The Crimson Tide fell all the way from No. 8 to No. 21 — their lowest ranking since Bama was No. 24 in the 2008 preseason poll. That was the second of Nick Saban’s 17 teams in Tuscaloosa.

It’s been quite a turnabout for Florida State. The Seminoles were No. 10 in the 2024 preseason, lost their first two games, finished 2-10 and weren’t ranked again until now.

Utah, at No. 25, joins Florida State as the only newcomers to this week’s poll. The Utes are ranked for the first time since last October, when they were at the front end of a seven-game losing streak.

Utah had received the second-most points, behind BYU, among teams outside the preseason Top 25, but the Utes got more credit for beating UCLA on the road than the Cougars received for hammering FCS foe Portland State.

Boise State, which had been No. 25, received no votes following its 34-7 loss at South Florida. The Broncos had appeared in 14 straight polls.

The other team to drop out of the poll was No. 17 Kansas State, which followed up its season-opening loss to Iowa State with a last-minute home win over FCS team North Dakota.

Ohio State is the first team to take over the top spot in the first regular-season poll since Alabama in 2012. It was the biggest jump to No. 1 in the first regular-season poll since USC was promoted from No. 3 in 2008.

Texas’ fall was the biggest for a preseason No. 1 since Auburn dropped to No. 8 in the first regular-season poll of 1984.

LSU has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 3 in 2012, and Miami has its highest ranking after Week 1 since it was No. 5 in 2004.

South Carolina is in the top 10 in the regular season for the first time since it was No. 8 in December 2013.

CONFERENCE CALL

SEC: 10 (Nos. 3, 4, 7, 10, 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)

Big Ten: 6 (Nos. 1, 2, 6, 11, 15, 23)

ACC: 4 (Nos. 5, 8, 14, 17)

Big 12: 4 (Nos. 12, 16, 24, 25)

Independent: 1 (No. 9)

RANKED VS. RANKED

No. 15 Michigan at No. 18 Oklahoma: This weekend’s game will be the first meeting since Oklahoma beat the Wolverines in the Orange Bowl to win the 1975 national championship. Wolverines freshman QB Bryce Underwood gets put to the test in his second start.

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Hold that, Tiger: Kelly asks if Dabo saw 2nd half

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Hold that, Tiger: Kelly asks if Dabo saw 2nd half

While Dabo Swinney isn’t inflating LSU‘s grade for beating his team in Saturday’s season opener, Brian Kelly is ready to give the Clemson coach an incomplete for his evaluation.

Both coaches weighed in Tuesday on how LSU’s 17-10 win at Clemson should be viewed. After trailing 10-3 at halftime, LSU outscored Clemson 14-0 in the second half and finished with significant edges in both total yards (354-261) and first downs (25-13).

LSU rose six spots to No. 3 in the AP Top 25 poll Tuesday, while Clemson dropped four spots to No. 8.

“It was a helluva game, down to the last play,” Swinney said in his weekly news conference. “Right out of the gate. It’s like getting the final exam [on] Day 1 of class. They made a 65; we made a 58. Neither one of us were great.”

Kelly had not won a season opener at LSU before Saturday, and the victory was his first with the Tigers against an AP top-5 opponent.

“I thought we dominated them in the second half, so he’s really a really good grader for giving himself a 58, or he’s a really hard grader on us,” Kelly said in his news conference when told about Swinney’s comment.

“Or he didn’t see the second half, which, that might be the case. He might not have wanted to see the second half.”

Kelly added that LSU is moving on to this week’s game against Louisiana Tech.

“Clemson is a darn good football team,” Kelly said. “That’s a top-notch team, and they’re going to be a team in the hunt for [the] playoff picture. We hope we are, too. But it was only one game. So I don’t know if he’s a hard grader or an easy grader, but I like the way that we played in the second half.”

Clemson visits LSU to open the 2026 season.

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Venables: Michigan’s Underwood ‘a little different’

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Venables: Michigan's Underwood 'a little different'

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said Bryce Underwood “looks to be wise beyond his years” and compared Michigan‘s freshman quarterback to former Clemson national championship QB Trevor Lawrence on Tuesday ahead of the No. 18 Sooners’ Week 2 visit from the No. 15 Wolverines.

Underwood, ESPN’s No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class, will make his second career start at Oklahoma on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).

The coveted freshman earned Michigan’s starting job at the end of fall camp, beating out a collection of experienced passers on the depth chart including offseason portal additions Mikey Keene (Fresno State) and Jake Garcia (East Carolina). Underwood delivered a smooth college debut against New Mexico in Week 1, completing 21 of 31 passes for 251 yards and a touchdown in Michigan’s 34-17 win.

At Oklahoma, Underwood is set to face a much stiffer challenge against Venables, who resumed control of the Sooners’ defensive playcalling ahead of the 2024 season, and an experienced defense that held Illinois State to 151 yards of total offense in Week 1.

The former Clemson defensive coordinator compared Underwood to Lawrence, the five-star quarterback prospect who started as a freshman in 2018 and led the Tigers to a national championship win over Alabama.

“He’s a little different,” Venables said of Underwood. “It reminds me a lot of a Trevor Lawrence. Quick. Decisive. Accurate. Poised. Tough. Consistent. There’s a reason he was the No. 1 player in America. And he’s got a maturity and a work ethic and leadership agility to go along with that.”

As Oklahoma seeks to rebound from a 6-7 finish last fall, a new-look Sooners offense will get a test of its own Saturday.

Behind transfer QB John Mateer and first-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, Oklahoma gained 495 yards of offense in its 35-3, season-opening win over Illinois State. Mateer, who arrived in the offseason from Washington State alongside Arbuckle, passed Baker Mayfield for the most passing yards by an Oklahoma QB in a debut with 392 yards.

On Tuesday, Venables highlighted the Wolverines’ experience on defense, particularly in the front seven, as a defining challenge for the Sooners in an intriguing Week 2 matchup between two of college football’s most storied brands.

“[It’s] a defense that for the last several years has been one of the gold standards of college football when it comes to playing good defense,” Venables said. “It’s going to be a great physical matchup, and for us, a great litmus test to where we’re at.”

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