Bob Baffert wins record 16th Del Mar Futurity with Cave Rock

Flightline won the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Saturday night. He beat Country Grammer and Express Train by 19 lengths. Flightline finished in 1:59.28, just .17 off the DelMar track record. He was geared down in the last part of the race by jockey Flavien Prat. The distance of this race was 1.5 miles. It was the first time Flightlines ran more than one mile. His second quarter was almost a second faster than the Kentucky Derby’s 23.58 seconds. Rich Strike won that race.

The Pacific Classic was broadcast on FanDuel Network, formerly TVG. It was on the Saturday evening of the Labor Day holiday weekend. The audience is miniscule compared to more mainstream networks. Flightline's performance was not a Triple Crown race. The Triple crown captures eyes and ears, and casual fans wait for the next one. Last year's Kentucky Derby telecast averaged almost 16 million viewers. This might be because the Derby is an event around which civilians schedule mint julep-soaked parties. In the same way, the NCAA Tournament has swallowed college basketball whole. There is a difference between the two.