A Flightline Colt Overcomes His Own Keenness to Break His Maiden at Keeneland

Cavalli, a two-year-old son of Flightline, made his first start at Keeneland and came away a winner, though he made it harder on himself than the result suggests. He raced close to the lead in the early going, but as the field swept past the stands the youngster pulled hard against his rider and would not settle. Traffic then forced him to be steadied, the kind of interruption that ends many a debut before the turn for home. Rather than fold, he gathered himself and found his best running in the final stages, reaching the front only near the finish. For a horse making his first appearance under silks, that combination of early unruliness and late composure says something about his constitution. Keeneland's fall meet in Lexington has long been the stage where the newest crop of juveniles first announces itself, and a Flightline runner winning there in such a fashion will not go unnoticed by the bloodstock set.

With reporting from Thoroughbred Daily News.