A G1 race since 1984, the Flight Stakes is a race won by special fillies - often the ones who go on to do extraordinary things on the track against all comers as older mares and that's as it should be as Hall Of Fame legend Flight exemplified that style of thoroughbred.
She was of relatively humble beginnings, the product of a hobby breeder's experiment that was wildly successful - on this solitary occasion!
The filly was bred by wealthy pastoralist C H Schmidt, a keen racing man and modestly successful breeder of horses he retained to race in his colours.
He had a few squillion acres scattered around and his “Mirridong” station at Manildra NSW was home to a group of mares.
One day at the sales Schmidt bought a colt by the champion sire Heroic. Named Royal Step he raced in Schmidt's colours
Royal Step won a couple of handicaps at Randwick, but he was very average and his bad legs made him difficult to train - so home he went to Mirridong.
There he would cover Lambent, a five times non winning NZ bred.
She had been a cheap purchase having produced one half decent winner in NZ from numerous matings - as a daughter of a NZ Oaks placed full sister to two of the best Kiwi race fillies of the time, she was clearly a disgrace to the family.
“The Family” was that of the prolific and legendary matriarch Chelandry.
The filly born to Lambent by Heroic carried a 4f x 5f duplication of Chelandry but that wasn't the half of it - because Heroic’s grandsire Cicero was a son of her half sister Gas.
Within five generations were multiple duplications of Ayrshire and his sire Hampton and a smorgasbord of lines to Bend Or through his sons Laveno, Martagon, Ormonde (twice) and Bona Vista (thrice! Just to top it all off the filly's dam Lambent had a line to Bona Vista's half brother Sir Visto!
While baby Flight frolicked around in the paddocks at Mirridong, the world had turned dark. WWII had broken out and plunged Australians back into survival mode after the struggles of the Great Depression.
Racing was as badly affected as anything else and Schmidt decided to reduce numbers.
He chose one of the first crop by Royal Step to keep - a colt from his best mare.
The rest, including the future two time Cox Plate winner and Hall Of Famer were shipped down to Sydney for the Easter sales to be sold for whatever anyone would pay for them.
Meanwhile, round Moree way, a bloke named Brian Crowley had nursed his property ‘Oreel’ through the Depression years and despite - or perhaps because of - the gloom of war - , decided it was about time to chase a dream and buy a racehorse.
In 1942 Crowley travelled down to Sydney for the sales with a very small budget and a plan to buy a cheap filly that might win a race or two in the Moree district (where he was the proud Chairman of the Collarenabri Race Club) before being used as a broodmare.
When Lot 11 entered the ring nobody was enthused.
The filly had been unceremoniously plucked straight from the paddock in Manildra.
Next to the sleekly prepared offerings of the prominent studs she looked plain and downright unkempt.
While most of the other youngsters were bred in the height of fashion, Flight's parentage was lacking in anything resembling a pointer to success.
Except that pedigree - it clearly didn't interest anyone much at the time except Crowley! - and a set of good legs, which she could thank Lambent for.
Maybe it was as simple as, she was the only filly he could afford and he wasn't going home without one!
He bought the scruffy little thing for the laughable sum of 60 guineas.
Flight's race record
65 starts 24 -19- 9
Flight was the ultimate big race performer. She was one of those racehorses especially loved and admired for their front running, take-no-prisoners attitude.
She raced against great champions, the likes of Bernborough and Shannon. The former in particular denied her some great victories by running her down in the last stride!
Her pair of WS Cox Plates were her crowning glories but there were many great victories and close defeats!
She was a star from the beginning winning the AJC Champagne and was a head beaten in the Sires at two.
CH Schmidt was already cursing his decision to sell - but the poor bloke's plight was about to get so much worse.
(Not only that, the colt he kept was a dud and Royal Step never sired anything of note again.)
The prophetically named Flight could and did win anything from Orr and All Aged Stakes to Oaks to Mackinnons. She even placed in a Sydney Cup.
When she retired her adoring public eagerly awaited the arrival of the baby Flights!
The great mare produced only five foals for Brian Crowley before her death in 1953, and just one precious filly. None of her colts had any success on the track or at stud.
The filly was Flight's Daughter by Helios - and sadly Flight's line was lost to us as she produced only four colts, all of them by Star Kingdom.
Two were champions - Skyline did the Golden Slipper / AJC /Derby double, and brother Sky High won the Slipper / VRC Derby.
What were the odds of that?
