ARCADIA, Calif. – Training Flightline, John Sadler said Sunday, is like being “LeBron’s coach in high school.” “He’s much the best athlete,” Sadler said. “He’s going to do what he’s going to do. You just don’t want to screw it up.” Sadler has brought Flightline along judiciously, with just two starts prior to Sunday. The patience is paying off. In his third start, Flightline threw it down with a tomahawk jam in the Grade 1, $301,000 Malibu Stakes on opening day at Santa Anita, romping by 11 1/2 lengths against six other 3-year-olds, his legend growing with every stride. Flightline deserves all the superlatives that will come his way. He has now won three starts by a combined 37 1/2 lengths, the Malibu being the smallest margin of victory after similar romps against maidens and allowance foes. He covered seven furlongs on Sunday in 1:21.37, a brilliant time over a track that was rated fast but played dull all day. The La Brea for 3-year-old fillies, run an hour earlier at the same distance, was 3.41 seconds slower. :: Bet the races with confidence on DRF Bets. You're one click away from the only top-rated betting platform fully integrated with exclusive data, analytics, and expert picks. Flightline earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 118 for the Malibu, the best figure assigned to any horse this year and eclipsing the 114 Flightline got in his second start following a 105 in his debut. “There’s a lot of pressure on you, but it’s pressure you want,” Sadler said of getting the opportunity to train a horse with this much raw talent. “I’ve been stressing the last 20, 30, 40 days getting to this race. It’s a big sigh of relief.” Flightline ($2.80), the heavy favorite of the bettors – including an on-track crowd of 20,537 - didn’t break as well as some of his rivals, but quickly advanced to the lead in the opening furlong, run in 22.01 seconds. He cruised along a length in front of Team Merchants, through a half in 44.48 seconds, and, as the field rounded the turn and moved into the lane, Flightline started widening on his rivals, with jockey Flavien Prat sitting as still as though he was out for a morning breeze. His six-furlong split was 1:08.72. “I was in cruise control the whole race,” Prat said. “He was quite impressive. “It’s like limitless. It’s like you’re driving a car and you’re not at full speed. It’s quite amazing.” Baby Yoda, prominent throughout, got up for second by one length over Stilleto Boy. While walking off the track after the race, Kent Desormeaux, who rode Stilleto Boy, just shook his head in amazement and what he had chased. “Wow, wow, wow,” Desormeaux said. Triple Tap was fourth and was followed, in order, by Timeless Bounty, Team Merchants, and Dr. Schivel, who regressed off his outstanding runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. “Out of the gate I got bumped a little bit from both sides,” said Juan Hernandez, who rode Dr. Schivel when Prat, his regular rider, opted for Flightline. “I moved at the three-eighths to get in the clear, but he never responded really.” Flightline, by Tapit out of the Indian Charlie mare Feathered, was purchased as a yearling at Saratoga in August 2019 for $1 million by bloodstock agent David Ingordo. He was late getting to the races, in part because he lacerated his right hindquarters in a farm accident before ever coming in to Sadler. There’s a noticeable scar there, just to the right of his tail. Flightline finally debuted in April at Santa Anita, and pummeled maidens by 13 1/4 lengths. He didn’t race again until September at Del Mar, when he won a first-level allowance by 12 3/4 lengths. There was temptation to run in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 6 but owing to the colt’s inexperience, Sadler and the ownership group decided to await the Malibu for his Grade 1 debut. “He’s so brilliant,” Sadler said. “He runs monster numbers. He’s not an ordinary horse you run every two weeks.” Sadler doesn’t know when Flightline will race next, but said the race will be two turns. “If I do right by him, put him first, the rest will fall into place,” he said. “It’s like a stewardship.” Flightline was bred by the Summer Wind Equine of Jane Lyon. She stayed in following the sale, with partners Kosta and Pete Hronis’s Hronis Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, and the Woodford Racing partnership headed by Bill Farish. Heading into 2022, he’s the most exciting horse in racing. -- additional reporting by Steve Andersen