Agnes Flight

Agnes Flight (Japanese : アグネスフライト, 2 March 1997 – 11 January 2023) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was sired by Sunday Silence covering Agnes Flora, and is therefore a full-brother to Agnes Tachyon.

As a three-year-old, Agnes Flight, ridden by Hiroshi Kawachi, started the campaign by winning his debut race.^[2] He got his second career win at the Wakakusa Stakes after placing in 12th-place on his second race which was the Wakaba Stakes.^[3] After three races, he sat tight on 19th in the Tokyo Yushun's qualifying roster.^[4] In order to be able to jump up the standings, he need to at least placed in top two at the Kyoto Shimbun Hai.^[4] In the race, she started late and fell behind the pack but she pulled out a finishing sprint from the third corner on the outside to win the race by three lengths ahead.^[4][5] This result qualified him for the Tokyo Yushun. At the race, he started at the back on 18th position, marking Air Shakur, the Satsuki Sho winner on the 14th place.^[6] At the third corner, Air Shakur started to break out and Agnes Flight tailed him when he moved. In seemingly good gap at the final straight, Air Shakur seemingly slowed down at the final stretch.^[6] This opened an opportunity for Agnes Flight to chase him down to the wire and he succeeded.^[6] He won the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) by a nose in the end.^[7] In the photo finish, it was decided that those two horses were only 7 cm apart at the line.^[6] This win marked an occasion where three horses in three separate linear generation won a classic as his grand dam (Agnes Lady) and his dam (Agnes Flora) won the Yushun Himba in 1979 and 1990 respectively.^[6] He continued that momentum by finishing in second place at the Kobe Shimbun Hai.^[8] He closed the season with a fifth place in the Kikuka Sho, where Air Shakur won the race and sealed the double crown,^[9] and a 13th-place finish in the Japan Cup, 1.5 seconds behind T M Opera O.^[10]

During his four-year-old season, Agnes Flight came second in the Kyōto Kinen as his best finishes.^[11] At the next race in the Sankei Osaka Hai where he finished tenth, he started to develop tendonitis on his legs and was forced to withdraw from racing and take a long break.^[12] He returned on the next year Tenno Sho (Autumn) and another Japan Cup where his finished down in 15th and 16th place respectively.^[1] He continued racing in 2003, where he finished in sixth at the Kyoto Kinen.^[13] His final race of his career meant to be at the Hanshin Daishoten in which he placed 13th.^[14] On May 10th 2003, a retirement ceremony was held at Kyoto Racecourse, the venue for the Kyoto Shimbun Hai, where Agnes Flight appeared wearing the number 4 jersey worn when he won the Tokyo Yushun. Kawachi, who turned trainer recently, demonstrated his running style on a short straight courses as a tribute that day.^[14] Overall, he started 14 times during his career, won four times, and came second twice.^[8]

Agnes Flight won four races out of 14 starts. This data is available in JBIS and netkeiba.^[3][1]

Legend:
  Turf

In 2004, Agnes Flight was sent to stand at stud at Hidaka Stallion Station. He stood there until 2011.^[8] He later became a training horse for new recruits at the Shadai Farm before being pensioned at the Shadai Blue Grass Farm in 2015.^[15][16] Agnes Flight was euthanized on 11 January 2023 after being unable to stand despite efforts, due to his age.^[17][18]