TEMECULA, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2026) – California Flag, winner of the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and co-California-bred Horse of the Year, passed away last month from the infirmities of old age at Peacefield Farm. He was 22.
California Flag was by Avenue of Flags, out of the Afleet mare Ultrafleet, was bred by owners Hi Card Ranch and trained for nearly his entire career by Brian Koriner. He won 11 of 27 starts with earnings of $1,288,825.
Having developed the reputation as a specialist on Santa Anita’s downhill turf course, where he won the Breeders’ Cup, the gray gelding raced over a six-year span, retiring at the age of eight having won eight stakes races, five of them graded.
While the BC Turf Sprint was listed when he won it, California Flag earned widespread notoriety for winning the race. His graded wins came in the Morvich Handicap (three times), the Hollywood Turf Express Handicap and the San Simeon Handicap.
His globe-trotting career also included a third-place finish in the Al Quoz Sprint sponsored by Emirates in Dubai and a fifth in the Cathy Pacific Hong Kong Sprint.
California Flag was a full brother to Cambiocorsa, a multiple graded winner who as a broodmare produced six progeny with six-figure earnings.
The late Keith Card, co-breeder of California Flag with wife Barbara, and former president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, was inducted into the CTBA Hall of Fame. The couple also was named National Small Breeder of the Year by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
Santa Anita annually holds the California Flag Stakes in honor of the late champion.