Linda Rice is excellent as placing horses in races that give them the optimal opportunity to win. So, she wanted to place Flattery in a NY Bred race. However, the problem was she could get claimed (bought) by another owner or trainer. We were not ready to lose her. In fact, we hoped that if she got better as she got older, she would improve, win races and make a good broodmare once she retired from racing. Of course, there were no guarantees that she’d improve in which case, she might not win more races or be a good prospect for a successful broodmare.
We got notice of the race on Thursday afternoon. Usually, we’d have notified you about the race before it was run but we were in continuing discussions with Linda. You see, we never had a horse that hit the board in her first three races, winning the last two. So, we thought we should not risk losing her until she got an opportunity to show us what she could do. We told Linda that we thought it best to run her in the Sunday race and turn her out for some time to give her a little rest and the chance to relax, eat better and put more muscle on her frame. In fact, we said that if she didn’t want to run her Sunday, we could turn her out immediately.
Sunday morning Linda decided to run her and off we went to meet Barbara and Bob for lunch in the Trustees Room at Belmont Park. We were hopeful, but knew that on paper most any of the competitors could beat her, especially the two favorites. So, I bet less on her to win but put a few shekels on her to Place and Show.
It was cold and rainy during lunch but we enjoyed seeing and conversing with B&B. I usually have a difficult time eating before a race but, perhaps, the lower expectations left me calmer. However, when the horses in the race before ours came out onto the track, I started getting butterflies. I knew that we’d being going down to the paddock in a few minutes to see FlatteryWillGetYou get saddled and then she’d be marching out to the track for her race. Happily, the rain stopped and we didn’t get soaked in the paddock. Flattery looked beautiful walking back and forth in back of the stalls.
The crowd agreed with Linda’s assessment. FlatteryWillGetYou opened on the odds board at 10-1. She was down to 9-1 but up to 11-1 at post time. We went outside to the owner’s boxes to watch the race. The horses were loading in the gate. Flattery was number 1, so she was first in. Finally, all the contestants were in the gate. The bell rang… “and they’re off!” said the track announcer Larry Collmus.
She got out better than in her last start but she was still behind several others. Cornelio Velasquez hustled her up to the front. Then, he settled her and took her back to third, I was worried that she was all done but around the far turn, Cornelio eased her out and starting gaining on the two horses in front. As they entered the stretch, she was vying for the lead and before you could say, “FlatteryWillGetYou,” she did get them. Not only was she in the lead, she was pulling away. I couldn’t believe it. Surely one of the favorites was going to come and catch her! Instead, she kept drawing off. When she hit the finish line, she was 7 1/2 lengths in front, for her third win in a row! That’s the largest margin of victory for any horse we’ve owned, including Ahvee’s Destiny (I had to get her name into this, didn’t I?).
Linda said Flattery ran a very professional race and there is a Stakes Race at 7 furlongs scheduled for Memorial Day, May 30th, we should consider for her. That sounds a lot better than a claiming race!
Here are some visuals:
Flying finish (Notice, no feet are touching the ground!)Here’s the official Win photo composite:
Here’s a link to the race chart (Hope it works):
http://www.drf.com/drfNCWeeklyHorseDisplay.do?track=BEL&country=USA&raceDate=20160501&raceNo=3
Allie N’ Kat and Hay Field are going to Finger Lakes where they will face lesser competition. Candy for Kisses should be ready to race at Belmont in 30 days. Ramon Dominguez (the horse) is very tough and dangerous to work with, so he will likely be gelded (ouch!). Another Genius will go to Saratoga for training and then be re-evaluated.
