Flashback

I looked in my e-mail to check on workouts and such and saw that only one Derby contender had worked out on this fine Monday.  That just happened to be Flashback.  How convenient!  Not only did this lovely gray colt go four furlongs in preparation for his Santa Anita Derby run this Saturday (clocking a nice 48 flat), he is also part of my fantasy stable on the official Derby website.

Side-note...for years and years, I have been thoroughly disgruntled that the age limit on that fantasy stable was 18.  Most contests in the horse racing world, unfortunately for young me, are restricted.  However, I can rejoice in the fact that I am a legal adult - in 48 states, anyway - and can participate in this contest for the first time.  Sometimes I feel as if I threw darts in a dark room with my selections, but only time will tell...

More on Flashback after the break...




So Flashback.  First of all, I picked many of the horses in my fantasy stable off of pedigree.  I've noticed a trend this year where many of the top contenders have pretty solid female families, which makes me - a pedigree nerd - very happy.

Flashback is a son of Tapit, a talented gray horse who was unfortunately plagued by a lung infection for most of his career.  His biggest win came in the Wood Memorial, bouncing back after a poor performance in the Florida Derby due to that lung infection.  After finishing a disappointing ninth in the slop in the 2004 Kentucky Derby, he was scratched from the Belmont, again, due to that lung infection.  He never really ran well again and was retired.

Tapit has done a marvelous job for himself in the breeding shed.  He is one of the industry's top sires.  Any day now, the great Zenyatta is expected to foal a son or daughter of Tapit.  Tapit has sired four Breeders' Cup winners; Hansen, Stardom Bound, Tapizar and Tapitsfly.  Now, industry professionals have scoffed time and time again that the leading sire cannot produce horses that run at a distance.  While the majority thrive at 8 and 9 furlongs, there are horses in his progeny like Careless Jewel and Headache, who won graded stakes at ten furlongs.

The gray sire is respected for his fine daughters; surely, he'll be a great broodmare sire one day.  One of the fillies he's sired is Zazu, out of the Mr. Greeley mare Rhumb Line and a horse who just happens to be Flashback's full sister.  Zazu, who was recently sold to Japan as a broodmare, won two Grade 1 races as a three year-old and placed second or third in three more, including a solid third place finish in the Kentucky Oaks.

Flashback and Zazu's dam, Rhumb Line, raced nine times in her career, winning three of those races.  Outside of the two mentioned above, she has produced Corinthian's Jewel (Corinthian), winner of a listed stakes at Monmouth, and Art Princess (Officer) who finished second in an English G2 stakes.  The two graded stakes winning grays have another full sister in Star of Sapphire, who was retired before she could break her maiden.

Consistency has not been Rhumb Line's female family's game.  She was the best of her mother's offspring; her second dam, Rosy Spectre, was a stakes winner, as was her 3rd dam, Like a Charm.  None of these mares seemed to produce anything much of note, however.  My main interest is in the horses lying within the cracks.  When you see the name Mr. Greeley, Rhumb Line's sire, you don't think of stamina.  However, her dam, Rose Rhapsody, was a daughter of Derby and Preakness winner Pleasant Colony.  Rose Rhapsody's dam was a daughter of English Triple Crown winner Nijinsky.  In fact, Flashback is inbred not only 4x4x5 to Mr. Prospector but also 4x4 to Nijinsky and 5x5 to American Triple Crown winner Secretariat, who won graded stakes at ten furlongs and above four times, including a win in the 13 furlong Canadian International.

So while it is veiled in the Tapit/Mr. Greeley blood, Flashback has some stamina influences buried deep within his bloodlines.

The Robert B. Lewis Stakes couldn't have been easier for this gray racehorse.  He had the lead all to himself  and drew away like it was nothing.  However, people questioned his running style.  Last year, Hansen, another son of Tapit, had a front-running style that people suspected would crumble in the Derby.  Lo and behold, the speedster cooked himself on the front end, trying to run with the likes of Bodemeister and Trinniberg.  Is it inconceivable that the same could happen to Flashback?  Their doubts were further solidified in the San Felipe.  Flashback chose to run with Goldencents on a pace on average three seconds faster than his Lewis pace.  He ran on strongly but was picked off by Hear the Ghost, who rocketed off that wicked pace from the back of the pack.

I saw no tiredness in Flashback, though.  He ran on strongly for second, fleeting as it was, and galloped out well.  Bob Baffert is an excellent trainer - the man has won three Kentucky Derbies - and will know how to get this horse ready for the Santa Anita Derby this weekend.  If this gray colt learns to rate, his explosive turn of foot could be deadly in future races.  I believe he has the stamina, both within himself and his pedigree, to travel the ten furlongs needed to win a Kentucky Derby.

I am not sure who I'll talk about tomorrow...it depends on who crosses my mind first.  Thank you for reading, and I hope you had a wonderful Monday to start off your week!

EDIT:  How careless of me not to mention...Shanghai Bobby is off the Derby trail.  He's going to take a long rest, by-passing the Triple Crown, and will hopefully return sometime in the summer.  Not surprising in the least.  The cynic in me suspects that if the rankings were earnings-based rather than points-based, the juvenile champion would still be in contention, even if he "needs a rest."  We all know he is - pardon my French - screwed due to lack of points after that Florida Derby blunder.  Well, I hope he gets much needed rest and is ready to come back strong this summer.