Flintshire Confidently Ridden to Win in Bowling Green
After being shuffled back to last on the turn for home, Flintshire again displayed his brilliant turn of foot as he reeled in his competition in the stretch to win the 58th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Handicap at Saratoga.
Run at 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf for four-year-olds and up, the Bowling Green Handicap went off today with its smallest field in 58 running's. With the scratch of Danish Dynaformer, the field was whittled down to four. When the bell rang it was Grand Tito and jockey Joe Ortiz who went to the front. Can’tthelpbelieving and Flintshire were under snug holds to be second and third and Twilight Eclipse was in last, but only three lengths off of the lead through an agonizingly slow first quarter of 26.53.
As the field made their way past the stands and on to the backstretch not much changed position wise but the pace was slowed to a crawl, a noticeable crawl. The half went in 53.18, and by the time the quartet hit the mile marker it was 1.44.20. Heading in to the far turn, the pace quickened as Grand Tito still was on the lead but Can’tthelpbelieving, who was in the two path, accelerated to close the gap to a length. At the same time, Twilight Eclipse, who was in the three path, also accelerated from the rear and moved alongside Can’tthelpbelieving. This left Flintshire with nowhere to go. Turning for home, Javier Castellano swung Flintshire to the outside, and from there he hand rode the 6-year-old Dansili horse confidently to the wire to score a measured three quarter length win.
Holding on for second was the longtime race leader, Grand Tito. Grand Tito captured the Grade II Mac Diarmida Stakes earlier this year at Gulfstream Park for trainer Gustavo Delgado and owner Grupo Seven C Stable. Twilight Eclipse, was a length back in third under jockey John Velazquez, and Can’tthelpbelieving was fourth.
Trained by Chad Brown, Flintshire was sent off as the 0.10 choice, and believe it or not, this was the first time in three years that he has scored back to back wins. Chad talked about the trouble Flintshire found himself in on the final turn saying, “He likes to run and cover and Javier has a really good feel for him, so I wasn't too worried. When Twilight Eclipse finally made the move and they all went, it was a pretty easy decision to steer him outside for home.” As for Castellano’s ride he said, “Javier showed a lot of poise. He didn't panic. The horse ran terrific. He's a true champion. They're a great team. When you have a 1-9 shot, there's a lot of pressure. The other riders don't give you anything, and they shouldn't. But it all worked out. I couldn't be more pleased with his effort. We don't have too many star horses in the game, and there seems to be several running at the Spa, and he's one of them."
As for Flintshire’s next start Brown said, "My thought process with choosing this race was that it was too long a space for me between the Manhattan the Sword Dancer. I just wanted to run this horse out of his own stall all the way up the Breeders' Cup. I wasn't interested in putting him on a plane to Arlington. This race made sense and it all worked out." Jockey Javier Castellano had high praise for the globetrotting star after the race simply stating, "He is a great horse you don't see too many horses like that. He's the best horse on the turf in the world."
The well-travelled Flintshire was produced from Juddmonte homebred Dance Routine, a daughter of the great Sadler’s Wells, and is owned and bred by Juddmonte Farms. Earlier this summer Flintshire captured the Grade I Woodford Reserve Manhattan at Belmont in his 2016 debut. He ended 2015 with two Group I second place finishes, first in the Arc De Triomphe in France, and then in Hong Kong in the Hong Kong Vase. Flintshire now sports a record of 21-8-10-1 and has banked $8,274,910. The final time over the 1 3/8 miles was 2:18.24.