Flashpoint
 |
|
| Bob Coglianese |
| Date | Track | Race | Finish | Chart | Distance | Time | BSF | Video |
| 5/21/11 | PIM | Preakness | 14th |  |
1 3/16 mile | 1:56.40 | 70 |  |
| 4/3/11 | GP | Florida Derby | 4th | |
1 1/8 mile | 1:50.00 | 80 | |
| 2/26/11 | GP | Hutchesn | 1st | |
7 Furlongs | 1:22.00 | 102 | |
|
Flashpoint Auction: $115,000 short yearling (Keeneland, January 2009); $100,000 yearling (Keeneland, September 2009) |
  |
|
 |
||
PROFILE
By Byron King
STRENGTHS
His Hutcheson victory over the winter at Gulfstream ranks as one of the top efforts by a 3-year-old this year. Making the second start of his career, Flashpoint hounded favored Travelin Man on the lead, ran that one into defeat, and pulled away to score by 7 1/4 lengths in fast time.
Besides his win in the Hutcheson, he was a flashy maiden winner over the winter in fast time.
Even his fourth in the Florida Derby was not without merit, in light of how that race unfolded. He drew the far outside with a short run to the first turn in the 1 1/8-mile race and, after breaking slowly, was hung wide and farther off the pace than many expected.
Now he enters the Preakness as a fresh horse, not having raced since April 3.
WEAKNESSES
In his lone route, he lost by eight lengths to Dialed In in the Florida Derby and ran an 80 Beyer Speed Figure, 23 points short of Animal Kingdom’s winning Kentucky Derby figure of 103.
He is also by a sprinter in Pomeroy and out of Two Punch Lil, a Two Punch mare whose best distance was six furlongs. Those bloodlines suggest his lungs could be on fire in the late stages of the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.
He also has a new trainer for the Preakness, with Wesley Ward replacing Rick Dutrow, who is dealing with licensing issues in Kentucky and New York. Although both men are high-percentage, accomplished trainers, it is a tough task for anyone to start a horse for the first time in a race as demanding as the Preakness.
BETTING VALUE
Those with faith will be offered a price, given the presence of other Preakness speed, the inexperience of Flashpoint, and a shortage of stamina in his pedigree. Look for him to be 15-1 or so.
PEDIGREE ANALYSIS
By Dan Illman
Sire:
Pomeroy was a solid sprinter, winning the Grade 1 King's Bishop Stakes at seven furlongs as a 3-year-old before returning to Saratoga at five to take the Grade 1 Forego Stakes, also at seven panels. In between those two big wins, he earned a career-best 114 Beyer Speed Figure when scoring in the Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap going six furlongs at the Spa at four. Pomeroy raced four times at route distances, but he failed to win any of those starts, finishing second in the Grade 3 Gotham, second in the Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Juvenile, and fourth in both the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Grade 2 Lexington Stakes.
From his first crop of runners, Pomeroy has sired Pomeroys Pistol, the winner of the seven-furlong, Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream.
Dam:
Flashpoint is a half-brother to Uncle Lee Sam, a stakes winner going seven furlongs on dirt in Japan. Another half-sibling, Yuwa Hurricane, was stakes-placed sprinting on synthetic in Japan, but was able to win at 1 1/4 miles on grass.
Flashpoint’s dam was a multiple stakes-winning sprinter in Maryland, but was unplaced in her only start over a distance of ground. She is a half-sister to stakes-placed Silver Pastry, the runner-up in the Main Pan Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Suffolk Downs.
This is the female family of the brilliantly-fast Raise a Native, sire of Mr. Prospector among other quick runners.
Outlook:
Neither sire nor dam won going long so it seems unlikely that the speedy Flashpoint will carry his speed 10 furlongs. He may be at his best at distances up to 1 1/16 miles. Perhaps he could get nine furlongs under the right circumstances.