Phlash Phelps shows he's a fighter

Phlash Phelps’s 3- and 4-year-old seasons have been polar opposites. At 3, he couldn’t win, and at 4, he has never lost.

Phlash Phelps scored his biggest win of the season Oct. 17 in the Maryland Million Turf. He now will be given the winter off by Laurel Park-based horseman Rodney Jenkins.

“I’m going to try to have a nice campaign with him next year,” Jenkins said.

Phlash Phelps’s victory in the Turf was his fourth consecutive win since April. Prior to the Turf, he won the restricted Find Stakes on grass at Laurel, a first-level allowance at Pimlico that was moved from the turf to the main track, and a maiden sprint on grass at Pimlico.

As a 3-year-old in 2014, Phlash Phelps went 0 for 5. He was gelded between the two campaigns.

“He had a lot of little things early on,” said Jenkins. “He popped a splint, things like that, but he’s always had ability. When we gelded him, he got braver. He used to not be a very brave horse, but that’s changed.”

Phlash Phelps showed he is willing to fight in the one-mile Maryland Million Turf. Jockey Victor Carrasco sent him to a clear lead on the far turn, but Roadhog rallied outside of Phlash Phelps in upper stretch and put a head in front. Phlash Phelps turned back the 10-time winner to score by three-quarters of a length.

Phlash Phelps, by Great Notion, is out of the Not For Love mare Love Me Twice. He is a half-brother to six-time stakes winner Action Andy, who won 12 races and $673,000, and to Saintly Love, a winner of 12 of 32 starts.

“He’s a late-developing horse; that whole family is,” Jenkins said. “He’s done a lot this year.”

If you’re wondering about his flashy name, Phlash Phelps was named by breeder Carol Kaye after the Sirius-XM radio personality who hosts Phlash Phelps Phunny Pharm.