David Flores: Intl. Man of Mystery

David Flores will have a busy weekend in Europe with stops at Newmarket and Ascot in England, followed by a trip to Jagersro Racecourse in Sweden on Sunday.

Flores arrived at Newmarket on Thursday morning for a tour of the stables of Godolphin, for whom he rode Express Tour to win the UAE Derby in March.

He will have one ride on Friday night's card at the Newmarket July Course. That will be aboard the Karl Burke-trained Beautifultomorrow, the lone filly in a 19-runner six-furlong juvenile maiden race.

On Saturday, Flores will represent the United States on the Rest of the World team versus a side from Britain and Ireland in the Shergar Cup Challenge at Ascot. He has five mounts on the day, the best of them the Martin Pipe-trained Heros Fatal in the Shergar Cup Stayers. At 2 miles, 45-yards, it will be the first time Flores has ridden in a race longer than 1 3/4 miles.

He will probably feel more at home Sunday at Jagersro, a one-mile, left-handed dirt oval near Stockholm, where he will ride the German-trained Rickard in the Swedish Derby as well as the Argentine-bred El Gran Lode in the listed six-furlong Baltic Cup.

Superstar Leo retired

Superstar Leo, Lael Stable's 2000 European champion juvenile filly, has been retired.

Bred by Lester Piggott and Anthony Hirschfeld and trained in England by Bill Haggas, Superstar Leo, a College Chapel filly, was purchased by Roy and Gretchen Jackson of of West Grove, Pa., after winning the Group 3 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot last June. She went on to record victories in her new colors in the Weatherbys Super Sprint and the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes and was equally impressive when second to Europe's champion 2-year-old colt Minardi in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes. She then clinched her championship with a game second-place finish versus older horses in the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp.

Superstar Leo failed to improve as a 3-year-old, however. In five 2001 starts, her best showing was as runner-up in a five-furlong listed race at Chester.

"We decided that there was no longer any reason to keep her in training, looking for victories that might not be there," said Roy Jackson. "She'll be bred next year, but we haven't yet decided on a stallion."

An international class sprinter, Superstar Leo won five of 14 lifetime starts for earnings of $286,884.