LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The connections of the 6-year-old mare Fast as Flight felt fortunate when overnight rain softened the Churchill Downs turf course for Friday racing, and good luck showered down upon them through the running of the Grade 3, $400,000 Modesty Stakes. In a bunched, messy slow-paced race that compromised several of her rivals, Fast as Flight got a perfect trip under Jose Ortiz and posted a 20-1 Modesty upset.  Heavenly Sunday and Florent Geroux set a slow pace, 50.01 seconds to the half-mile, over a course rated yielding, but could not do any better than fourth with her tactical advantage. Parked just behind her through the first seven furlongs of the 1 1/8-mile Modesty was Fast as Flight. When pace-pressing Join the Dance conveniently tired turning for home, it allowed Ortiz an easy way off the rail. Fast as Flight got by Heavenly Sunday just past the eighth pole and despite switching to her wrong lead, held clear the closing duo of Sparkle Blue and Aspen Grove for a one-length victory.  “I had a great trip,” Ortiz said. “I followed Florent all the way. I knew we weren’t going very fast down the backside, and I was right on top of them. She was traveling good. She always tries. I rode her before; maybe she never had run against this kind of horses before.”  Indeed, a case could be made that Fast as Flight could have paid more than $43.90. The mare came into the Modesty with four well-spaced victories from 18 starts, her most recent outing a decent second in the $150,000 Sand Springs at Gulfstream Park, her lone stakes win in the $172,000 Anchorage last summer at Ellis Park – a race run over a yielding course.  “I didn’t mind that it rained a little bit. I’ll be honest. My owner picked this out after we ran in Florida, and I was happy to go along with it as long as the horse was doing well. I knew it was a little bit of a tougher spot than we liked,” said trainer Martin Drexler, who won the fifth graded stakes of a career that began in 2002. “This was something he wanted to try, it’s his hometown, and it worked out.”  Elliott Logan’s TEC racing owns Fast as Flight, a daughter of Air Force Blue and Tiznow Peace, by Tiznow. Fast as Flight, bred in Kentucky by Pursuit of Success, was timed in 1:50.63 for the 1 1/8 miles. The effort earned Fast as Flight a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 92. Sparkle Blue came from 10th to get second by a head over Aspen Grove. Sparkle Blue’s trainer, Graham Motion, wondered how the mare had fallen so far behind a slow pace after winning on the lead last out at Tampa Bay Downs. And Aspen Grove probably ran best in the Modesty, making a sustained run from last of 11, a position she occupied because of trouble soon after the start.  “We got it from both sides,” jockey Tyler Gaffalione said. “She’s a European filly; she’s used to sitting back there behind slow paces. I figured with the softer ground, just save as much as I could for the finish.”  Surprisingly, the 3-1 favorite, had some early trouble herself, forcing her farther off the pace than desirable, but the mare had little stretch punch. Even had she taken off, she might not have caught Fast as Flight on this day.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.