Flash N Bling pursues Champions berth in Go Man Go

Flash N Bling earned a berth to the $350,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship at Prairie Meadows on Oct. 14 with a win in the $75,780 California Challenge at Los Alamitos on Aug. 13.

Even with a free spot to the lucrative race in Iowa, Flash N Bling has an undetermined itinerary this fall.

Flash N Bling starts in Sunday’s $100,000 Go Man Go Handicap at Los Alamitos. A win would provide an automatic berth for the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 16.

Trainer Mike Robbins said after the California Challenge that he would not mind if Flash N Bling stayed in California.

The Go Man Go Handicap is run at 400 yards, 40 yards shorter than the California Challenge and the Champion of Champions. Flash N Bling, a 4-year-old gelding owned by Gary McKinney’s Reliance Ranches, was pulling away from a strong field at the end of the California Challenge.

Robbins described the Aug. 13 win as a “game changer” in his view on what Flash N Bling can accomplish.

For the Go Man Go, Flash N Bling starts from the inside in a field of eight that includes Heza Dasha Fire, the 2015 Quarter Horse World Champion who was second to He Looks Hot in the Spencer Childers Championship at Los Alamitos on July 9 in his first start since a second in the Champion of Champions last December. Heza Dasha Fire won the 2016 Go Man Go.

He Looks Hot, eighth in the 2016 Champion of Champions, starts from post 3 in Sunday’s race.

Robbins has three runners for Reliance Ranches in the Go Man Go, including Big Lew and The Charm of Corona. Big Lew won the Los Alamitos Super Derby last November and was third in the Champion of Champions. This will be his first start since a fourth in the Remington Park Championship on June 3.

The Charm of Corona was second by a nose in the Vessels Maturity on July 2 and third in the California Challenge.

Trainer Jose Flores has three runners – Heza Dasha Fire, Mr Pyc to You and We Like Corona. Mr Pyc to You was second to Flash N Bling in the California Challenge. We Like Corona will be a longshot.