Hughes giving Flower River a class test moving to turf
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It has been a while since 73-year-old Byron “Scooter” Hughes trained a potential stakes horse. Not nearly as long – not even close – as Hughes has been in Thoroughbred horseracing.
Hughes was born and raised at Greentree Farm, owned by the Whitney family, where his father, the late Gail Hughes, worked as assistant manager. Hughes’s mother, Ruth Hughes, decades ago broke and trained horses at the Lexington training facility on Paris Pike now called the Thoroughbred Center.
Scooter Hughes has been stabled there forever. His 10-horse string includes a 3-year-old filly named Flower River, who starts in the featured sixth race Thursday at Churchill Downs. Flower River is 20-1 on the morning line and merits a look.
Flower River is just 3, a babe in arms compared to the last really good horse that Hughes trained. Rahystrada won a bunch of graded turf stakes and ran in the Arlington Million four times, finishing fourth, fifth, third, and 11th as a 9-year-old in 2013. It wasn’t like his form had fallen off a cliff then, either: The race before, Rahystrada captured the Grade 3 Arlington Handicap.
Hughes – not for lack of competence − has just three wins the last two calendar years. Flower River has one of them. Sent off at 72-1 in her career debut last Jan. 8 in a Turfway Park maiden sprint, Flower River made a strong run from last of 12 and finished a troubled second behind Lorelei Lee, who two starts later won the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks.
“The way she looked and trained, I thought she probably would be at least a miler,” Hughes said.
At least. Going one mile Feb. 16 at Turfway, Flower River sat last of a dozen behind a slow pace down the backstretch, but commenced a strong, wide, sustained move that propelled her nearly to the lead at the top of the homestretch, her jockey yet to ask Flower River for much run. The filly paused, then got back to business and drew clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths, but has not raced since.
“She had some problems after that last race, and we had to lay her off, but she’s been training well again,” Hughes said. “I never get too excited until they actually have the performance, so I was pretty happy when she ran like she did. She was always easy, took good care of yourself, just do what you wanted her to.”
Flower River is one of 16 older fillies and mares – a dozen in the field’s main body, and four also-eligibles − entered in a first-level turf allowance carded for one mile on turf. Proven performance over Turfway’s Tapeta surface does not a grass horse make, but Flower River, a daughter of Cairo Prince, has the makings of a grass horse.
“I think she’ll like it. That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Hughes said.
If the race had come up super salty for the class level, Flower River might be up against it, but that’s not how the Thursday feature looks on paper. Lovely Grey, the 3-1 morning-line favorite, has generally been overmatched facing stakes horses (including an exceedingly ambitious run in the in the Kentucky Oaks) her last five starts, but has finished third and sixth in two tries against first-level allowance foes. She ran last winter at Turfway, too, earning a 73 Beyer Speed Figure in a first-level allowance five weeks before Flower River got a 71 for her maiden tally.
Tramuntana would offer more value than Lovely Grey at her 4-1 morning line and will stay out of trouble racing on the front end. High South, 7-2 second choice on the line, is 0-0-3 in five allowance starts since clearing the maiden ranks.
Flower River gets her first try at this class level. Her trainer, little known these days, has been around the block.
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