Flint enjoying the quiet life of a trainer

Seaneen Girl could give Flint his first Oaks winner (Jamie Newell/Horsephotos.com)

It was “a no brainer” to retire as a New Orleans Police detective to
become a full-time horse trainer, Bernie Flint was saying Thursday at Churchill
Downs.

“They don’t shoot at you,” Flint said of why he left the police force in 1976
after 16 years on the job. “People shooting at you, and then coming out here
playing with horses and good people, it’s a different world. I was in robbery,
burglary, homicide and narcotics. I got all the shooting I needed in my life.”

He said he never was shot. “Fortunately no, but I lost two people with me,” he
said.

Flint, 73, saddled has won 3,289 races. His first victory came in 1969 at Fair Grounds.

“I was always training horses,” the horseman said. “I always had a second job of
training horses while I was on the police.”

Seaneen Girl, who galloped Thursday under exercise rider Edward
“Rocky” Seely, will be the third Kentucky Oaks starter for Flint, who
is seeking his first Oaks
victory on Friday. Rosie Napravnik, Fair Grounds’ leading rider, has the mount.

Flint said he doesn’t spend much time strategizing.