Flameaway earned his third career stakes win Saturday in the $100,000 Kitten’s Joy at Gulfstream Park, re-rallying along the inside and fending off an outside surge from longshot Pony Up to win by a neck under Julien Leparoux.
Maintaing a short lead through splits of :23.78, :48.02, and 1:12.21, Flameaway came under pressure in upper stretch and briefly yielding the lead to Mojovation. Finding another gear late, the three-year-old son of Scat Daddy came on again to prevail in a race where all seven entrants were separated by 1 1/2 lengths at the wire.
“I wanted to put him in the race and he put me in front pretty easily. Coming into the stretch I started to ask him, and he’s the kind of horse who waits on the others to join him,” Leparoux said. “They actually passed me a bit and when he saw them, he began to really kick it in again. When he has competition he’s a game horse, and it was a great win.”
Owned by John Oxley and trained by Mark Casse, Flameaway paid $7.40 as the 5-2 second choice after completing about 7 1/2 furlongs on firm turf in 1:29.78. Pony Up and Renaisance Frolic, the longest shots in the field at 11-1 and 32-1, respectively, finished second and third in that order and were also separated by a neck. Fast Boat, the 7-5 favorite, was neck back in fourth.
A debut winner on the Tapeta at Woodbine going 4 1/2 furlongs last May, Flameaway next captured the $100,000 Skidmore at Saratoga at 5 1/2 furlongs and later the Bourbon (G3) at Keeneland over 1 1/16 miles. Both races were rained off the turf and onto the main track.
In two other appearances, Flameaway finished sixth in the Iroquois (G3) at Churchill Downs and eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Del Mar in his only prior attempt on the grass. His earnings now stand at $314,834.
Bred in Ontario by Phoenix Rising Farms and a $400,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling, Flameaway is a half-sister to stakes winner to Ellan Vannin. Both are out of Vulcan Rose, a Fusaichi Pegasus half-sister to Grade 2 winner Essential Edge. This is the family of triple classic winner Salsabil.
In the $100,000 Ginger Brew for three-year-old fillies at about 7 1/2 furlongs, Thewayiam split rivals inside the final furlong and drew off convincingly to win by a length under Jose Ortiz. It was the first stakes win for the French-bred trained by Graham Motion.
Completing the course in 1:30.19, Thewayiam won from Closer Still with Andina Del Sur third. Delamar, the 3-1 favorite, finished fifth in the field of 10.
“My trip was perfect. I just followed instructions,” Ortiz said. “I dropped into the rail and tried to get her to relax and she did very well. When I asked her to go, she picked it up and is all heart. She split horses like it was nothing and gave me a great kick in the end.”
Owned by Great Point Stables, Dubb, The Elkstone Group and Bethlehem Stables, Thewayiam won second out at La Teste Buch in France and was stakes-placed at Saint-Cloud prior to her importation. A winner first up in the U.S. in a Keeneland allowance, she faded late in the Jimmy Durante (G3) at Del Mar last time, finishing 11th of 12.
By Thewayyouare, Thewayiam is out of Water Feature, a Dansili half-sister to Group 1 winner Tenby who has already reared stakes winner Lady Heidi. Thewayiam has now earned $113,737 from a line of 6-3-0-1.
