November 20, 2023
TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon
An Honourable Display
Australian-bred Flag Of Honour (AUS) left it all on the track in this past Saturday at Woodbine.
The gelding put together a breakthrough performance in the $175,000 Kennedy Stakes (G2), earning the top spot to secure both his first North American and graded stakes win.
Closing at 6-1, Flag Of Honour had the fourth-best odds to win the six-furlong tilt, behind Dream Shake (3-1), Patches O’Houlihan (5-2), and Ice Chocolat (BRZ) (2-1). It ultimately came down to a spirited battle with Ice Chocolat that ended with Flag Of Honour eking it out by a nose.
The most memorable of the Julia Carey trainee’s four career victories paid a cool $14.30.
Down Time
196 days off? No problem for 4-year-old filly Hot and Sultry, who took home the $295,000 Chilukki Stakes (G3) in dominant fashion this past Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Having not raced since the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) on May 6, Hot and Sultry still closed as the 2-1 favourite, and for good reason. The Norm Casse trainee outclassed the field of eight en route to an eight-length victory over the next closest competitor, Nostalgic (7-2).
Like Flag Of Honour (AUS), this was also Hot and Sultry’s first career graded stakes victory. Prior to Saturday, she had gone 0-for-3 in graded contests, running to a pair of thirds and a fourth.
The most impressive win of the filly’s young career paid $6.20.
Smooth Integration
It’s been smooth sailing for 3-year-old Integration, who captured career graded stakes win number two at Aqueduct over the weekend.
The Claude McGaughey III trainee, who made the jump up to the graded level after his first ever start, claimed the $250,000 (G2T) Hill Prince Stakes to push his perfect record to 3-0-0,
With Saturday’s convincing victory in the books, the burgeoning star has already cleared the Grade 3 and Grade 2 thresholds. It remains to be seen if Integration’s ascent will continue to the Grade 1 tier, but he’s certainly proven capable of holding his own against top competition.
At 4-5, the colt’s biggest win to date paid $3.60.
Home Cooking
Chilli Flag (FR) may have been racing outside her native France, but the filly served up some home cooking on Sunday at Aqueduct.
The 4-year-old emerged victorious in the $135,000 Forever Together Stakes, capturing the Black Type affair for career win number four.
Through 15 career starts, Chilli Flag owns a very respectable 4-6-1 line. Six of those 15 career starts have come on the North American circuit, where she has never failed to hit the podium (2-3-1).
This time around she was able to hold off a pair of long shots in Tess (23-1) and Uncorked (AUS) (27-1), both of whom hung around until the very end.
At 4-1, Chilli Flag rewarded bettors with $10.60 on $2 win bet.
In Good Spirits
Keeping it at Aqueduct, the $120,000 Central Park went off as the fifth race on the day’s nine-race card.
Featuring a deep 12-horse field, the wide open 1-mile turf contest for 2-year-olds ended up going to closing line favourite Spirit Prince (5-2) by 1 ½ lengths. The colt was finally able to break through for his first career score after finishing third or better in his first four starts.
Now, adding Sunday’s triumph to the total, Spirit Prince has yet to miss the podium, running to a 1-2-2 line.
Trained by turf specialist Christophe Clement, the Kentucky-bred paid a solid $6.20 for the milestone win.
