Catching Up With Flute

Flute, with her jockey wearing the famous Juddmonte silks, made the most of a last minute entry into the Kentucky Oaks. (Photo by Horsephotos)
A second generation Juddmonte Farms-bred, Flute was bred to be great but her career debut didn’t go exactly as planned.
The filly was second in her debut, losing to Go Ruby Go by two lengths in a 6 1/2-furlong race and earning an 86 Equibase Speed Figure. It was the only time the filly would earn a speed figure below 90. About three weeks later, Flute came back at one mile and won a hard'fought race against Tomorrows Angel by a head with the rest of the field six lengths behind the pair.
Flute’s stakes debut came in the next race when she was tested in a Grade 1 race. Running into the more experienced multiple stakes winner Golden Ballet in the Santa Anita Oaks was Flute’s undoing and the filly finished second but beaten by only one length. The second-place finish nearly kept her out of the Kentucky Oaks when she didn’t have enough graded stakes earnings to rank among the top 14 fillies entered, but that problem was resolved when one of the fillies ahead of her did not enter.
The stress of waiting to see if Flute would get in was worth it, as her connections learned a little more than 1 minute and 48 seconds after the last of 13 fillies loaded into the gate.
Immediately after the start, Flute settled into ninth place, 5 ¾ lengths off the leader through the opening quarter mile under jockey Jerry Bailey, and they were still 4 ¾ lengths behind the leader with three-eighths of a mile remaining.
On the final turn, Bailey elected to take his mount six wide and they seized command of the race in upper stretch. Near the eighth pole, Flute was 2 ½ lengths in front and with Bailey just mildly urging her with his hands, her advantage was 2 ¾ lengths at the finish line over deep closer Real Cozzy. 
"Can you imagine if I hadn't gotten in this race? Then nobody would have known just how good this filly is,” her trainer Bobby Frankel told ESPN. “I really thought the Churchill stretch, the track and the distance would suit her well. Jerry moved her like three different times and she responded every time. He asked her to go and she went. I was impressed.”
FLUTE CRUISES TO THE FINISH LINE IN THE KENTUCKY OAKS

Photo by Horsephotos
Frankel let Flute have a little break after the Oaks and chose an allowance race against older females for her return. While the allowance race was a significant step down in class from what she had faced in her two previous starts, the step up to older horses is always a bit concerning.
Flute put that worry to rest at the end of the race, winning by 3 1/4 lengths, her biggest winning margin up to that point. The win also impressed the Equibase figure makers, who gave her a figure of 106, tying her Kentucky Oaks and coming in only three points under her career best.
But Flute’s shining moment didn’t come against older horses. Instead, it came in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes in her next start. 
Flute wasn’t going to let anyone cost her the win, shooting right to the lead and opening up a 1 ½-length gap by the first call. She kept motoring on the front end, and by the stretch call of the 1 ¼-mile race she was six lengths in front. Flute flashed across the finish line 4 ¾ lengths clear of second-place finisher Exogenous.
Few guessed that Exogenous would be the filly to end Flute’s three-race win streak, but that’s what happened in the Beldame Stakes on Oct. 6, Flute’s final Breeders’ Cup Distaff prep. 
Flute sat closer to the leader than in her Kentucky Oaks victory, never more than 3 ½ lengths behind the fillies setting the pace. She came out a bit on the far turn before returning to the rail where she wasn’t able to keep pace with Exogenous, who pulled 1 ¼ lengths ahead. But even though the win was lost, Flute gamely held off the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Spain to take second by a head.
The next trip for Flute was the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, in which she went off as the race favorite for the fourth consecutive time. But for the first time in her career, Flute wasn’t able to hit the board and finished seventh.
Flute was prepared to come back as a four-year-old, but in February 2002 an ankle chip was found and the decision was made to retire her to the breeding shed.
“If it's a normal horse, you'd think nothing of it, take the chip out and bring her back [to racing],” Juddmonte’s manager Garrett O'Rourke told the Blood-Horse. “But we're at that time of year when we have the opportunity to get her bred and get an early foal out of her next year. It will be lovely to have her back. At the end of the day, it's better to be safe than sorry.”
Flute retired with four wins and three seconds in eight starts for $1,101504 in earnings and two Grade 1 victories to her credit.
Danzig was the first suitor for Flute and on Feb. 2, 2003, she gave birth to a filly later named Chaminade. Chaminade never made it to the racetrack but she has produced five foals with two winners. Her 3-year-old filly Cajun Heat is currently her only active foal on track, but the mare also has a 2-year-old named Its No Flute. 
A second filly, named Comma, was born on Feb. 12 of the following year. By Kingmambo, she finished second three times during an eight -ace career but was never able to make it past the finish line first. Comma’s second foal, a now-4-year-old named Clear Mind, by Rail Link, won in England last July and she has two other foals, including a 3-year-old full-brother to Clear Minded named Marschall, who hasn't started.
Flute’s third foal, a filly by fellow Juddmonte homebred Empire Maker was the Oaks winner's first big hit. Named Solo Piano, the mare won three of her starts for $141,178 in earnings for trainer Bill Mott. In her first breeding year, Solo Piano went to More Than Ready and produced a colt named Here Sir, who made three starts last year and is preparing for his 2015 debut. Solo Piano’s second foal is a yearling colt by Preakness winner Bernardini who is not yet named.
Flute visited Maria’s Mon a few years later and he turned out to be another decently successful match for Flute. The mating produced the filly Classy Touch, who won two races during her career for $53,224 in earnings. Classy Touch’s first foal is two this year but is not yet named.
Visiting Juddmonte Farm’s own Mizzen Mast is when Flute finally hit gold. Her daughter, named Filimbi, started her career in May of her 3-year-old year in France. It took the filly four starts to break her maiden, although she hadn’t been far off in her first three starts ,and she was able to get her second victory two starts later. In her final European start, Filimbi finally earned a stakes victory in the Prix Isola Bella before being transferred to Mott in the United States.
FILIMBI TRAINING AT BELMONT PARK

Photo by NYRA/Susie Raisher
The gray filly has proved a good fit for American turf racing, winning three starts, including a Grade 2, and earning a Grade 1-placing in the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland last year. Filimbi is still racing and ran her first race of the year on March 7 in the Grade 3 Hillsborough Stakes, finishing fifth.
Flute’s three-year-old daughter Perfect Flute also is a winner for her dam. The Pleasantly Perfect filly didn’t like going six furlongs on the dirt in her 2-year-old debut but when trainer Mott stretched her out to 1 1/16 miles and put her on turf, Perfect Flute gave everyone a glimpse of her potential when she won her Feb. 8 race by 1 ½ lengths. The filly is currently preparing for her third start.
Flute has two young horses on the ground for fans to look forward to in coming years in addition to Filimbi and Perfect Flute. Cannes, a 2-year-old by Lonhro, is the first colt Flute has produced and as an export report hasn’t been filed for him, it looks like he will be racing in America when he makes his debut. Flute’s yearling is a filly by Juddmonte stallion First Defence, and the now 17-year-old mare is currently carrying a full sibling to Filimbi.
From one of the most illustrious families in racing, Flute took a few foals to get going before she contributed to the Juddmonte family tree but with the success of Filimbi and others, it looks like the mare is far from done making her impact on Juddmonte’s breeding program.