Viral Video Star Back Flip Tests Bourbonette

Carrie Brogden doesn't get star struck...or so she says. The Central Kentucky horsewoman did, however, "flip" over a video posted by WinStar Farm of a newborn foal falling over backward in 2012. The filly from the first crop of WinStar stallion Super Saver  , now 3 and racing for Brogdan, takes a big jump forward to graded stakes company March 21 in Turfway Park's Pure Romance Bourbonette Stakes (gr. III).



"She's almost like a celebrity horse to me," Brogden said. "I watched that WinStar video they posted of her—turning a back flip—25 times. I sent it to my sorority sisters and people that weren't really involved with horses.

"When the agent called me about buying her—she was for sale privately (from Bortolazzo Stable)—I just couldn't believe it was her," she said. "The filly from the video? I'm not star struck when I meet somebody like Bobby Flay, but when I got the horse that was in the video and all over Facebook... I was so thrilled to get her."



Brogden said she purchased the filly, appropriately named Back Flip, sight unseen, but it was a "no brainer, honestly."



The mare, the Maryland-bred For Royalty, by Not For Love  , had been purchased by Randy Gullatt's Twin Creeks Racing as a yearling for $250,000 and was a broodmare prospect buy for WinStar's Maverick Racing at the 2010 Keeneland November mixed sale.



"When I saw Randy Gullatt bought her mother as a yearling and then Elliott (Walden, president of WinStar Farm) had bought her as a broodmare prospect, I mean, there are two top judges of horses," Brogden said.



Back Flip broke her maiden in her third try and first on turf in mid-November at Gulfstream Park West, then ran second on the turf at Gulfstream in an allowance optional claimer.



Being a graduate of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s April sale, she was eligible for the OBS Champions Stakes run over the synthetic surface at OBS Jan. 27. She ran third in the 1 1/16-mile race for trainer Todd Pletcher. She makes her graded stakes debut at Turfway for trainer Kelly Ackerman.



"Kelly is a really underrated, wonderful trainer who we've had incredible luck with," Brogden said. "He had Join in the Dance for us."



Join in the Dance made his first two starts for Brogden and Ackerman as a 2-year-old in 2008. The son of Sky Mesa   was sold privately and eventually ran second in the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III) and seventh in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).



This will be Ackerman's fourth starter in a graded stakes. The Midwest-based conditioner has 468 winners from 2,477 starters (19%) in his career.



"I love that Back Flip is stakes-placed on the Polytrack at OBS," Brodgen said. "She broke her maiden on the grass, so we're just sort of taking a shot here. There's only one stakes winner in the field. We're just hoping we can hit the board."

Back Flip faces a full field of 12 in the Bourbonette Oaks, with another pair on the also-eligible list.

HAMMONDS: Bourbonette is Anybody's Ballgame



While Back Flip has earned $39,514 with a 1-1-1 mark from five starts, there's added value. Her half sister by Bellamy Road   sold March 17 at the OBS March sale for $800,000.



Brogden, along with her husband, Craig, have bred several top stakes winners in their Machmer Hall farm name including 2015 grade II winner Ekati's Phaeton. While more synonymous with breeding, Carrie loves to race.



"It's a rare scenario for us, but if I were to hit the lottery, I'd race all the time. It's so much fun."



Like doing a back flip.