Flameaway Aims to Regain Winning Form in Ohio Derby

If there is a horse in trainer Mark Casse's shedrow who has earned the right to get a mulligan, multiple graded stakes winner Flameaway might be it.

Prior to his outing on the first Saturday of May, the chestnut son of Scat Daddy spoiled his connections with his high-level consistency—stakes wins on two different surfaces, five victories at five separate tracks, top-two placings in seven of nine starts. So when he faded to 13th in a rain-drenched edition of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) behind eventual Triple Crown winner Justify, there were plenty of legitimate reasons in Casse's mind to write off that effort as a bad day brought on by lousy circumstances.

"He always shows up, and it was interesting that (jockey) Jose (Lezcano) said at the half-mile pole (in the Derby) he thought he really was going to run well," Casse said. "But then he kind of slipped and slid going into that turn, and he kind of let go of the bit. … Then he hit another kind of soft spot, and at that point Jose wrapped up on him, because he could tell we were beat. We gave him a break after that and brought him back, and he's trained well."

With Flameaway suitably freshened, Casse and owner John Oxley expect to see a typical effort June 23 when the Ontario-bred colt takes on 11 challengers in the $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown.

Flameaway is the 5-2 morning-line choice in the 1 1/8-mile test out of post 2 and is one of two entrants in the field (along with O'Kratos) with a graded stakes win on his résumé. After alternating between turf, dirt, and synthetic surfaces during his juvenile campaign and at the start of his sophomore season, Flameaway established himself as presence on the road to the Kentucky Derby with a victory in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3), followed by runner-up efforts in the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2).

Had his post-Kentucky Derby objective been the Queen's Plate, Flameaway likely would have been among the favorites for the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown. But Casse felt the synthetic ground at Woodbine wouldn't bring out his charge's peak ability.

"When we had him up last year on the Tapeta, he trained good on it but not great," Casse said. "We kind of just felt he was a horse on Tapeta, and that's one of the reasons we took him out of (Woodbine). We had to make a decision on whether we wanted to go for the Queen's Plate or not, and we thought it we went there, it would throw him out of some other big dirt races.

"We figured we'd go to the Ohio Derby, and we're hoping with a good performance, it could take him to the (grade 1) Haskell or the (grade 2) Jim Dandy."

Flameaway has shown early speed in the majority of his 10 starts, and he figures to have some company in that respect Saturday with the likes of Title Ready, Trigger Warning, and Core Beliefs all capable of setting the fractions.

"We have an inside post, and we're going to use it," Casse said. "We're not going to get too far out of it."

Trainer Tom Amoss would love it if some fighting took place on the front end, as his charge Lone Sailor is a one-run sort. The son of Majestic Warrior has lost his last eight starts since he broke his maiden in September, but he was just a neck short of victory in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) and put in an admirable run to get eighth in the Kentucky Derby before a fifth in the May 19 Preakness Stakes (G1) last out.

"It's no secret how Lone Sailor is going to run," Amoss said of the colt. "He'll drop back and make his run. We're hoping it sets up for a closer. We're hoping the field holds together, and (we're) looking for the speed to give him the proper setup. But this is a harder field than when we won the first time.

"He did not have a good trip in the Kentucky Derby, and even though he only got beat a couple of lengths in the Preakness, it seemed the proper move now (was) to try one of the Midwest derbies."

In his five starts, Peter Eurton trainee Core Beliefs has never been out of the money—despite a troubled trip and competition that includes the very top of the sophomore class. After he broke his maiden at Santa Anita Park in his third start, the son of  Quality Road  finished third behind Justify and multiple grade 1 winner Bolt d'Oro in the Santa Anita Derby (G1). 

In his most recent start, the Peter Pan Stakes (G3), he finished second despite stumbling out of the gate and veering out a furlong from home while on the lead.

"In the Peter Pan, he made the lead from the one hole, but that stumble didn't help him, because they were four abreast," Eurton said. "He was pushed pretty hard the whole way."

Entries: Ohio Derby (G3)

Thistledown, Saturday, June 23, 2018, Race 9

• Grade III
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $500,000
• 3 yo
• 5:10 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Takedown (KY)	Luis H. Colon	120	Lacey Gaudet	20/1
2	2Flameaway (ON)	Jose Lezcano	122	Mark E. Casse	5/2
3	3Lone Sailor (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	120	Thomas M. Amoss	3/1
4	4Caloric (KY)	Ricardo Mejias	120	Odin J. Londono, Jr.	30/1
5	5Title Ready (KY)	C.J. McMahon	120	Steven M. Asmussen	10/1
6	6Trigger Warning (KY)	Irwin J. Rosendo	120	Mike L. Rone	12/1
7	7Diamond King (KY)	Frankie Pennington	122	John C. Servis	6/1
8	8Machismo (KY)	Kevin Radke	120	Anthony T. Quartarolo	20/1
9	9O'Kratos (KY)	Channing Hill	120	Darwin D. Banach	12/1
10	10Core Beliefs (KY)	Joseph Talamo	120	Peter Eurton	5/1
11	11Dream Baby Dream (KY)	Ricardo Feliciano	120	Steven M. Asmussen	15/1
12	12Last Drop of Wine (KY)	T. D. Houghton	120	Anthony F. Rini	30/1