Burning Flag Goes Wire-to-Wire

Good horses do things they shouldn’t be able to do, and Burning Flag used the GII Texas Derby to put the sophomore class on notice: this is one good horse.

It seemed like asking a lot.  Taking a colt with just four starts under his belt and stepping him up from restricted allowance company into a graded stakes in his first race on a good-rated surface and his first trip away from his home track.  But Lenny3 wisely chose the veteran J. Turner to shepherd the chestnut colt around and the gamble paid dividends as Burning Flag kicked clear by the very first call and stayed there, winning the race by a length and three-quarters over an even-running Breeding Empire and closer Mine Go Easy.

Burning Flag is a Forty Niner son out of a Blushing Groom(Fr) mare and exits the Texas Derby with $200,000 in the bank and three wins from five starts.  He covered the mile and one-sixteenth in 1:42 and 2/5, earning a career-best 101 speed rating.