Flashy Jewel shines in Derby

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This article was published 04/08/2015 (3961 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They forgot about the grey horse in the 67th running of the $75,000 Manitoba Derby at Assiniboia Downs Monday. So he made them pay.

Lothenbach Stable’s Flashy Jewel, the only grey horse in the nine-horse field for Manitoba’s richest race, languished on the tote board at 11-1 before the bell rang to send the field on their merry chase, going a mile-and-an-eighth through a light breeze under beautiful sunny skies.

And a chase it was, as Flashy Jewel jumped to the lead and never looked back, except for the three times in the stretch when local favourite Witt Six tried to get by him.

Witt Six, owned by former champion race car driver Henry S. Witt Jr. of Axtel, Texas, responded just as his owner used to when he was winning 250 races on the IMCA circuit, but he just couldn’t get by the game grey to his inside.

Three times Witt Six and jockey Chavion Chow took on Flashy Jewel in the stretch, but every time the grey punched the gas and put them away.

Witt Six actually got his nose in front of the winner in early stretch, but just couldn’t keep it there. He tried the winner again in mid-stretch without success, and was surging once more at the wire when the photo finish flashed — Flashy Jewel by a short neck. He paid $24 to win.

“When the jockey says he didn’t know if he won or not, you know it was close,” smiled Witt Jr., who was gracious in defeat while also echoing trainer Jerry Gourneau’s sentiments.

“It was a great horse race. He’s (the winner) a nice horse. We just wanted to win the head bob. The people treated us great here. We just feel blessed to have such a good horse. They’re hard to get.”

Flashy Jewel got the first quarter mile in a relatively quick 22.80 seconds, but managed to slow the pace down slightly as the race progressed, getting the half mile 46.80 and three-quarters in 1:12 before being forced to fend off Witt Six in the stretch. The pair got the mile noses apart in 1:38.80 and the final time for the 1 1/8-miles was 1:52.80.

“I was able to give him a long breather on the backstretch and into the final turn,” winning jockey Adolfo Morales said of Flashy Jewel. “When the other horse came to us in the stretch he was game. I got him to change leads and he took off again. He stuck his head out at the wire. He didn’t want to lose.”

‘He stuck his head out at the wire. He didn’t want to lose’

The top pair finished 61/4-lengths in front of Spider’s Alibi, who rallied for third. It was another length back to fourth-place finisher, Impromptu, who like the winner, invaded from Minnesota’s Canterbury Park for the Derby.

“I should have moved earlier,” said jockey Dane Nelson of Impromptu. “It was my first time riding him.”

A three-time Jamaican riding champion, Nelson had a banner Derby day in front of a large and appreciative crowd, winning four of the first five races on the card, including the $25,000 Manitoba Oaks aboard Holiday Maker, for owners Wind Dancer Stable and Bill Meikle and trainer Jared Brown.

Like Flashy Jewel, none of his winners were favourites.

It was the second Manitoba Derby win for trainer Clay Brinson, who hails from southern California but now trains at Canterbury Park and Hawthorne in Chicago.

Brinson, who learned the racing game from his graded stakes-winning late father Ross, also won the Manitoba Derby in 2011 with Hammer’s Bullet and finished second in the race in 2007 with Rage Till Dawn. He’s only run in the Manitoba Derby three times. In other words, he knows what kind of horse it takes to win it.

“Flashy Jewel is a pretty nice horse,” said Brinson. “He lost to some good horses before winning his last two. I didn’t know if he would get the mile-and-an-eighth, but I knew he would get two turns. And I like coming here. This place is first class. They always put on a really good show.”

Flashy Jewel’s owner, Robert Lothenbach of Eden Prairie, Minn., turned a printing operation he started in his garage into a business that now allows him to support almost 80 horses. The owner of the runner-up in the Derby, Witt Jr., started out with $5,000 saved from working multiple jobs and turned it into two car dealerships and an auto glass business in Texas. Two self-made men.

And their horses ran like it.