Campbell to take his shot with Flirtin Man

August 01, 2007

With an unequaled six Hambletonians to his credit, John Campbell has many favorite moments in the trotting classic--his first win with the great Mack Lobell [1987]; the one trained by his brother, Tagliabue [1995], and the icing on his comeback from injury, the triumph with Glidemaster [2006].

For the first time in his illustrious career, Campbell will drive in the $1.5 million Hambletonian Final at the Meadowlands with a horse in which he has a stake. The Hall of Famer is among the owners of Flirtin Man, whom he drove to a second-place finish behind Donato Hanover in his elimination race.

Flirtin Man is rated at 8-1 from post 10 in the Hambletonian Final on Saturday. The Hambletonian is race 11 on the matinee card, which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. The Hambletonian and its companion event, the $750,000 Hambletonian Oaks, will be broadcast live on NBC from 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m.

Ironically, Campbell's ownership of Flirtin Man cost him the drive behind Pampered Princess, but he is relishing the experience, nonetheless.

"It's different, no question about that," Campbell said. "It's very difficult to get a horse to be in the Hambo, so to be in one as an owner is certainly very special. We're just very excited about that and looking forward to it."

Flirtin Man, trained by Gary Napierala, is a son of 1999 Hambletonian runner-up Angus Hall out of the mare Flirtin Victory, who has four offspring with combined earnings of $1.2 million. He is a half brother to Breeders Crown champions Pick Me Up and Flirtin Miss and was purchased for $92,000 as a yearling in the Lexington Selected Sale.

Campbell�s partners are Joseph Grano Jr. [under the Juniper II Stable name], Kentucky�s Brittany Farms and Eric Cherry's Let It Ride Stables of Delray Beach, Florida.

"I'm not much of a [yearling] video guy, but I liked the way he handled his front end," Campbell said of seeing Flirtin Man as a yearling. "He had a nice head on him, which is something everyone likes. And I liked his breeding. I liked his conformation, how he looked on the video and certainly his pedigree."

Last year Flirtin Man raced only once, finishing sixth after going offstride in the stretch. This year he started well, picking up wins in his first five starts, but went offstride and suffered a foot injury in the Goodtimes eliminations on June 9, which set the horse back. His Hambletonian elim was his first race back, other than two qualifiers earlier this month.

"He was not himself that night," Campbell said of the Goodtimes elim at Mohawk. "He never got trotting at all.�

Although Flirtin Man did not win his elimination race, Campbell is happy with how he trotted after spotting Donato Hanover nearly 11 lengths after the opening quarter mile.

"He had too far to come, when I had to go three-wide in the last turn," Campbell said. "They had gotten away from me, but I was very happy with the way he raced. It's his first time at this level and he proved he can go with them, but we have to build on that for next week."

Campbell said the horse�s health is no longer an issue. Now, the concern is with the draw on Tuesday.

"I hope we get lucky," Campbell said. "He's not a great gate horse. So, we're waiting to see how that shakes out. That's our next stage of the whole process." (Meadowlands)

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