Flirtin his way to OSS win

Flirtin Man survived a scare on the final turn and kept his 2007 undefeated streak in tact with another impressive victory in Sunday's $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes final for 3-year-old colt and gelding trotters at Mohawk Racetrack.

As he has done for all of his starts this season, the son of Angus Hall * Flirtin Victory raced from well off the pace in the field of 10, sitting sixth and nine lengths off the lead as the field reached the half in :57. Right as the field entered the far turn, Flirtin Man put in a sudden step and came perilously  close to going off stride, but driver Paul MacDonell was able to quickly snatch him up and kept him on gait as the field hit the three-quarter point in 1:26. Flirtin Man was right back in the hunt and about five lengths off the lead as the field turned for home.

Once they straightened up, MacDonell gave Flirtin Man his head and the speedy youngster did the rest, going on to prevail easily in 1:55.1. He was three lengths better than Guilford while pacesetter Tymal Cherub managed the salvage the show spot.

"I really don’t know what happened," said MacDonell afterwards in referring to the misstep on the final turn. "He just took a funny step and then collected himself back up. He’s never done that before so it really caught me off guard. But once he got rolling again I was completely confident he could win."

With the victory, the Michael Vanderkemp trainee ran his seasonal undefeated streak to five and boosted his seasonal earnings to just shy of $100,000 for Juniper II L L C, Brittany Farms and the Let It Ride Stables Inc. of Kentucky and Florida.

When asked if we’ve seen the best of Flirtin Man yet, MacDonell said not even close.

"He always does his best racing at the end of the mile and never seems to get tired. He has finished with the ear plugs in every time I’ve driven him, so I don’t know where the bottom is."

Outside the Ontario Sire Stakes, Flirtin Man is eligible to most of the majors including the coveted Hambletonian. (WEG)

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