Mama I'm Coming Home

by Ralph the Cat

Saturdays 8th race:
Mr. Flamboyant, the 3 year old grey colt with an alarming pedigree comes back to Mountaineer after a 7 month layoff to sit at 3/1 in Mountaineers feature race on Saturday. Mr. Flamboyant remains winless when trying 3 different synthetic surfaces in his 2 and 3 year old campaign. His last win was at Mountaineer in November of 2007 win he drew away with authority to win by nearly 10 lengths in a 5.5F event for non-winners of 2 lifetime. His other win was a MSW score at Mountaineer in which he drew off by more than 7 lengths. The layoff is going to keep him at a respectable 5/2 or higher while the Clayton Hurt trainee, #4 Prince of Saltlake will be the heavy favorite and rightfully so. The main concern for the #4 Prince of Saltlake is the jockey switch from Ronald Allen to a less talented Nathan Vickers. While there is reason to talk down the favorite there is every bit the reason to talk up the second choice entry Mr. Flamboyant. Mr. Flamboyant along with trainer Sherman Mitchell finished both a 4th in a stake race and 2nd in a 3 in a lifetime race when coming off a layoff of more than 3 months. On top of that, he puts in 2 bullet works including an impressive 5F work in 1:01 flat. With 3 speed balls in the race, the race sets up well for a hard charging closers, but with the track favoring speed more than ever, Mr. Flamboyant has the best chance to take them gate to wire. Mr. Flamboyant, a grey colt that earned a 100 Brisnet Speed Figure last year, plays every bit the part.