Fair Grounds Barn Notes: Friday, December 15

By Brian Spencer —-

• Money Flows Enters Tenacious in Top Form
• Chiltern Street Makes Stakes Debut in Bonapaw
• Saham Looks to Add to Walsh’s Excitement in Diliberto

MONEY FLOWS ENTERS TENACIOUS IN TOP FORM

Trainer Al Stall, Jr. believes that Money Flows is as good as he has ever been in his racing career and that it will be conveyed through an excellent performance in Saturday’s $75,000 Tenacious Stakes, one of six stakes races scheduled for Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots’ Santa Super Saturday Card.

The Columbine Stable LLC-owned “super senior” of age six will break from post six under Miguel Mena and is in pursuit of his first stakes victory. The son of Malibu Moon finished second in the Gr. III Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs behind Honorable Duty and a head in front of eventual Gr. I Clark Handicap winner Seeking The Soul, a probable for the Gr. I $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park. Since then, he won an allowance race at Churchill Downs on Nov. 8 over Mo Tom and fellow Tenacious aspirant Far Right.

While Money Flows may have yet to add a stakes victory to his resume, that should change if his breeding says anything His dam, Words of War produced Gr. I winners E Dubai and No Matter What.
Despite the horse’s top class pedigree and consistency throughout his racing career, getting him to the track was a bit of a challenge due to some minor hiccups early on. He did not make his career debut until age four.

“He was having problems and it was just starting and stopping and starting and stopping again,” Stall said “He’s a nice horse and if things had gone his way early on he would have been a really good horse. He always shows up and tries hard and those are the kind of horses that you like to have.

“It took a year to get him off the farm for some reason,” Stall added. “He didn’t even come to us until he was three. It was nothing earth shattering just a bunch of small things. Soft tissue, feet, all kinds of different things, but he’s holding up great now and he’s in great form and I don’t see anything but a good effort out of him on Saturday.”

Stall should get such an effort out of the horse if it mimics any of his previous 14 lifetime starts. In said starts, his only time finishing off the board came over the summer in the Michael Schaefer Memorial Handicap at Indiana Grand where he was beaten 2¼ lengths by Eagle.

“He must have taken a few sips from the fountain of youth somewhere,” Stall said. “He’s just got a good hold on life at an older age. We don’t know why but he’s been super forward about everything lately and he’s been like that since the Indiana race. I mean, look who he finished ahead of in the Lukas Classic.”

CHILTERN STREET MAKES STAKES DEBUT IN BONAPAW

Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Chiltern Street has run on the undercard of some big stakes days at a number of different racetracks but in 16 lifetime starts has yet to take aim on a stake himself. That will change when the Wesley Ward trainee makes his stakes debut in the $75,000 Bonapaw Stakes, a 5½-furlong event over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course.

The 5-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway has come and gone through the Wesley Ward stable this year, but for two different owners. Andrew Farm owned Chiltern Street at the beginning of the year before he was claimed by Lawrence Roman for $50,000 back in May and transferred to the barn of Robertino Diodoro.
Ward then claimed him back in his following start for the Ramseys. Last out, Chiltern Street won a turf allowance event at Keeneland by six lengths.

“I had him as a two-year-old and I was waiting for him to break through the stakes ranks and it took a little time but were finally here,” Ward said. “(Jockey) Jose (Valdivia, Jr.) told his agent that he was encouraged by his work. I think we’ll have a nice trip we have a nice post to the outside, I think we can save ground with a nice spot. Hopefully he runs as well as he did at Keeneland and he’ll be right there.”

While the Bonapaw will be Chiltern Street’s first rodeo against stakes company, it will not be his first start on the Fair Grounds lawn. In February 2016, he won a 1 1/16-miles allowance race over the Stall-Wilson Turf Course.

“(Jockey) Mario Pino got off him that day and said a mile and a sixteenth was a little too far for him, so now that he’s turned his game around, hopefully were going in the right direction.”

SAHAM LOOKS TO ADD TO WALSH’S EXCITEMENT IN DILIBERTO

Trainer Brendan Walsh has always spoken very highly of Saham, who is entered in Saturday’s $75,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial, and continues to do so after being back in his care following a purchase by Sol Kumin who transferred the son of Lemon Drop Kid to the barn of Chad Brown.

At age three, Walsh trained the son of Lemon Drop Kid to a graded-stakes win in Churchill Downs’ Gr. III Jefferson Cup as well as multiple graded-stakes placings. The horse missed his entire 4-year-old campaign and only made two starts this winter for former trainer Brown, both of which were fourth-place efforts over the Gulfstream Park turf won by eventual graded stakes winners Ballagh Rocks and American Patriot.

He has only made one start since returning to the barn of his original conditioner where he was second in a Fair Grounds optional claimer last month.

“It was really nice to have the owners send him back,” Walsh said. “I always liked that horse a lot.
Obviously (Head of Plains Partners) have most of their horses in New York. He went up there but it’s nice to have him back and I was delighted in how he ran coming back. It looks like he might be as good as ever. His numbers suggest that, and if he improves on Saturday, which I think he should, it would put him right there.”

Despite being in a different barn earlier this year, Walsh still paid attention to Saham from afar and was pleased with what he saw in his two starts under Brown’s supervision. While Saham has yet to find the winner’s circle since the Jefferson Cup, Walsh believes that the horse is just as good as he was then.

“He ran a couple of nice races for Chad in some very good company,” Walsh said. “I thought his last race at the Fair Grounds he ran well, and I think he’s at least as good as he ever was. It’s a tough spot and there’s some nice solid horses in there but I think he should be right there with them.”
Jockey Jose Valdivia, Jr. will pilot Saham, who will break from the eight hole.