Flash In The Pan

On Saturday, June 25, Flashy Bull (Holy Bull – Iridescence, by Mt. Livermore) became the first freshman sire to get a stakes winner when his daughter Flashy Lassie won the Grade 3 Churchill Downs Debutante Stakes. Flashy Lassie sat near the back of the pack while following ridiculously fast fractions of :21:57 and :45 set by Culotte and Shocktime. Flashy Lasiie made her move in the stretch and won by a widening length, getting six furlongs in 1:10.89 (video).

Flashy Lassie is not only the first graded stakes winner for her sire, she also holds the distinction as his very first winner. The Chestnut filly was a real bargain, selling for $4,000 at the Fasig Tipton October Yearling Sale. She has a stamina oriented pedigree and should really kick into gear going two turns.

Let’s take a closer look at her sire Flashy Bull.

As a juvenile, Flashy Bull was one of his sire’s more precocious offspring. Flashy Bull made his initial start in June 2005 at Belmont, placing fourth in a five furlong maiden sprint. It took the pretty gray horse four more tries to win his maiden. He finally got the job done in October in a 1 1/16 mile contest, towering over his opponents by over five lengths. Flashy Bull placed in the Remsen Stakes in his final start of his two year old season.

As a three year old, Flashy Bull was third, but moved up to second after the disqualification of Corinthian in the Fountain Of Youth. Flashy Bull was out of the money in other Triple Crown Events, the Holy Bull, Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby. Flashy Bull got back to his winning ways in his fourth season, winning the William Donald Schaefer Handicap and Stephen Foster Handicap, both held at 1 1/8 miles.

So what can we expect from Flashy Bull’s first crop of 96 foals? So far, Flashy Bull has sired three winners from five runners. His sire Holy Bull gets the intermittent precocious juvenile, but overall, Holy Bull's offspring need time to mature. He has 12% two year old winners from 14 crops to race. Holy Bull’s best son at stud, Macho Uno has a steady 15% lifetime juvenile winners.

Sons of Holy Bull have enjoyed brief success as early sires. Last year another son of Holy Bull, Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, created a buzz early in the season when three of his daughters won in March and April, vaulting him to the top of the First Crop Sire list. Once the dust settled, Giacomo slid down the sire lists and now has 7% lifetime juvenile winners. Another son of Holy Bull, Bravo Bull, also sires just 7% two year old winners.

Flashy Bull has a solid distaff family. His dam Iridescence won her maiden in her second try. She won or placed in half of her ten starts, but was out of the money in two stakes races. Iridescence bore six foals of racing age, five raced and all were successful on the track. Besides Flashy Bull, Iridescence produced his half brother dual stakes winner Pink Viper (by Smoke Glacken).

The talent in this distaff family skipped a generation, as Iridescence’s dam Orient Pearl, by Champion Turf Horse Manila, was untalented both on the track and in the breeding shed. Jumping back a generation, Flashy Bull’s third dam A Status Symbol (by Exclusive Native) won a stakes race and placed in three others, including a Grade 3 event. Only two of her foals were stakes placed, but her daughter Ball Chairman (by Secretariat) is the dam of Canadin Champion Turf Horse Perfect Soul (by Sadlers’ Wells). Flashy Bull’s fourth dam Queen Louie (by Crimson Satan) was a Champion Juvenile Filly in Canada.

Flashy Bull’s damsire Mt. Livermore (by Blushing Groom) was a top sire and win-early speed was the name of the game for many of his offspring. He produced Champion two year old filly Eliza (the grand dam of FL Derby winner Dialed In), two-time champion sprinter Housebuster, champion sprinter Orientate, Two Canadian Horses of the Year, Mt. Sassafras and Peaks and Valleys, and Canadian Champion older mare Mountain Angel.

As a broodmare sire, Mt. Livermore figures prominently on the national Broodmare Sire List. In the last ten years, his daughters have produced 45 stakes winners that have been victorious over a variety of surfaces and distances.

The key to Flashy Bull’s success at stud could be the Holy Bull/Blushing Groom bloodline cross. Holy Bull’s best son at stud Macho Uno and Flashy Bull share similar breeding. Macho Uno’s damsire is Blushing Groom. That horse is the sire of Flashy Bull’s sire, Mt. Livermore. From just 11 starters, Holy Bull has sired seven winners, one stakes winner and one stakes placed runner from Mt. Livermore mares. Going back a generation, Holy Bull has only three foals and two starters out of Blushing Groom mares, but of those two winners, one, Macho Uno, became a Grade 1 winner.

If Flashy Bull’s offspring can sustain their winning ways throughout the year, their sire could possibly rival Holy Bull’s best son at stud, Macho Uno.