Flushing Meadows

The numbers tell a tidy story. From four races, Flushing Meadows has won once and finished in the places three more times — a record of 1 from 4, which works out at winning 1 in every 4 races. That might sound modest, but the context matters enormously. Finishing second in a pair of Group 3 races as a two-year-old — some of the better-quality races on the calendar — is not something an ordinary horse does. It means Flushing Meadows has been running against serious competition and nearly beating it. Most horses never get within sniffing distance of that level.

The yard sending this horse out is one of the most powerful operations in Europe. O'Brien's team has already sent out 144 winners this season alone, so when they take their time with a horse and say they're happy with how it has come through the winter, that patience tends to mean something. And what O'Brien said at a recent stable visit was genuinely interesting: he sees Flushing Meadows as a Derby trial type, capable of getting a mile and a quarter and possibly further. That is a significant statement. It suggests the team believe there is a bigger, stronger horse to come as the distances get longer.

The recent form reads 8-2-2-1, most recent first — which means a below-par run last time out sandwiched around two placed efforts and that debut win. The horse raced just a day ago, so it is very much in the mix at present. Earlier in its career, after the Curragh win, O'Brien was weighing up a trip to Royal Ascot for the Coventry Stakes before deciding the Railway Stakes back at The Curragh was the more sensible route. That kind of deliberate, unhurried approach is the hallmark of a yard that believes it has something worth protecting. Flushing Meadows looks like a horse whose best days are still in front of it.