Flanders (USA)
April 18, 1992 – February 2010
Seeking the Gold (USA) x Starlet Storm (USA), by Storm Bird (USA)
Family 25
April 18, 1992 – February 2010
Seeking the Gold (USA) x Starlet Storm (USA), by Storm Bird (USA)
Family 25
Exactly how good Flanders might have been will never be known, but she never finished anywhere but first in her brief career, which included a 21-length romp in the Frizette Stakes (USA-G1). A measure of her quality can be seen even more clearly in her duel with stablemate and Grade 1 winner Serena’s Song (a future champion in her own right) in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Flanders turned her determined rival away in one of the most memorable Breeders’ Cup performances of all time but at the cost of multiple fractures that ended her racing career. She was a successful broodmare.
Race record
5 starts, 4 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$805,000
1994:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old filly (1994)
Assessments
Rated at 124 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juvenile fillies of 1994, 2 pounds above second-rated Serena’s Song.
As an individual
A lengthy chestnut mare with a beautiful, feminine head, Flanders had a well sloped shoulder and rounded, extremely muscular hindquarters. She was absolutely determined in a drive but had the sweet disposition of her granddam Cinegita.
As a producer
Flanders produced 12 named foals, of which 11 started and eight won. Her important foals are as follow:
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Flanders was bred and owned by Overbrook Farm. She was trained by D. Wayne Lukas and was ridden by Pat Day throughout her racing career. She was purchased by Ashford Farm for US$400,000 from the Overbrook Farm dispersal in 2009, in foal to Bernardini. She died of complications of laminitis following a paddock accident in February 2010.
Pedigree notes
Flanders is inbred 4x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer and 5x5 to five-time American champion sire Nasrullah, also the champion sire of 1951 on the combined English/Irish sire list. She is a full sister to Circle of Gold, second dam of 2015 European champion 2-year-old male Air Force Blue and Grade 3 winner Trophy Chaser. She is also a half sister to Engaging (by Private Account), dam of 2007 Louisville Breeders’ Cup Stakes (USA-G2) winner Fiery Pursuit (by Carson City) and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Stage Trick (by Distorted Humor), and to Imaginary Gold (by Mr. Prospector), dam of listed stakes winner Tiz Imaginary (by Tizway).
Flanders and her siblings are out of Starlet Storm, whose English Group 3-winning full sister Storm Star is the dam of Grade 3 winner Dodge (by Mr. Prospector) and multiple listed stakes winner Captain Starbuck (by Cure the Blues) and the third dam of Puerto Rican champion and North American Grade 2 winner My Wandy’s Girl. Starlet Storm is also a full sister to Windmill Point, dam of multiple stakes winner Stormy Temper. In addition, Starlet Storm is a half sister to multiple Japanese listed stakes winner Syourinomegami (by Mr. Prospector), to Brazilian champion sire Choctaw Ridge (by Mr. Prospector), and to Western League (by Forty Niner), dam of multiple Grade 2 winner My Boston Gal (by Boston Harbor) and third dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Home Run Kitten. Finally, Starlet Storm is a half sister to Illustrated (by Deputy Minister), second dam of 2013 Gran Premio Nacional Augusto B. Leguia (PER-G1) winner Overbrook.
Starlet Storm and her siblings were produced from 1980 Railbird Stakes (USA-G3) winner Cinegita (by Secretariat), a half sister to French stakes winner Anthurium (by Never Bend). Cinegita, in turn, is out of 1973 Little Silver Handicap (USA-G3) winner Wanika (by the high-class juvenile Sadair), the only foal produced from 1965 Delaware Oaks winner Juanita (by two-time American champion sprinter Decathlon). A half sister to juvenile stakes winner Red Hook (by Royal Sting) and French hurdle stakes winner Porto Novo (by Hill Rise), Juanita is also a half sister to stakes-placed Junonia (by Sun Again), dam of the stakes winner and good sire Northern Jove (by Northern Dancer).
Books and media
A video of Flanders’s victory in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsdG_B1EliA.
Fun facts
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at the 2009 Keeneland November mixed sale. Used by permission.
Last updated: August 31, 2022
Race record
5 starts, 4 wins, 0 seconds, 0 thirds, US$805,000
1994:
- Won Spinaway Stakes (USA-G1, 7FD, Saratoga)
- Won Frizette Stakes (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Belmont)
- Won Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (USA-G1, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
- Also finished first in the Matron Stakes (USA-G1, 8FD, Belmont) but was disqualified due to a drug positive
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion 2-year-old filly (1994)
Assessments
Rated at 124 pounds on the Experimental Free Handicap for American juvenile fillies of 1994, 2 pounds above second-rated Serena’s Song.
As an individual
A lengthy chestnut mare with a beautiful, feminine head, Flanders had a well sloped shoulder and rounded, extremely muscular hindquarters. She was absolutely determined in a drive but had the sweet disposition of her granddam Cinegita.
As a producer
Flanders produced 12 named foals, of which 11 started and eight won. Her important foals are as follow:
- Surfside (1997, by Seattle Slew) was voted the American champion filly of 2000 after victories in the Las Virgenes Stakes (USA-G1) and Santa Anita Oaks (USA-G1) in her own division and the Clark Handicap (USA-G2) against older males. She is the dam of 2014 Cougar II Handicap (USA-G3) winner Irish Surf (by Giant’s Causeway) and the second dam of 2019 Summer Cup Stakes (SAF-G1) winner Zillzaal and French Group 3 winner High Celebrity.
- Sanibel Island (1998, by Capote) was unplaced in two starts but is the dam of Canadian juvenile stakes winner Holy Reina (by Macho Uno).
- Biscayne Bay (1999, by A.P. Indy) failed to place in her only start but is the dam of 2013 Marjorie L. Everett Handicap (USA-G2) winner Open Water (by Include; dam of listed stakes winner Raucous, by Speightstown). She is also the second dam of Argentine Group 2 winner Boecio.
- Battle Plan (2005, by Empire Maker) won the 2010 New Orleans Handicap (USA-G2). He was exported to Japan at the end of his racing career but has sired only two stakes winners.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Flanders was bred and owned by Overbrook Farm. She was trained by D. Wayne Lukas and was ridden by Pat Day throughout her racing career. She was purchased by Ashford Farm for US$400,000 from the Overbrook Farm dispersal in 2009, in foal to Bernardini. She died of complications of laminitis following a paddock accident in February 2010.
Pedigree notes
Flanders is inbred 4x5 to two-time American Horse of the Year Native Dancer and 5x5 to five-time American champion sire Nasrullah, also the champion sire of 1951 on the combined English/Irish sire list. She is a full sister to Circle of Gold, second dam of 2015 European champion 2-year-old male Air Force Blue and Grade 3 winner Trophy Chaser. She is also a half sister to Engaging (by Private Account), dam of 2007 Louisville Breeders’ Cup Stakes (USA-G2) winner Fiery Pursuit (by Carson City) and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Stage Trick (by Distorted Humor), and to Imaginary Gold (by Mr. Prospector), dam of listed stakes winner Tiz Imaginary (by Tizway).
Flanders and her siblings are out of Starlet Storm, whose English Group 3-winning full sister Storm Star is the dam of Grade 3 winner Dodge (by Mr. Prospector) and multiple listed stakes winner Captain Starbuck (by Cure the Blues) and the third dam of Puerto Rican champion and North American Grade 2 winner My Wandy’s Girl. Starlet Storm is also a full sister to Windmill Point, dam of multiple stakes winner Stormy Temper. In addition, Starlet Storm is a half sister to multiple Japanese listed stakes winner Syourinomegami (by Mr. Prospector), to Brazilian champion sire Choctaw Ridge (by Mr. Prospector), and to Western League (by Forty Niner), dam of multiple Grade 2 winner My Boston Gal (by Boston Harbor) and third dam of multiple Grade 3 winner Home Run Kitten. Finally, Starlet Storm is a half sister to Illustrated (by Deputy Minister), second dam of 2013 Gran Premio Nacional Augusto B. Leguia (PER-G1) winner Overbrook.
Starlet Storm and her siblings were produced from 1980 Railbird Stakes (USA-G3) winner Cinegita (by Secretariat), a half sister to French stakes winner Anthurium (by Never Bend). Cinegita, in turn, is out of 1973 Little Silver Handicap (USA-G3) winner Wanika (by the high-class juvenile Sadair), the only foal produced from 1965 Delaware Oaks winner Juanita (by two-time American champion sprinter Decathlon). A half sister to juvenile stakes winner Red Hook (by Royal Sting) and French hurdle stakes winner Porto Novo (by Hill Rise), Juanita is also a half sister to stakes-placed Junonia (by Sun Again), dam of the stakes winner and good sire Northern Jove (by Northern Dancer).
Books and media
A video of Flanders’s victory in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsdG_B1EliA.
Fun facts
- Flanders was named for the wealthiest and most populous part of Belgium, which has its own distinctive language and cultural heritage. Flanders saw extensive fighting between German and Allied forces in World War I, and many Allied soldiers lie buried in military cemeteries there, a fact immortalized in the poem “In Flanders Fields.”
- Flanders’ Matron Stakes disqualification was due to the presence of the drug isoxuprine, used in equine medicine to treat navicular disease and laminitis. It works by relaxing the smooth muscles around blood vessels, theoretically increasing blood flow.
- Flanders’ dramatic victory in the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies was selected as the “Race of the Year” by readers of The Blood-Horse.
- After Flanders' retirement to Overbrook Farm, her granddam Cinegita was turned out with her as a "babysitter" to help keep her calm as her injuries healed.
Photo credit
Photo taken by Jessica Morgan at the 2009 Keeneland November mixed sale. Used by permission.
Last updated: August 31, 2022