Ectot Upsets Flintshire in Turf Classic

A yielding turf course is all it took to bring the seemingly invincible Flintshire to his knees in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (GI) at Belmont Park.

The connections relocated the consistent European competitor to the United States, because Chad Brown trainee prefers a firm course, which is much more likely in the states than in Europe. In the Turf Classic, however, Flintshire’s dominance over the American turf division was snapped as he struggled over the yielding course.

The Judemont Farm runner was sitting pretty, never far off the lead in the four horse field as Ectot set moderate early pace of :24.78 for the first quarter, and :49.85 for the half.

After a dawdling six furlongs in 1:15.03, Ectot looked strong on the lead while Flintshire came under some urging from Javier Castellano. Around the turn, Ectot began to sneak away from the field and Flintshire had no answer.

Ectot hit the mile marker in 1:39.78 while still being confidently handled. Down the stretch he continued to increase his advantage while the 1/5 favorite Flintshire toiled. In the end, Ectot hit the wire well clear of Flintshire, stopping the clocking in 2:03.68 and earning an automatic berth into the Breeders’ Cup Turf (GI)

#Ectot #Flintshire #JoeHirschTurfClassic