Blings Express keeps earning cash

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – To say that Blings Express has aged well would be an understatement. The 8-year-old hard knocking gelding is in career form, having finished first or second in 11 of his last 12 starts, with all but one of those races coming since he was claimed for $10,000 at Tampa Bay Downs by Averill Racing and CCF Racing Stable in March 2016.

Blings Express will attempt to continue that impressive run in Saturday’s $44,000 main event at Gulfstream Park. The wideopen optional-claiming dash is the first of three allowances on the 12-race program.

Blings Express has won four times for his current connections, including two straight, both popular starter-allowance wins at the same 5 1/2-furlong distance as Saturday’s headliner.

“I claimed the horse last year primarily because he was a Florida-bred,” said Richard Averill, whose potent stable includes the stakes winners Pay the Price, R Kinsley Doll, and R Angel Katelyn. “I didn’t even realize at the time he was eligible for starter races they wrote at Gulfstream that are not really date specific in regards to when a horse ran for that particular tag. That was a bonus.”

Averill said Blings Express may not be the most talented horse in the barn, but he’s definitely “the coolest.”

“He’s still sound, although he does have throat issues that somehow he runs through and which have probably kept him from being a graded stakes winner earlier in his career,” said Averill. “His temperament is great, he’s easy to get along with, and he’s got such a heart. In fact, he’s so cool, when he’s done and ready to be retired, I’ll probably bring him home and give him to my daughter.”

Blings Express certainly is not ready to retire yet, and Averill feels he’ll be a major player again on Saturday.

“It’s a very competitive race, but he sure looks like he fits, and the outside post is really good for him,” said Averill. “The only time he ran poorly since I had him was in the Claiming Crown, when he drew the rail and had to be rushed up the inside to dispute some ridiculous fractions.”

Blings Express’s task will not be easy, with such hard knocking younger rivals such as French Quarter, Extravagant Kid, Icatiro, and the John Vinson-trained pair of Splash Rules and Springmeier in the field.

French Quarter and Extravagant Kid finished second and third behind Sweet on the ladies in an overnight stakes switched from the turf to a sloppy main track here three weeks ago. French Quarter has hit the board, but has yet to win, in four tries since being claimed for $62,500 out of a winning effort here March 10. The versatile Extravagant Kid won a pair of similar optional claimers earlier in the year, the first on dirt and the second on the grass, for trainer Milt Wolfson.