David Flores gets first training win

David Flores collected many great memories in his 30-plus years of riding in the United States and winning more than 3,600 races. He created another indelible memory Friday at Tampa Bay Downs when a 3-year-old colt named Higgins gave him his first victory as a trainer.

“This is what it [felt] like when I was riding,” Flores, 51, told publicity at the Oldsmar, Fla., track. “It reminds me of how exciting our sport is, and I’m grateful to be around good horses and great people on the other side of the game now.”

Flores rode his first winner at Agua Caliente in his native Mexico in 1984, then came to the U.S. later that year. His first major breakthrough came when he won the 1991 Hollywood Gold Cup aboard Marquetry for the late Bobby Frankel. He would go on to win three Breeders’ Cup races and numerous other major events, including the 1997 Santa Anita Handicap, the 1998 Kentucky Oaks, and the 2003 Arlington Million. His mounts earned nearly $154 million.

Flores began riding in Singapore in December 2013 before returning some 15 months later. He rode a couple more years, with his last mount coming at Del Mar in July 2017, and soon turned to training. He, his wife, and two children now live in Ocala, Fla., where Flores oversees a small stable of runners among his other equine-related activities.

The victory in the 1 1/16-mile maiden turf race with Higgins, who returned $17.40 to win after surviving a foul claim, came with Flores’s seventh starter. The Kentucky-bred son of Giant’s Causeway, making his fourth start, is owned by Imagine Racing and Margaret Fauber and was ridden by Jesus Castanon, a native of Mexico City, who recently turned 46.

“I’ve known Jesus and his family since I was an apprentice at Caliente in 1984,” Flores said. “This is a great start to my new career, and it’s special to do it with someone I’ve known since we were kids.”

Imperial Hint booked for Dubai

Imperial Hint was part of an American contingent booked on an overseas flight this week to the March 30 Dubai World Cup program at Meydan after trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. pronounced the 6-year-old horse “ready to go” following a bullet five-furlong workout Friday at his Tampa base.

Imperial Hint was scheduled to ship Monday to Gulfstream Park before joining a handful of other Dubai-bound horses on a Tuesday flight out of Fort Lauderdale.

Imperial Hint has had two works since finishing third at Tampa in the Feb. 16 Pelican and being found to have soreness in his right front foot. But Carvajal said the foot is no longer a factor and he expects a far more representative effort in the $2.5 million Dubai Golden Shaheen at six furlongs.

Imperial Hint was named Horse of the Year for 2018 by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association at its annual awards dinner March 11 in Ocala.

◗ A $27,500 allowance for 3-year-olds will open a 10-race card as the nominal feature when another four-day week begins Wednesday at Tampa. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

The next major date at Tampa is March 31, Florida Cup Day, when six Florida-bred stakes worth $115,000 apiece will be run. Closing day of the main portion of the 2018-19 meet is May 5.