After Parking Owner's Title, Flurry Relaxed As Oaklawn Opens

Staton Flurry wanted to park that trophy on his shelf. He wanted to win the Oaklawn Park owner's title so badly he could taste it. The hometown product who calls Hot Springs his backyard and sports that wide grin, knew the race was going to be a good old-fashioned Arkansas throwdown.

Flurry sweated it, stayed up late strategizing and for months did everything humanly within the rules to secure the prize. Let's put it this way, if he had a jockey's license he might have donned his distinctive black and white silks with the giant snowflake imprinted on them and attempted to ride some winners himself. Not really, but it makes for a good yarn.

It was not easy, but Flurry accomplished what he set out to do, collected 26 wins throughout the meet and hoisted the crystal vase in the Larry Snyder winner's circle amid a cheering crowd, which included some of his closest friends.

“We got off to such a bad start two years ago, I think I went one for 31 starting out,” said Flurry. “When you fall behind too soon it's tough, but we were able to rally. I think I ended up fourth in the standings and missed it by five or six wins. Last year, I was like it's now or never because I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. It's stressful doing a title run, I can tell you that.”

The Hot Springs native, who operates a cluster of parking lots in and around the track, elevated his status on the racing scene a few years back with the likes of MGSW Mr. Misunderstood (Archarcharch) and MSW Interstatedaydream (Classic Empire), who were both tutored under trainer Brad Cox.

Staton Flurry with Florent Geroux after a Mr. Misunderstood win | Coady Photography

As most know, Flurry initially partnered with Qatar Racing to campaign MGISW Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) before adding Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm. Pope then bought out her partners with a $5 million bid at Fasig-Tipton November.

The relationship with Cox started in 2013 when the two of them used to spend time mining the claiming ranks. Flurry has branched out to other conditioners since then such as Cipriano Contreras, Kevin Martin and Dan Ward, but continues to be loyal to Cox.

“Kevin is one of my closest friends and he's the one who introduced me to Brad,” said Flurry. “He thought this was the next big up-and-coming guy that I should be with and he was right. But I am going to continue to use other trainers too and spread the wealth a bit.”

With some more complicated bookkeeping ahead, the Oaklawn meet opened last December with Flurry Racing Stable changing its tactics. The decision was an easy one: go after the owner's title. How to unfurl a strategy amid competition that is so fierce with loads of big outfits in the mix is the hard part. The purse structure is like a Godzilla magnet and you throw in the claiming game–where there is a whole lot of shaking going on–and the racing office hums like a Bitcoin mining operation.

The issues are evident. If owners enter too many of their horses in lower level claiming events seeking wins, they can easily lose good stock and deplete their numbers. The reverse is, if you choose to stay away from these races your outfit could be missing out on wins, which is how you compete for the title.

“We came in and we wanted to be aggressive,” said Flurry. “Whether we did it the right way, the wrong way, I think it was the only way to do it. I know there were some we probably dropped a little too far on, but when you're only given a certain number of races in the condition book where your horse fits, then sometimes you got to run them whenever you can. If you wait for a higher-priced race, then there's no telling when that moment will come up. Lot of factors at stake.”

Flurry says it all comes down to timing. A horse might be ready to run after a string of solid works, but then the weather might go to pieces. January in Hot Springs can produce icicles as big as Bowie knives and conditions dictate terms. As the Oaklawn meet goes on, the claiming races take on even more value, especially since the allowance and optional claimers draw like stakes.

“One horse we entered 13 times and finally said this race is going, let's be in there,” he said. “It was about half of what we paid for them, but she won, she got claimed, and we still made a profit. That's the good thing about Oaklawn, you can do that, still make a profit. It's not the most ideal thing that I want to do or really any horseman wants to do, but okay it's kind of the hand you're dealt.”

Sprinting towards the endgame, the race began to tighten as Flurry was taken on by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who is a juggernaut. When you operate a business like the parking lots, there is no place to hide from folks. They pat you on the back about the wins, but they also bring up the losses. There is no escape.

Carbone at Oaklawn | Coady Media

“We started out the meet super strong,” Flurry said. “We had an eight to ten race lead, then at one point with less than a month to go, Steve [Asmussen] and I were tied. I didn't want to be the guy that led the entire time, then lose it right there at the end. I put a lot of pressure and stress on myself. Honestly, it was more of a relief or more vindication than excitement.”

After securing the top prize, Flurry Racing is content to scale back its operation this time around as the new meet opened last Friday. The lineup includes some budding juveniles and prospects like 'TDN Rising Star' Carbone (Mitole), a 3-year-old homebred who has the potential to make his mark sprinting under Asmussen.

“I'm in a partnership in Carbone with Bill and Corinne Heiligbrodt and I've really enjoyed getting to know Steve [Asmussen] and working with him. I've got some decent 2-year-olds that we think have potential, so I'm excited to see what they turn into. I've had several people the last few years ask me to partner with them. We will bring some new owners into the game and this will be their first opportunity to own a horse.”

Now that the daily pressure is less so, the owner with the snowflake silks is enjoying what is to come now that he has parked that elusive trophy. As Staton Flurry will tell you, pulling off that feat at your hometown track is no small task because a trip to the winner's circle should never be taken for granted.