Lynch Puts the Competition on ‘Alert’

by Ben Massam

It’s been an exciting winter for trainer Brian Lynch. With a number of proven graded stakes winners and promising maiden graduates already residing in his barn, it was Power Alert (Aus) (Alert {Arg})–an imported turf sprinter–who stole the show this past weekend at Gulfstream Park. The grey’s victory in Saturday’s Silks Run S. marked his second in as many stateside starts since being purchased by Lynch.

But it wasn’t always such a smooth ride for Power Alert. The gelding showed signs of latent potential when winning four times from 13 tries on Australian soil for owners J.B. and A.M. Power and trainer Trevor Sutherland, but according to Lynch, he was hindered by both racing misfortune and his physical makeup.

“My brother works at a track in Wagga Wagga where the horse was being trained, and he happened to see him down there,” said Lynch. “He always showed a lot of talent, but didn’t have a lot of luck in running. He ended up bleeding down there. If they bleed once, they get [ruled off] 60 days, and if they bleed a second time, they get barred for life.”

Lynch, an Aussie himself, acted quickly to capitalize on his brother’s insight.
 
“Before he bled a second time, I was able to negotiate a deal with the guys that owned him, and I got him on a flight headed over here.”

Equipped with Lasix and nearly nine months of recuperation time, Power Alert motored home to a 1 3/4-length score in a Dec. 21 allowance going five furlongs on the lawn at Gulfstream. With three rivals from that event returning to win their next starts, Power Alert added to that total with his triumph in the Silks Run over the same trip and surface.

The Australian-bred’s immediate success in North America served to validate Lynch’s investment, which was understandably once an uncertain proposition.

“It was a bit of a gamble, as you don’t know if the form was going to hold up,” he admitted. “But he had run at a few tracks in a few races I was familiar with, and I consider my brother a good judge of horses. He was adamant that the horse had talent, and I was confident that the Aussie form would stand up. Some of their good sprinters have been competitive in Japan and over at Ascot. So I think their sprint racing is pretty strong.”

The trainer said he also believes that Power Alert received a valuable foundation of balanced Australian training that gives him an advantage in American turf sprint races loaded with early speed. Accordingly, the gelding has demonstrated an ability to relax behind a pacesetter in both of his recent triumphs at Gulfstream.

“At home [in Australia], we don’t tend to send them out of the gate as hard, so they learn to settle a bit earlier and finish a bit stronger,” Lynch noted. “That certainly plays to his favor, especially in sprint races, because [in North America] we program them to go gate-to-wire. The races tend to set up for late-running sprinters. His pedigree suggests he should run further, too–I just haven’t had the chance to stretch him out over that sort of ground with the way the races come up at Gulfstream.”

With that in mind, Lynch said he is looking forward to entering his trainee in some of the higher-profile sprint events on the turf in America and Canada. He is currently pointing Power Alert to a start in the GIII Shakertown S. over 5 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland Apr. 4. The conditioner also is eyeing a pair of $300,000 six-furlong events later in the year, the GIII Jaipur S. at Belmont June 6 and the GII Nearctic S. at his seasonal home base of Woodbine Oct. 18.

“You surprise yourself at how many lucrative spots there are for a good sprinter on the grass,” he remarked. “You look at the spacing of the races, and he can be a very productive horse.”

In addition to Power Alert, Lynch has a ‘TDN Rising Star’ on his hands in Stronach Stables homebred Unbridled Juan (Unbridled’s Song). The grey notched a dominant seven-length score in a one-mile maiden event at Gulfstream Mar. 7. The trainer said he expects further development from the colt in the coming months.

“He came out of his race wonderful and is doing super,” remarked Lynch. “Being a Canadian-bred, he’ll be geared to the Queen’s Plate S. [July 5 at Woodbine]. I’d like to try him in an ‘a-other-than’ allowance in the second book at Keeneland and take it from there. Ultimately, later in the year, I’d like to see him in races like the GI Haskell Invitational and the GI Travers S. I feel like he’s that caliber of horse. His mother [MGSW Sugar Swirl] was such a good racehorse, so it’s really cool to get a well-bred colt out of her that has his ability. I had a lot of fun [training] her.”

Lynch saddled another Stronach homebred, Shaman Ghost (Ghostzapper), to a 12-1 upset victory over 
1 1/16 miles this past Saturday at Gulfstream. Acknowledging that the bay appears to fit the profile of a true Classic-distance racehorse, the trainer said he looks forward to possibly running the Ontario-bred in events such as the 10-furlong Queen’s Plate.

The conditioner also has made plans for the seasonal debuts of his most accomplished runners, GISW Coffee Clique (Medaglia d’Oro) and MGSW Clearly Now (Horse Greeley). The former will get her season underway in Gulfstream’s GII Honey Fox S. Mar. 28, while the latter worked seven furlongs in 1:27.50 at Palm Meadows Monday in preparation for a likely return in the Apr. 4 GI Carter H. at Aqueduct.