The 4-year-old Flashy Chelsey showed he’ll be a factor in the Claiming Crown this year, taking a tough $40,000 second-level allowance race by ahead over Chicago invader and nine-time winner Steelman Run in the Ellis Park feature.

“He’s a good horse,” said Churchill Downs-based trainer Rob O’Connor, an Ellis Park training champion in the early 1990s who is 2 for 2 at this meet. “People don’t know how good this horse is.”

Flashy Chelsey last fall won a lucrative allowance race at Kentucky Downs, then was a close fourth in Churchill’s Grade 3 Jefferson Cup for 3-year-olds. Though he was eighth in last year’s Claiming Crown Emerald at Gulfstream Park, he lost by only 5 1/2 lengths in a race taken off the turf.

The Claiming Crown provides a big-money showcase for the blue-collar horses that fill the cards in American racing. They are run under starter-allowance conditions. In fact, O’Connor said his next objective for Flashy Chelsey will be the $75,000 Claiming Crown Emerald Prep Sept. 11 at Kentucky Downs. Like the Claiming Crown, that race is for horses who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or cheaper since Jan. 1, 2015.

Flashy Chelsey, whom O’Connor claimed for $30,000 two years ago for brother-in-law Bruce McCrea of Louisville, is eligible for the Claiming Crown because he ran — winning — for a $25,000 claiming price in March, 2015.

Flashy Chelsey was making his second start of the year, having finished a good third in a similar Churchill Downs allowance race. The winner that day, Greengrassofyoming, won Arlington’s Grade 3 Stars and Stripes in his next race and finished fourth in the Arlington Million, losing by a total of 1 1/4 lengths.

“We hesitated running him and not than waiting for Kentucky Downs” and a $145,000 allowance race there, O’Connor said. “But he’s eligible for the $25,000 starter, and that gave us a second option. Who knows what will come up at Kentucky Downs (in the allowance race)? So that’s why we ran here.”

Francisco Torres had Flashy Chelsey in a beautiful stalking position from the outside as second-choice King Ptolemy established modest pace over firm turf. Flashy Chelsey went after the leaders leaving the far turn, had a length cushion in mid-stretch and dug in to hold off Steelman Run and jockey Alejandro Contreras. Flashy Chelsey covered 1 1/8 miles in a solid 1:48.85, his last eighth-mile going in 12.02 seconds at a distance that O’Connor thinks might be stretching his limits.

“Beautiful trip, beautiful horse,” Torres said. “It was just a matter of when and how. When I called on him, he quickened up. For this kind of money, it came up a tough race. But he’s a good horse.”

Flashy Chelsey, a chestnut son of Flashy Bull, now is 5-4-2 in 19 starts, earning $184,559. He paid $12.40 to win as the fourth choice in the field of eight.

On the 2-year-old front, owner Woodford Thoroughbreds had to feel good about Awesome Express’ chances against Florida-bred and Florida-sired company after the filly won her debut in open company, taking the seventh race by a head over Dawn the Destroyer after the two battled throughout the race.

Awesome Express, with Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard for trainer Neil Howard, showed a lot to like, including battling back on the inside while covering 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.32. She paid $13 to win as the fourth choice.

“I had never been on her, but Neil seemed to like her quite a bit,” Hernandez said. “She ran real impressive, gutted it out and ran big. It looks like her future is bright. The last two horses I won on first-time out for Neil were (multiple graded-stakes winner) Eagle and Ahh Chocolate.”

If there was a surprise to Awesome Express, it’s that she’s a Florida-bred racing for the Woodford Racing syndicate headed by Will Farish Jr., better-known for the classy Kentucky-breds that come off his family’s Lane’s End Farm in Woodford County.

“Well, we put together a syndicate that was going to be two state-breds, like New  York-bred or Ontario, trying to do it in the $75,000 range,” Farish said. “We couldn’t get any 2-year-olds in that price range. So we ended up doing one filly for $130,000 in the partnership. This is her.”

Awesome Express, a daughter of Awesome of Course, was purchased at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales’ April auction of 2-year-olds in training. She missed out getting another $7,000 in Kentucky-bred purse supplements in the maiden race, but looks like she could be pretty salty in Florida-bred and Florida-sired stakes in Florida.

“That was a gutsy race,” Farish said. “Being down on the inside, little like she is, it was a double tall order for her first time out. But she really dug in. We are thrilled she did this first time out. This is not the old Ellis Park. These races are tough, so it’s fun to pull one off.”

Agreed the Louisville-based Howard: “You can look at the program and see how these races are coming up down here. This is a different meet. It might say Ellis Park, but it’s a whole different ballgame now.”

Corey Lanerie won two races to take a 19-17 edge in the jockeys’ race over Hernandez and Miguel Mena. Jockey Jon Court continued to stay hot, winning two races for the fourth consecutive racing day to give him 12.

Wiener-Dog championship field set  

The field has been set for this coming Saturday’s Wiener-Dog grand championship, with the top two finishers from Sunday’s two heats filling out the eight-dog bracket.

You wouldn’t have bet Colby to win Sunday’s first qualifying heat off the post parade. The No. 7 dog, the 27-pound Colby, with his short legs making it look like his belly was on the ground, kept stopping on the way to the starting gate and had to be urged to continue. One wondered if he would make the course.

But it turns out that Colby is a wily veteran of dachshund dashes. When the gate sprung open, Colby barreled to a clear lead and made a steady beeline to the wire, withstanding the late charge by No. 6 O-Lee, who nipped No. 4 Tucker for the second qualifying spot. Time for about 50 yards was 8.9 seconds, off the course record of 6.91 set Saturday by Mini Corndog with Ketchup.

“He’s not fat, he’s a standard,” Scott Keach of Henderson, who owns Colby with his wife, Jennifer. “He’s not a miniature. He’s just stout, let’s say that.”

The Keaches said Colby never wants to go to the post. And in fact, Colby didn’t want to go into the winner’s circle until Jennifer was on the scene.

“He’s a rescue, and he’s very much a mama’s boy,” Jennifer said. “He loves his mommy… (But) he’s a born racer.”

The Keaches said Colby made last year’s championship field, though he did not win. They said they won the first Wiener-Dog competition held at Ellis 12 years ago with another rescue dog, named Penny.

In the second heat, No. 8 Turbo Dutch took what appeared an insurmountable lead, but then stopped to chase his closest rival and make a couple more detours before straightening out to take second in a photo. Meanwhile No. 1 Minnie, who took a left-hand turn out of the gate, rallied late after overcoming her own mid-stretch distractions and jumping a rival to win in 12.84 seconds.

“They are distracted, but it’s a great opportunities for families to come out to race their dogs,” said Rhonda Kircher, Minnie’s owner from Beaver Dam, Ky., who because of a massive traffic jam caused by construction on the U.S. 41 North bridge barely made it for the race. “It’s a great event; we do it every year. Two years ago, Minnie was the runner-up. The year before that, one of our dachshunds won it all.”

“He wanted to know where his buddies were,” owner Chuck Capshaw of Evansville said of Turbo Dutch. “He was way ahead, then he was wondering where his friends were, so he had to turn around a little bit. But we managed to pull out a decent finish so hopefully we’ll improve next week and win the championship.”