MICK Flanagan stood to the side of the podium as Mike Smith, Teo Ah King, Michael Wallace and Bob Baffert talked about Abel Tasman’s win in the Kentucky Oaks.

Several times Flanagan’s name came up, receiving credit for putting the deal together to secure Abel Tasman for the China Horse Club.

Racing for China Horse Club and breeder Clearsky Farm, the daughter of Quality Road upset the Grade 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks, rallying from last in the 14-horse field to score over Daddys Lil Darling and Lockdown in the $1 million stakes.

“When it works out it’s brilliant,” Flanagan said of the deal to bring China Horse Club on board with Bernard and Eamonn Cleary’s Clearsky Farm, breeder of Abel Tasman, after she won the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos in December.

“When I was a kid I actually worked with Eamon, Jr.’s dad. Obviously he was taken away from us prematurely, which was tough. It was great to be able to keep up the contact with the two boys. They’re doing a great job running the farm. The results speak for themselves,” Flanagan said.

“It’s not coincidence really. They’ve got the good farms, the good land, they’ve bought the right mares and breed to the right stallions. You know they’re old school Irish stockmen. They would have grown up around cattle and sheep predominantly and if you get a good ground with that you can turn it over to the horses. It’s simple. They have a great farm manager in Barry Robinette. It’s pretty slick. It’s a low number, high quality broodmare band. Congratulations to them.”

Abel Tasman secured her second Grade 1 stakes score and first since joining Baffert. Originally trained by Simon Callaghan, Abel Tasman won three of five starts before moving to Baffert after a reported rift when jockey Joe Talamo came out of the jocks’ room in wrong silks for the Santa Ysabel in March.

TOUGH

It was a tough way to lose a horse for Callaghan and another break for Baffert who immediately began to make his mark on the dynamic bay filly.

Baffert switched to Arrogate’s jockey, Mike Smith, and aimed at the Santa Anita Oaks, where she finished second, beaten 11¾-lengths by Paradise Woods. Smith, aboard for the first time that day, wondered about adding blinkers.

“She was kind of, not 100% focused,” Smith said of the Santa Anita Oaks.

“She would get a hold of you for about 16th of a mile and there was a little bit of focus again. It is a good indication they probably need just a little bit of a blinker. So, as soon as we got off, (Baffert) said, ‘What do you think about a little bit of a blinker?’ I said, ‘I was just getting ready you to tell you that.’ ”

BLINKERS

Baffert dug in the tack trunk for a pair of plain black blinkers with short cups and Abel Tasman did the rest, roaring from well back to run down a retreating pack that included favorite Paradise Woods who burned up on a hot pace over the sloppy track.

On a day when closers sputtered, Smith once again turned conventional wisdom on its head.

“I was really worried earlier because it seemed like just all speed on the rail. I was thinking I am just always a day early or whatever. And I got to give a lot of credit to Mike. He just rode her with the confidence he does. The older he gets, the better he gets. I don’t know what it is. Big Money Mike,” Baffert said.

“The last thing I told him, ‘Don’t think you are riding Arrogate.” Sure enough, ‘Well, you rode her just like Arrogate.’ The thing is, Mike, he knows I have confidence in him, whether it’s right or wrong. Whatever move, it’s not the end of the world. You have to trust each other.”