Ball of Fire Realizes Eiland's Dreams in Louisville Derby

Original article written by Fanta Arcadia posted 11 years 3 weeks ago

You find your faith has been lost and shaken/Here's your chance and it's worth taking/Get on your knees and dig down deep/You can do what you think is impossible/Keep on believing, don't give in/You've got the strength, to raise the wind/Remember what one dream can do/You are unstoppable.

Every great achievement in life was once a dream that was sought after; there were most certainly times that you did not think you could achieve that one wish, but you just have to dig down deep and keep on trying. Like the lyrics above from Rascal Flatts’ “You Are Unstoppable”, nothing is impossible so long as you keep trying, and one dream can change everything.

Scott Eiland is a dreamer in every sense of the word. He has achieved great success with his runners on the track and many of them were homebreds, but the one thing he has wanted the most has been that elusive Derby win. Copious amounts of blood, sweat, tears, and money have went into this dream of his as each year his horses have run their hearts out but haven’t quite been able to reach the finish line in front.

Yet one little post in the forum would change everything for Scott, and that post pertained to asking for advice on which stallion he should send his mare Worth Millions to. Laura Ferguson was quick to reply and with her advice, Scott sent the daughter of East to a plain bay wrapper by the name of Flames.

Like his name, the resulting bay colt was a homebred for Scott and like his sire he is a plain bay wrapper. In fact, there are many things that this colt takes after his sire. His diminutive height is one of the more predominate features, and right from his birth Scott had a named picked out for him: Ball of Fire.

The bay wrapper had a pension for living up to not only his father’s features but to his name as well. Ball of Fire is an explosive firecracker wrapped up in a small, brown package that’s just waiting to explode. As a yearling he blazed across the track with the greatest of ease, and would protest when he was to be led off the track. He knew where he belonged, and he knew from an early age that he was the biggest horse out there.

As a two year old he lost his first outing, but was quick to break his maiden on his second try. All witnessed just a glimmer of his potential that day when he rolled to a two length victory and recorded a blazing 89 speed figure. His next outing was the Thriller Stakes where Joust only bested him by a neck, but a pretty 86 speed figure is labeled in bold after his running lines.

After three weeks of rest, Scott gave his talented colt another shot at stakes company to end the year. This time Ball of Fire made sure to light up the tote board when he held off Targaryen by a half of a length in the Two Year Old Marathon.

At the start of the year Scott Eiland began to crank his speedball as tight as he would go, starting with a run in the Tremendous Stakes in Week Two. In that race, Smouldering could not catch the bay colt who was galloping away by two and a quarter lengths. Scott wasn’t done getting his big horse ready for the big dance, and he entered Ball of Fire back in the Kentucky Blue Stakes two weeks later.

Ball of Fire said no problem to those plans and bounded to a length and a half win over Loki Regard, hitting a 91 speed figure in the process.

With that final race all of the preparations had been made and it was time for Ball of Fire and Scott Eiland’s date with destiny; a date with destiny that would take less than two minutes to return a verdict.

At the break Ball of Fire was taken well behind his rivals to settle in eleventh in a field of sixteen. Seasoned jockey Scott Williams was anything but alarmed as he patiently waited for Ball of Fire to gather his legs underneath him. Besides, this was no three-quarter mile sprint and there was plenty of time to make a move.

As Targaryen pressed the pace up front with Firefly breathing down his next as they neared the final turn, Ball of Fire had ranged up into fourth at this point. When they hit the top of the stretch the heavy favorite Firefly was in front, but in what seemed like a heartbeat a plain bay wrapper whose jockey was clad in blue drew up alongside and began to pull away from the favorite.
When the wire flashed overhead it would be Ball of Fire realizing Scott Eiland’s dream by a length and a half.

After several years of heartbreak and near misses, Scott Eiland’s dream had been realized and with a homebred nonetheless. It was not long after the Derby that Ball of Fire was shipped to A Wheely Merry Farm to prepare for this Friday’s Baltimore Crown. He now has over $1 million in earnings and five wins and two seconds in seven starts.

He makes the second Derby winner that Flames has sired and his dam’s first Derby winner, and considering that he is her oldest progeny that’s saying something.

So I’ll close by saying:

Best of luck to Ball of Fire and Scott Eiland in the Baltimore Crown!

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