Flat Out’s persistence earned him the second Jockey Club Gold Cup in a row
Preston Stables’ 6-year-old horse, Flat Out, posted his first victory since his take over from previous trainer Charles “Scooter” Dickey to current conditioner Bill Mott, when he landed the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park for the
second time in two years, a feat that was previously attained by Curlin in 2007-08.
"He likes it a lot here, and I do, too, now!" owner Art Preston remarked. "This is a very hard race. I think he's got what Tesio called 'morale.' He's tough-minded."
The son of Flatter landed his first victory since winning the 2011 edition of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, but was on the improve since switching to Bill Mott, and he kept his connections and fans anticipating a victory after good performances leading up to
the Gold Cup.
Finished 12th in the Grade 3 Fort Lauderdale Stakes, Flat Out showed a much improved performances in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, when he finished fifth, but from then on never looked back and posted a second place finish in the Grade 2 Monmouth
Cup and a third in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap.
"It was huge; he was sitting on a big one," Mott said of Flat Out's run. "He trained well coming into it; he ran a huge race last time. You couldn't have asked the horse to run any better than he did the last time out. He's a relatively fresh horse; he had
a little break late spring, and he was up for it today. He loves the distance and hopefully we're on to the Breeders' Cup."
Joel Rosario was aboard, Flat Out, for the first time, as the two tracked the pacesetter, Stay Thirsty. Flat Out advanced to fifth in mid-pack, and was always in striking position.
Coming off the far turn, Rosario swung wide on the outside, and by the mid-stretch, Flat Out took care of Fort Larned and went after Stay Thirsty, who was determined to hold on to his lead skimming the rail under Ramon Dominguez.
However, Flat Out dug in to nip, Stay Thirsty by a head in 2 minutes and 1.44 seconds, as Fort Larned finished third.
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