Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Flat Out impressed his connections
Saturday morning with a four-furlong breeze in :48 over the main track at
Churchill Downs in preparation for Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap.
Under jockey Greta Kuntzweiler, Flat Out recorded fractions of :12 3/5, :24
2/5
and :36 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:01. The four-furlong time was the
eighth fastest of 91 at the distance on a very busy morning beneath the Twin
Spires.
“The horse worked perfectly,” trainer Scooter Dickey said. “The owners were
here to watch him and we were all really happy. He’s doing great.”
Flat Out was doing so great Saturday morning that Dickey noted Kuntzweiler
had to restrain him more than usual to keep the five-year-old son of Flatter from
working too quickly.
“We didn’t want her (Kuntzweiler) to really pull on him and make him throw
his head, but she had a better hold of him than she usually does and he still
worked pretty fast,” Dickey said. “We wanted him to do it all by himself and
that’s how he did it. He loves to work.”
Flat Out returned to Dickey’s barn in good order following the breeze.
“He cooled out great,” Dickey said. “He was acting like he didn’t even work
this morning.”
Owned by Preston Stables LLC, Flat Out has raced twice at Churchill Downs
this year, finishing sixth in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap and fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
In both races, Flat Out broke from an inside post — breaking from the rail
in the Stephen Foster and post position two in the Classic. With the scratch of
Prayer for Relief, who had drawn the rail, in the Classic, Flat Out once again
drew further inside than any other starter.
“It wouldn’t exactly make me mad if we drew further outside,” Dickey said
with a grin. “We’ve been inside both times he’s gotten beat here this year.
We’re hoping to not draw the one, but that’s out of our hands.”
Flat Out has been assigned the high weight of 123 pounds
by Churchill Downs racing secretary Ben Huffman for the 137th running of
the Clark, which is set for 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
In between runs at Churchill Downs, Flat Out experienced a great deal of
success in New York. In his four races in the Empire State, Flat Out recorded
wins in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap and Jockey Club Gold Cup and was second in
both the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap and Grade 1 Woodward.
Horses expected to be entered in the Clark on Tuesday include Grade 1 winners Stately Victor
and General Quarters; Grade 2 victors Wise Dan, Mission Impazible and Headache;
Grade 3 scorers Demarcation, Mister Marti Gras and Pleasant Prince; Grade
3-placed Equestrio; and sophomores Ruler On Ice and Prayer for Relief.