Flat Out wins the 2011 Jockey Club Gold Cup

October 1, 2011

Overnight rains soaked Belmont Park for Super Saturday and its 6 Breeders' Cup prep races, led by the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) for older horses prepping for the Classic. A field of 7 older horses went 1 1/4 miles on the muddy main track before the 10,481 fans in attendance, with Stay Thirsty sent off as the 6-5 favorite in his first start against older horses, after winning the Jim Dandy (G2) and Travers (G1).

In to challenge him included the 7-5 Preston Stables entry of Woodward (G1) runner-up Flat Out and Brooklyn (G2) winner Birdrun, and 8-1 third choice Drosselmeyer, 7th in the Sword Dancer (G1) last out.

Jockey Rajiv Maragh sent 11-1 Rodman to the lead on the clubhouse turn and he set easy fractions of 24.17, 48.56, and 1:12.66 while as many as 2 lengths ahead of Birdrun and Stay Thirsty stalking the pace second and third. On the far turn, Rodman tired as Flat Out, who sat 4th early, moved up to take a short lead through 1 mile in 1:37.29. 9-1 fourth choice Drosselmeyer, fifth early, put in a late rally, catching Stay Thirsty late, but was no match for Flat Out who cruised under the line 2 1/4 lengths in front in 2:03.17 over the sealed muddy surface. Half a length separated runner-up Drosselmeyer and favorite Stay Thirsty in third.
Results chart

Also on the card were the Beldame Stakes, the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, the Vosburgh Stakes, and the Flower Bowl Invitational.

Flat Out walks down Victory Lane

Winning owner Art Preston said, “It’s about time, isn’t it? He’s a great horse – he’s run a lot of good seconds and everything, and he just had the race he needed today. It’s the first Gold Cup we’ve run in, and to win the first one, that’s pretty special. It was his race today. Everything worked out.”

Flat Out in winner's circle

Winning trainer Charles "Scooter" Dickey said, “Alex told me in the paddock, the track is fast out there even though it’s wet. He said ‘I’ll probably have to lay a little closer and stay out.’ He likes to stay out, I think, but he doesn’t have to. The less amount of dirt in his face the better. Alex rode him perfect.  He did everything perfectly. I never was worried about the 1 1/4 miles. It seemed to be a decent pace.

I liked the 48 [seconds]; that’s just the way he likes to run. He seems to like this track, he’s 2-for-2 [and] he ran two real good races at Saratoga. You can’t knock those horses he ran against there. This is my first Grade 1 win; you wouldn’t believe how big this is. I’ve been training since 1963. It’s tremendous. It’s hard to fathom, but I like it.”

Flat Out in the post parade

On the prospect of facing Tizway, Uncle Mo and Havre de Grace in the Breeders' CupClassic, trainer "Scooter" Dickey added, “We’re going to be there and try them. We’ll go back to Monmouth tonight and ship to Kentucky the day after tomorrow.”

Winning jockey Alex Solis said, “He handled the track fine. I talked to Scooter in the paddock. I said, ‘The track is playing really fast. I might have to use him a little bit leaving the gate to make sure we stay close.’ In a situation like today, I had to do that.

It gets him out of his game a little bit, but it was something we had to do.”

Second place finisher Drosselmeyer

Jockey Jose Lezcano said, "He gave me a big run. Once he changed leads, he took off. He gave me everything he had coming down the stretch, but Flat Out wasn't coming back to us."

Trainer Bill Mott added, "These guys were just too fast for him. Drosselmeyer ran real well. We'll have to see whether he goes to the Classic or the Marathon."

Third place finisher Stay Thirsty

Trainer Todd Pletcher said, “Talking to Javier Castellano he felt like he struggled with the racetrack a bit. His comment was that this was a different type of muddy track than Belmont Stakes day, which was a really sloppy, splash-through-it type track. This was getting to the end of the day and we haven’t had any real rain since early this morning. It’s kind of getting to that drying-out, sticky stage; he struggled with it a little bit.

In spite of that, it wasn’t a bad effort. I mean Flat Out is obviously extremely good at Belmont, probably better at Belmont than anywhere; that’s two big wins for him on this surface. To get beat 1/2 length by a Belmont winner [Drosselmeyer], we were running against two horses who really specialize at Belmont. At the end of the day, it was his first time against older horses and we think he can improve on this.”

Uncle Mo wins the 2011 Kelso Handicap

October 1, 2011

The $200,000 Kelso Handicap (G2) is a major prep for the Breeders' CupDirt Mile (G1), but is also a potential Classic (G1) prep. After Sangaree scratched, just 4 went to post in this 1 mile trip around 1 turn of the muddy Belmont main track, with 2010 champion juvenile Uncle Mo sent off as the 3-5 favorite off his close second in the King's Bishop (G1) at Saratoga last out. In to challenge him were 5-2 second choice Jackson Bend, off wins in the James Marvin Stakes and Forego Stakes (G1) both at Saratoga, 3-1 third choice Jersey Town, second in both the Teddy Drone and the Forego, and 14-1 outsider Golddigger's Boy, 5th in the Forego.

Jockey John Velazquez sent Uncle Mo to the lead exiting the chute and he was allowed an uncontested lead of 2 lengths down the backstretch through fractions of 23.47 and 46.03. On the turn, Jackson Bend moved alongside to challenge through 3/4 in 1:09.34, but Uncle Mo turned him away easily, drawing clear through the stretch to win by 3 lengths in 1:33.82 over the muddy, sealed main track. It was a long 8 lengths back to Jersey Town third.

Results chart

Also on the card were the Beldame Stakes, the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, the Vosburgh Stakes, and the Flower Bowl Invitational.

Uncle Mo in winner's circle

Winning owner Mike Repole said, "When Jackson Bend came alongside him, I’m sure if we stopped the race right there and asked all you guys who was going to win, I don’t think too many would have said Uncle Mo. Johnny just looked, Mo found another gear, and Mo took off. That’s what makes him so special. He can go 6 furlongs, he can go 1 1/2 miles. He’s not only brilliant and not only fast, he’s got the mind to go with it."

Asked about his next start, he added, "In my opinion, if you run Uncle Mo in the Sprint, he's the favorite. If you run Uncle Mo in the Dirt Mile, he's the favorite. If you run him in the Classic, he's probably going to be the favorite. I want to win the Classic. If Mo was in the Mile and won, and Stay Thirsty was in the Classic and finished third, it would be a decision I would regret for the rest of my life. Why not take two shots at a race everybody wants to win?"

Winning trainer Todd Pletcher said, "I would have been surprised if he didn't run really well. He had trained so brilliantly since the King's Bishop. He ran even better than I could have hoped. Jackson Bend put in a serious move around the turn. He was really running; in the form he's in, obviously, he's the horse you're mainly concerned about."

Jockey John Velazquez added, “They told me to let him go and to leave him alone, so I just let him do whatever he wanted to do. I had plenty of horse, so when I asked him to run, he was there for me.”

Trainer Nick Zito said, "Uncle Mo is a top horse. Johnny (Velazquez) came over a slight bit because he's so big. He couldn't get in there. Uncle Mo took his path. Jackson Bend came out and tried again. I'm just ecstatic. He ran great. I knew were were running against a top horse. Jackson left everything there. He proved how good he is. Now, we'll go onto the (Breeders' Cup Dirt) Mile race."

3-1 third choice Jersey Town stalked the pace in second under jockey Cornelio Velasquez, but tired late to check in third beaten 11 lengths. The Barclay Tagg trainee improved his record to 5 wins, 7 seconds, and 2 thirds in 15 starts, earning $483,001 for owner-breeder Charles Fipke.