Flat Out taking veteran trainer on ride of his life
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Charles "Scooter" Dickey may be 70 years old, but after Flat Out delivered the veteran trainer his first Grade 1 victory in a career that began in 1963, he's going to have to get used to living in the limelight. "We drove home (to Monmouth Park) last night in New York traffic, and it was pretty heavy, and got home at 8 or 9 o'clock, and I had 66 texts and 16 phone calls," Dickey said Sunday, still flush with excitement a day after Flat Out's win in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup Invitational at Belmont Park. "A lot of people are cheering for us." The five-year-old Flat Out, a son of Flatter, had run some tremendous races this year -- a huge score in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap and back-to-back second-place finishes at Saratoga Race Course in the Grade 1 Whitney Invitational Handicap and Grade 1 Woodward -- but the Jockey Club Gold Cup was by far the crowning achievement for the horse and trainer.
Racing off the pace, Flat Out won the 1 1/4-mile Jockey Club Gold Cup by 2 1/4 lengths over 2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer in a time of 2:03.
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"In this day and age, guys with a few hundred head of horses, they dominate
things," Dickey reflected on how difficult it is to win a Grade 1 race. "Back in
the day, you weren't allowed to have that many horses."
Dickey said Flat Out came out of the race "ready to go. Everything was great.
He came out of the race fine, and he was right on his feed."
Dickey said he will attend the Fasig-Tipton yearling sale this week at
Timonium and then ship Flat Out from Monmouth to Churchill Downs to prepare for
the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Two other winners on the "Super Saturday" card at Belmont also are being
pointed to the Classic -- Grade 2 Kelso winner Uncle Mo and Grade 1 Beldame
heroine Havre de Grace. Dickey figures he might have a little edge on those two
going in.
"I proved a mile and a quarter wasn't too far for me," Dickey said. "I know
my horse can do it. He tries his heart out on every track, not matter what type
of track it is. He's never run a really bad race."
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