Flat Out records first winner from first starter

Multiple Grade 1 winner Flat Out was the first of this year’s freshman sires off the mark with a winner at a major U.S. racetrack, as Flat Drunk captured her career debut on Thursday at Keeneland.

Flat Drunk, the first starter by her sire, rallied to win by a half-length, finishing 4 ½ furlongs in 52.75 seconds. The filly, out of the unraced Lion Heart mare Feline Flatline, was bred in Kentucky by Wayne, Gray, and Bryan Lyster, and is co-owned by the Lysters in partnership with Donna Hancock. Corey Lanerie was aboard Flat Drunk for trainer John Hancock.

Flat Out, standing at Spendthrift Farm, won or placed in 17 stakes and bankrolled more than $3.6 million while racing from ages 2 to 6. He won two editions of the Jockey Club Gold Cup and finished third in another; and also captured two editions of the Suburban Handicap, and the Cigar Mile in his career finale. His other career highlights included runner-up efforts in two editions of the Woodward, a second and a third in two editions of the Whitney Handicap, and third-place finishes in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Metropolitan Handicap, and Clark Handicap.

Flat Out is part of a strong class of freshman sires with their first juveniles running in 2017, also including American classic winners Animal Kingdom, Orb, and Oxbow. Animal Kingdom, who began his stud career on Southern Hemisphere time in Australia, already has winners on that continent. Other freshman sires this year include well-regarded juvenile champion Shanghai Bobby and several other Grade 1 winners.