Flatlined continues to improve in Fort Lauderdale
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Scooter Dickey has always maintained that like fine wine, the offspring of Flatter get better with age. The latest example is Flatlined, who came off arguably the best performance of his life here last month with an even better effort on Saturday to register a neck triumph over Almanaar in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale at Gulfstream Park.
Dickey trained another son of Flatter, Flat Out, to win Grade 1 races at ages 5, 6, and 7.
Flatlined, beaten a neck by the favored Heart to Heart in the 7 1/2-furlong El Prado to close out his 4-year-old campaign, rallied under a superbly judged ride by Joe Bravo to register the first graded win of his career. Unhurried early while saving ground while racing near the rear of the field, Flatlined advanced along the rail approaching the stretch, angled out for the drive, and proved narrowly best over Almanaar. Almanaar, in turn, finished three parts of a length in front of the tepid favorite Divisidero, who angled extremely wide with his final bid into the stretch.
Heart to Heart, who set the early pace, weakened late to finish fourth, just in front of the pace-pressing Rose Brier.
Flatlined, owned by the partnership of Brian Hytrek, Rodney Paden, and Ryan Kuhn, completed 1 1/16 miles over a firm turf course in 1:41.29 and paid $32.60.
“The Flatters just get better with age, just like Flat Out,” said Dickey.
Referring to Flatlined, Dickey said: “He’s just a very versatile horse, the kind of horse you need. And Joe rode him great. I thought if he ran the race he did last time, he’d have a chance.”
Dickey said Flatlined would be pointed to the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap on Feb. 11.