Multimillionaire Flat Out retired at 7

Flat Out, one of only two horses to win both the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Suburban Handicap multiple times, has been retired from racing, owner Art Preston confirmed Saturday. Preston said he hoped to announce stallion plans in the coming week.

Flat Out, a 7-year-old son of Flatter, capped a terrific career by winning the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Nov. 30 at Aqueduct. That was his ninth win from 29 career starts and his third in a Grade 1. He earned $3,645,383.

Flat Out won back-to-back runnings of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup (2011-12), becoming the 10th horse to do that and the 11th to win that race more than once. Flat Out was a two-time winner of the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap (2011, 2013), one of only five horses to win that race more than once.

Kelso, who won five Gold Cups from 1960-64 and the Suburban in 1961 and 1963, is the only other horse to have won both races more than once.

Flat Out’s other stakes victories came in the Grade 3 Westchester this year and the Smarty Jones as a 3-year-old.

Preston said retiring Flat Out was a difficult decision because the horse is sound, but he decided to retire him because of his age. Flat Out arrived at Preston Stables in Paris, Ky., on Friday.

“To give him a chance as a stallion, he needs to go to stud now,” said Preston, who plans to retain a part interest in Flat Out as a stallion. “If we waited, he wouldn’t have been able to draw the right type of mares.”

Flat Out began his career in the barn of Charles “Scooter” Dickey, who had him from 2008 through February 2012. During that time, Flat Out won the Suburban and Jockey Club and was the favorite in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic, where he finished fifth. The horse was turned over to Bill Mott, who ran him 13 times, winning four races.

Preston said he considered stopping on Flat Out after he threw in clunkers in this year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (third) and BC Classic (eighth), but he was convinced by Mott and racing manager Richard Decker to try the Cigar Mile.

“We took the shot, and it worked out,” Preston said. “It was probably one of the most enjoyable races I ever won, and I won a lot of big races.”