For Immediate Release – Oklahoma City, OK, July 23, 2024 – Flat Hanby would try to become only the third Oklahoma-bred horse to win the Oklahoma Derby if the two-time stakes winner were to be entered in the Grade 3 race on Sept. 29 at Remington Park.
Trainer Boyd “Jobe” Caster is still up in the air about this Flat Out gelding’s participation in the Oklahoma Derby despite Flat Hanby winning his second stakes in a row this past Saturday, taking the $78,513 Iowa Stallion Stakes at Prairie Meadow in Altoona, Iowa, by 1-3/4 lengths. It was Flat Hanby’s fourth consecutive win overall. He made it to the winner’s circle Saturday under jockey Alex Birzer.
Clever Trevor in 1989, first year of the Oklahoma Derby when it was the Remington Park Derby and millionaire Shotgun Kowboy in 2015 are the only Oklahoma-breds to win the cornerstone race for 3-year-olds here.
“The funny thing is that Flat Hanby has won four races in a row with four different jockeys,” said Caster, who conditions this gelding for Joe and Theresa Moore of Tontitown, Ark. “I just really wanted to see a similar speed figure that he got when he won the Canterbury Derby (in Minnesota). He got an Equibase 99 in that race and this one was only an 84. I just need to talk with Joe and Theresa who are owners under the umbrella of JT Stables.”
They own this gelding as well as multiple stakes winner Rowdy Rascal, who Caster said will race in the Red Earth Stakes again this year on Friday, Sept. 20. Remington Park’s fall thoroughbred meet begins Friday, Aug. 16.
Flat Hanby, out of the Ocean Terrace mare Jealous Ellis, could possibly run in the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap for 3-year-old colts and geldings on Friday, Sept. 6, but is unlikely to run in that race and the Oklahoma Derby.
Last year’s Springboard Mile winner for 2-year-olds, Otto the Conqueror, gets an automatic berth into the Oklahoma Derby should 18-time training title winner here, Steve Asmussen, choose to ship him here again.
“There are just so many things that go into it,” Caster said of entering Flat Hanby. “I trained his mom and she was a sprinter.”
Jealous Ellis’ top race was a second-place finish in the $55,000 Oklahoma Stallion Stakes at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., on May 5, 2012. That was at a mile distance. Flat Hanby’s past two stakes wins have come at one mile on the dirt at Canterbury with jockey Eduardo Gallardo up when he won by six lengths and at 1-mile, 70 yards at Prairie Meadows.
Flat Hanby’s sire Flat Out, who stands at Mighty Acres in Pryor, Okla., has been Oklahoma’s leading sire for three years in a row. Flat Hanby’s record, as he prepares to ship to Remington Park this week, is six starts, four wins and $101,722 earned.
“I thought he ran a little flat (even though he won by almost two lengths, stumbled at the start of the race and was seven wide in the first turn),” said Caster. “He seemed a little more tired after this race than he did after winning the Canterbury Derby. If he doesn’t run in the Oklahoma Stallion (Handicap), that probably means he will be pointed to the Oklahoma Derby.”
Who knows? Maybe the Moores will talk him into the Oklahoma Derby. After all, they bred Ted’s Folly who won the $315,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park in 2011 in an upset at 6-1 odds, and as the only Oklahoma-bred in that field.
“Joe and Theresa sold him to (trainer-owner) Steve Martin for $1,200 and look what he did,” said Caster.
Remington Park has provided more than $354 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season will begin on August 16. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
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Remington Park has provided more than $354 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park presents simulcast racing daily and non-stop casino gaming. The 2024 Thoroughbred Season will begin on August 16. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.