For Immediate Release – Oklahoma City, OK – September 6, 2024 – Flat Hanby would definitely win the comeback award of the year if there were one for 3-year-old racehorses at Remington Park. He won the $30,000 Oklahoma Stallion Handicap Colts & Geldings division on Thursday night for his fifth win in a row as a sophomore, and third consecutive stakes win.
As a 2-year-old, he only raced twice at Remington Park, finishing fourth, beaten 20-1/4 lengths and then running eighth, losing by 12-1/4 lengths, both times against maidens. He came up with an injury that left him on the shelf from Sept. 22 to April 23. Trainer Boyd “Jobe” Caster was worried about whether he would ever race again. After time off to heal, he began a five-race win streak in 2024.
“He is doing now what we thought he was going to do as a 2-year-old,” Caster said. “We really thought he was going to be a Springboard Mile horse (Remington’s largest race for 2-year-olds).”
Coming into the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap, a restricted race for progeny of registered Oklahoma stallions, the 3-year-old Oklahoma homebred by Flat Out, from the Ocean Terrace mare Jealous Ellis, had won a maiden race on April 23 at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., a conditioned allowance race for Oklahoma-breds at WRD, the $50,000 Canterbury Derby in Minnesota and the $70,000 Iowa Stallion Stakes at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa. The most amazing stat he has racked up may be that in his seven starts lifetime, Flat Hanby has had six different riders. Floyd Wethey, Jr. becomes the first jockey to ride him twice, scoring the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap and his maiden win this spring at WRD.
“That didn’t take much out of him,” Wethey said of the 6-1/4 length victory in the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap. “He didn’t even draw a breath. I don’t think we’ve even seen the best of him.”
Despite the impressive victory, Caster, who trains Flat Hanby, for owner JT Stables (Joe and Theresa Moore) of Tontitown, Ark., wasn’t quite ready to commit to the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby on Sunday, Sept. 29.
“Can you ask me tomorrow?” he said. “We will nominate him for the Oklahoma Derby (on Friday, Sept. 13) but if it comes up too tough, we don’t have to go.”
Flat Hanby had entered to run in the $250,000 St. Louis Derby at FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing (formerly Fairmount Park) on Aug. 24 but scratched from that race after Caster said he spiked a fever a couple of days before. E J Won the Cup, a Doug O’Neill trainee, won that race by 9-1/4 lengths and he is a possibility for the Oklahoma Derby.
Flat Hanby, a huge gray, was sent off at 4-5 odds as the favorite in the seven-furlong Oklahoma Stallion Handicap and stopped the timer in 1:23.61 over the fast track. The final time was five-hundredths of a second faster than Miss Code West, the winner of the fillies division of the Oklahoma Stallion Handicap, one race earlier on Friday night. Miss Code West was last year’s Remington Park Champion Horse of the Meet, who won in 1:23.66.
The Flat Hanby victory was the fourth of five wins for Wethey on the night (Cliff Berry once won seven-of-seven mounts here). Wethey closed from third place in the early going and passed front runner Legacy Account (10-1), who set the early pace, but faded to third, and Judge McBee (11-1), who was second the whole race. Judge McBee was a head in front of Legacy Account who finished third. Chasin Jason was fourth while Okie Smoke was fifth to complete the order of finish.
Flat Hanby paid $3.80 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.10 to show. He earned $18,000 from the purse and improved his record to seven starts, five wins and $119,722 earned.
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Remington Park has provided more than $357 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 continues through Dec. 13. The Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby takes place on Sunday, Sept. 29. Must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.
