Flat Out to Earn Fourth Oklahoma Leading Sire Title

As we wind our way toward the end of 2022, it's time for BloodHorse MarketWatch to look at the stallions who will own the leading sire titles for their respective states. It is true that it's not over 'til it's over but several sires hold such commanding leads by progeny earnings that it's safe to recognize their accomplishment even with days to spare.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll focus on the top 12 states and provinces by number of 2022 mares bred and will be using the progeny earnings compiled by BloodHorse, which draws from all available Northern Hemisphere racing results and makes adjustments for money earned in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore due to the disparity of purses relative to race quality.

Oklahoma's leading sire Flat Out   is the first to be recognized because he has a progeny earnings lead of nearly $4.2 million over second-ranked Liaison . Both Flat Out and Liaison stood this year at Mighty Acres near Pryor, Okla.

Flat Out will soon pick up his fourth consecutive title as Oklahoma's leading sire. The 16-year-old son of Flatter's first title in 2019 corresponds with the year he was relocated from Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky to Mighty Acres.

"Spendthrift gave him a good start, and he's just kept going," said Randy Blair, farm manager at Mighty Acres. "He just fits the style of racing here to a 'T' and is a good bread-and-butter kind of stallion. He is also a good-looking, big-boned horse that fits a lot of the mares here that tend to be speed types."

Since being relocated to Oklahoma, Flat Out has been breeding 70-80 mares each year and has been attracting several out-of-state breeders, too, from Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, and as far as California. This year he bred 77 mares, according to The Jockey Club records.

As for this year's racing, Flat Out sired 109 winners as of Dec. 27, which included black-type winners Cuban Cobra , Dicey , and Forewarned . Cuban Cobra, a 2-year-old colt out of the Johannesburg mare A E Phi Sensation, won three of his five starts this year and was second in the other two races. He won the Canadian Juvenile Stakes and Winnipeg Futurity. Dicey, a 6-year-old mare out of the Broken Vow daughter Broken Blues, won the Miranda Diane Stakes at Will Rogers Downs and was second in the Oklahoma Classics Distaff Sprint Stakes at Remington Park.

Forewarned, a 7-year-old colt out of the Five Star Day  mare Fortune Play, is Flat Out's leading earner with $940,283 in purses. The colt has earned more than $100,000 each year between 3 and 7 and has won six black-type stakes, including this year's listed Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Flat Out has sired 15 career black-type winners, led by multiple graded stakes winner Pacific Gale , 2020 Iowa Oaks (G3) winner Flat Out Speed , and 2021 Tom Fool Handicap (G3) winner Chateau . His progeny have earned more than $25.9 million so far.

Flat Out's stud fee holds steady next year at $3,000.

Second-ranked sire Liaison, a son of Indian Charlie, was sold in the fall and will stand next year at Boehlke Ranch near Waverly, Minn.