Flat Out, the beaten favorite in last year’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, will be at Monmouth on Saturday to contest the Grade 2 $200,000 Monmouth Cup. The race will be his first for Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who took over training the multiple graded stakes winner this past winter.

“He’s a cool horse, he’s nice to be around, fun to train,” said Mott. “He’s just a real neat horse, he’s a good horse. I think he’s proven he’s a good horse. Scooter (Dickey) had him and did well with him. The (owners) wanted him to be in New York and I was the lucky recipient of him. I hope I can get him back to good form when he ran his best races.”

The Preston Stables LLC color bearer takes on a field of five others three and up in the one mile affair on the main track. Under Rosie Napravnik, he’ll face multiple Grade 3 winner Rule, one of two entrants along with San Pablo trained by Todd Pletcher, and Ponzi Scheme, winner of the $75,000 Decathlon Stakes here on opening day.

In his last start two weeks ago, Ponzi Scheme didn’t fare as well in the Donald LeVine Memorial Handicap at Parx and ran fifth behind Sloane Ranger, who is also in the Monmouth Cup field.

“We just threw that race out,” said Juan Serey, Ponzi Scheme’s trainer. “We had to ship on a very hot day and he wasn’t right by the time the race came. He should race much better this time. He loves this track, and we don’t have to ship in the heat.”