Pass The Hat started the year off with a bang, becoming Pin Oak’s first runner and first winner of 2026 with a powerful late-running victory in a Gulfstream Park allowance race on Saturday in his 5-year-old debut.

Ridden by Junior Alvarado and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Pass The Hat broke sharply but briefly hesitated in the gate before settling along the inside. He reserved early, saved ground around the far turn, and waited patiently approaching the quarter pole. Angling off the rail, he swung four wide into the stretch and tipped out even farther near the furlong marker, responding well when asked right-handed and closing with authority to draw clear in the final sixteenth.

Pass The Hat stopped the clock in 1:39.87 for 8 1/2 furlongs, winning by 2 3/4 lengths.

Bred by Bobby Flay Thoroughbreds, Pass The Hat is by Collected out of Veronique and is a half-brother to stakes winner Nashville.