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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Howard Read chuckled as he recalled the instructions he gave trainer Jeremiah Englehart, who was shopping for a New York-bred at the 2024 OBS April Sale. “To get somebody we could get on the track last summer and actually win,” Read said, “rather than buying a horse and then letting him work out for a few months and then maybe get him on the track in September, or something like that, which happens all too often. I said, 'Let's get us one that's ready to go.' And this is the one he selected.” With his first purchase for Read and his partners in R and H Stable, Englehart followed the guidance he received from his clients of six months. The colt he bought for $45,000, subsequently named Mo Plex (Complexity), promptly won his two starts at Saratoga Race Course, his ownership group's home track. Both victories came in stakes, the GIII Sanford and the restricted Funny Cide, and Mo Plex will try for a third Saturday in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes. Englehart and the owners decided to try the Jim Dandy following Mo Plex's two-length victory in the GIII Ohio Derby on June 21, his first venture around two turns. Legion Bloodstock touted Englehart on Mo Plex, a member of Complexity's (Maclean's Music) first crop and out of Mo Joy, an unraced Uncle Mo mare. The colt was bred by Everything's Cricket Racing and was being offered at OBS April by consigner Jesse Hoppel. Mo Plex has never been worse than third in eight career starts (5-1-2) and has earned $745,000 for R and H Stable of Read and Rick Higgins and their minority partner Geoff Cannon. All three are attorneys that live in the Capital Region of New York around Saratoga. Read and Higgins met through mutual friends. Cannon was Higgins' attorney when he was in real estate. While having a Saratoga starter is a goal for many owners, it's a really big deal for local owners like the R and H Stable partners. “That's what we point to every year for all of our horses. It doesn't always work out,” said Higgins as he and Read both laughed. Read, 81, said he has owned horses since 1987 and that he and his partners, in the small stables of New York-breds he has managed, have had Saratoga starters and winners through the years. However, Mo Plex was their first Spa winner since Evaluator (Overanalyze) in 2020. Mo Plex is by far the most successful horse that Read and partners have raced and have exceeded whatever hopes they had for the bay colt Englehart acquired in Florida. “I think everybody's expectations,” Read said. “Not just ours.” Punctuating the comment, Read and Higgins, 73, laughed in unison. “We've been in the game long enough to know that we don't have very high expectations,” Higgins said. “It's a tough game.” Mo Plex proved he was ready to run for R and H with a 10-length victory in his maiden debut at Aqueduct on June 20. He won the historic Sanford on July 13 and improved to 3-0 in the Funny Cide on Aug. 25 as the even-money favorite. Next came a third in the GI Champagne. Englehart feels he made a tactical error in that race. “It was kind of like we were looking at trying to stalk, and probably just took him out of his game,” Englehart said. “It seems like he'll run all day long at a really high cruising speed and just kind of let him do his thing.” Three weeks later in his final start of the year, Mo Plex was second in the Sleepy Hollow for state-breds. Englehart gave him the winter off in South Carolina at the farm operated by Travis Durr, a partner in Legion Bloodstock. “He came down to get a break, which Jeremiah does with a lot of his horses. I started him back up here, and he really grew and changed and matured,” Durr said. “The four or five breezes I did with him, he did it the way good horses really do it.” Mo Plex bobbled at the start of his comeback race, the Gander for New York-breds on March 8, and ended up third by a half-length. On April 19 he won the open-company seven-furlong Bay Shore by a head. The original plan was to run next in another seven-furlong stake for New York-breds, the Mike Lee on June 4 at Saratoga. He was however unable to be entered because Englehart's barn was in quarantine after another horse nearby was found to have a case of strangles. Mo Plex continued to train, and his connections decided to send the speedy colt to the 1 1/8 miles Ohio Derby on June 21. “I was optimistic, but you never know until you do it,” Englehart said. “There was enough skepticism about it, where you're always going to have questions. But that's life as a trainer. They'll make a liar out of you all the time.” Read and Higgins understood it was tough assignment for Mo Plex. “That was a big step, a giant step,” Read said. In addition to the two turns and nine furlongs, Higgins noted that Mo Plex was shipping for a race at a new track with a new rider, Joseph Ramos. Howard Read, Rick Higgins, and Jeremiah Englehart | Sarah Andrew “There were many question marks,” Higgins said. After breaking to his right from the outside post, putting him last and wide early, Mo Plex accelerated to get into contention. He pressed pacesetter Clever Again (American Pharoah) through the backstretch, surged to the lead on the turn and repulsed the late challenge of Chunk of Gold (Preservationist). The R and H Stable crew was not at Thistledown for their colt's most important victory. Read and his wife Susan and Higgins and his girlfriend Jane Sanzen were all in England for the Royal Ascot meet. Higgins said that at 11:25 p.m., they were able to watch the race live. “NYRA Bets works fine, so we watched it on my phone,” Higgins said. “That's all we could do.” Naturally, the Mo Plex quartet cheered loudly in their hotel bar during and after the $500,000 race. “Probably more than the proprietor of the place wanted,” Read said. “He came out and said, 'what's going on here?' Basically.” Read and Higgins laughed again as they described the situation. “He asked us to cool it, like we were a couple of teenagers,” Higgins said. The Ohio Derby score forced the Mo Plex connections to decide whether their colt was capable of competing at the highest levels of the 3-year-old male division, the GI Haskell or the Jim Dandy, the Saratoga stepping stone to the GI Travers. They had to choose between facing GI Santa Anita Derby and GI Preakness winner Journalism (Curlin) in the Haskell or GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the Jim Dandy. They settled on staying home and running in the Jim Dandy, but said they might have gone to Monmouth Park if Journalism had not entered the race. Journalism came from off the pace with a determined run through the stretch Saturday to win the Haskell. “The horse was here and we prefer to race here,” Read said. Englehart said that Mo Plex is ready for the Jim Dandy. Manny Franco and Mo Plex will leave from Post 3 in the field of five. “I've always kind of felt that he could be this type of horse,” Englehart said, “especially if he proved that he can handle two turns and longer distances, and kind of use his natural speed, because he just keeps going and going and going. Now is, obviously, going to be the biggest test he'll have to date. Hopefully, he gives a good showing, like I think he will.” Read, Higgins and Cannon will be part of a group of dozen or more relatives and friends who will be at the Jim Dandy, cheering for a colt that a year ago they were hoping could simply compete and perhaps snag a win at the Spa. The situation is much different this summer for R and H Stable as it approaches its biggest race to date. “I think we know one thing about our horse is that he's going to run and he will give it everything he has,” Higgins said. “And, you know what? You can't ask for more. One deal you can't train into a horse is heart, and he's got heart. The only thing I know is he's going to run. He's going to run as hard as he can.” The post Mo Plex: More Than A Fun Saratoga Summer Horse For R & H Stable appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Nowornever · Posted
Yes I think I will go with Methven, Banks Peninsular and Ashburton. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Dollars and Sense with Frank AngstView the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
With the longed-for rain having arrived across Britain in the last week, Ed Walker has confirmed that progressive four-year-old Almaqam will head to the G2 Sky Bet York Stakes this Saturday. Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's colt has run just twice this year, notably beating beating subsequent G1 Prince of Wales's Stakes winner Ombudsman in the G3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes in May. Walker said of the son of Lope De Vega, “I left him in the King George but didn't feel Ascot was the right track in which to test him over a mile and a half for the first time against the Ballydoyle horses. “At York the ground should be ideal, as well as the track and the trip. It's the natural progression into a Group 2 and if he wins well, I will throw him into the deep end and take him back there for the Juddmonte [International Stakes].” Now the winner of three of his eight starts, Almaqam also has the Irish Champion Stakes in mid-September as a major autumn target. Walker added, “I've always thought the world of him as he's seriously exciting. My hopes and expectations make the nerves kick in as I think he's very special, and personally I will be very disappointed if he doesn't win a Group 1 as he's got everything you want in a racehorse. “I've tried to be responsible and not to get impatient, and hopefully his big time will be in the autumn as the Irish Champion is a perfect target after which we might look at the Arc. But 10 furlongs is where we are going for now. “He's certainly the best I've ever had so far, he's different gear.” The post Group 1 Targets for ‘Different Gear’ Almaqam After York Stakes Resumption appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Saturday's G2 Railway Stakes winner True Love has shot to the top of Timeform's two-year-old fillies' rankings following her five-length success, in which she beat three rival colts. The daughter of No Nay Never, who broker her maiden when winning the G2 Mary Stakes, has been awarded a mark of 110p, which puts her just 1lb behind her stable-mates, G2 Coventry Stakes winner Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) and the G3 Marble Hill winner Charles Darwin (No Nay Never), both of whom are on 111p. “True Love was impressive on Saturday and is now Timeform's top-rated two-year-old filly, with a rating of 110p,” said Timeform's Andrew Asquith. ” “She looks ready for Group 1 company next and holds entries in the Phoenix Stakes and Moyglare Stakes as well as the Nunthorpe at York. “With doubts over both Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin running again this season, she could well be pitched in against the boys once more at some point, where she would be very interesting from a ratings perspective once her sex allowance is taken into consideration.” For context, True Love's fellow Aidan O'Brien trainee Bedtime Story (Frankel) was rated 116p after her wide-margin win in last year's Chesham Stakes. The post True Loves Tops Timeform’s Juvenile Fillies’ List appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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