Saratoga Notebook: Sovereignty Takes Next Step Toward Summer Goals

[Wandering Eyes]

SARATOGA SPRINGS–When Neal Poznansky, sitting on the back of GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes champion Sovereignty (Into Mischief), saw jockey Junior Alvarado early Friday morning, he wore a wide smile.

“How'd I do?” Poznansky said.

Alvarado grinned back. No answer necessary.

Sovereignty did what Poznansky, Alvarado and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott wanted to see as he had his second work since winning the Belmont last month.

Working in company with 4-year-old stablemate Jefferson Street (Street Sense), Sovereignty and Poznansky, Mott's assistant, covered four furlongs in :48.99 (3/24) on the Oklahoma Training Track.

Alvarado, the regular rider of Sovereignty, watched the work from the rail on the Oklahoma.

“He looked awesome,” Alvarado said. “He did it very impressive and very easy.”

Alvarado said the only time he got on Sovereignty in the morning was when the colt was a 2-year-old and before he started his racing career.

Sovereignty inside of Jefferson Street during a recent workout | Sarah Andrew

“I probably could have put my 6-year-old kid on him,” Alvarado said about those early days.

Last week, Sovereignty worked a half mile in a pokey :51.27 seconds by himself.

Things got a little more serious this week as Sovereignty has been given the $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes as his next target.

“It depends on what the trainer feels,” Mott said when asked why Sovereignty had a workmate on Friday. “I felt like he should go in company today. He was on the bridle. I thought the work went well. This is what we planned and that is how it worked out.”

Sovereignty, bred & owned by Godolphin, has won three of four starts this year. His only loss came when he was second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. His other win was the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth in Hallandale.

Alvarado said it was after the Florida Derby that Mott really began to train Sovereignty and that got him to the next level.

“The goal was always the Kentucky Derby,” Alvarado said. “He is just very easy in the races. Even if he is not 100 percent ready, when you want to ask him, he'll be there for you. Like in the Belmont, he put himself right up close to the pace and it's not like I asked him to do that. He was just faster that day and put himself right up there. I wasn't going to take that away from him.”

The Jim Dandy, and then the $1.25 million GI DK Travers Stakes are the summer goals for Sovereignty.

“I really think the best is yet to come from him,” Alvarado said. “When he turns four, that's when I think we'll see the best of him.”

 

Mo Plex Taking A Strange Path To Next Start

Had things not taken an abrupt turn for Mo Plex (Complexity), perhaps his work on Friday would not have been part of the New York-bred's preparations for either the $1 million GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park July 19 or the Jim Dandy.

But that is exactly where the colt, trained by Jeremiah Englehart is at. Here's why:

Last month, Englehart was planning to run Mo Plex in the Mike Lee Stakes for New York-breds at Saratoga. That didn't happen because a case of strangles put Englehart's barn under quarantine and forced him to scratch from the race.

Mo Plex with Irad Ortiz up | Sarah Andrew

Plan B then became the GIII Ohio Derby at Thistledown June 21. He won that and, suddenly, bigger doors opened. Englehart will have to decide where he is going to go; had he participated in the Mike Lee and done well, Mo Plex may have stayed with New York-breds.

“We would probably be talking about the Albany [Aug. 21],” Englehart said outside his barn at the Annex across from the Oklahoma Training Track. “Sometimes, things work out for certain reasons. With him, (strangles) was a blessing in disguise.”

Running in the 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby allowed Englehart to get Mo Plex around two turns for the first time. He is owned by R & H Stable, which is made up of Rick Higgins of Saratoga Springs and Howard Reed of nearby Albany.

“I had to talk them into the Ohio Derby,” Englehart said. “It really all worked out.”

As a 2-year-old, Mo Plex won the GII Sanford Stakes at Saratoga in open company and was third in the GI Champagne Stakes. In the start before the Ohio Derby, he won the listed Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct in open company.

He has five wins in eight career starts and has bankrolled $745,000. Mo Plex won the Ohio Derby by two lengths.

Friday, with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, Mo Plex worked four furlongs on the main track in :47.55 (3/80).

Englehart has time to figure out where he wants to go next with Mo Plex.

“I believe he fits,” Englehart said of the 3-year-old division while acknowledging the superiority of Sovereignty and Journalism (Curlin). “After those two, everyone else is in the same waters. This will be a chance to show if he belongs or not. I just know him. He shows up for every race. I am pretty confident he won't make a fool of himself.”

 

'Skippy' Just Keeps On Trucking For Joseph

In his 32-race career, 6-year-old horse Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) has won 11 times and competed at 15 different racetracks. He's here, at Saratoga, waiting on the $1 million GI Whitney Stakes Aug. 1.

Owned by Daniel Alonso, Skippylongstocking was entered to run in last weekend's GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs, but trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. skipped it, opting to wait for the Whitney.

Skippylongstocking takes the Hollywood Gold Cup | Benoit

In his last start, Skippylongstocking won the GII Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes at Santa Anita May 26.

“[Stephen Foster] was back quick after the Hollywood,” Joseph said Friday morning outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch. “We wanted to go to the Stephen Foster, but the more we thought about it, it was a tough race. We would have had to ship again; it was hot weather, and he doesn't do good in the hot. It made more sense to stay here.”

Skippylongstocking has two wins and two thirds in four starts this year. He was third in the GI Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park and GIII Oaklawn Handicap and also won the GIII Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay.

Joseph says the plan is for Skippylongstocking to return for a 7-year-old campaign next year, but he hopes for big things the rest of this year. After the Whitney, where he is likely to see horses such as 'TDN Rising Stars' Fierceness (City of Light) and Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), plus stablemate White Abarrio (Race Day), Joseph wants to see Skippylongstocking go for his third straight victory in the $1 million GII Charles Town Classic Aug. 22.

Joseph knows that the older horse division is loaded this year, but that won't scare him and Skippy off.

“On his best day, he is capable of knocking them off,” Joseph said. “Overall, he is a notch below the best. That is why we pick our spots. We know when to try and when to back off.”

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