Saratoga Notebook, Presented by NYRA Bets: Mott Dodged a Bullet When Strong Storm Hit Thursday

[Wandering Eyes]

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Anyone who went by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's barn on the Oklahoma Training Track Friday morning did a double take.

A jumbo-sized maple tree, which has stood tall for years outside Mott's office, was no more.

Thanks to a violent display of weather Thursday night after Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course, the tree was uprooted and came crashing down.

Part of the tree came to rest on the roof of Mott's office. Miraculously, there was no damage done to the office, which was unoccupied when the storm hit shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday night.

“It was coming down and I was trying to hold it up, and I couldn't hold it up,” Mott said Friday morning, showing some levity over the situation.

Mott was eating dinner with his wife Tina at Pennell's Restaurant, not far from the track when the storm hit.

“We were sitting on the patio, and we were just finishing and the winds started blowing and just about everyone moved inside,” Mott said. “I drove over to the harness track to see (if horses) were ok and it was. There was some water, and I thought, 'if they are ok over there, they are probably ok over here.'”

Paul Caiano, the chief meteorologist at WNYT-13, the NBC affiliate in Albany, said just under an inch of rain fell in Saratoga in the 45-minute storm. He also said that radar indicated wind gust of over 50 miles an hour was recorded during the storm.

“That's what knocked that tree over,” Caiano said.

The horses at Mott's barn–including GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief)–did not seem bothered at all. The tree that fell came very close to hitting a two-horse open air stall next to the office. It did not and the horses there were not in any distress.

About the only damage that could be seen at the barn was a couple of Adirondack chairs that were outside the barn got hit. Interestingly enough, a hanging flowerpot outside the office, which looked to be in harm's way of the tree, was intact Friday.

Mott said the tree will be taken care of in the next day or so via chainsaws. When it is chopped up, it will make for a lot more sun outside of Mott's office.

Mo Plex Likely to Stay Put for Jim Dandy

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Friday that it looks more likely that his 3-year-old Mo Plex (Complexity) will stay home and run in the GII, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 26.

Englehart said that after watching his New York-bred go four furlongs alone in :49.25 (46/92) on the main track with jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard for the second straight work.

Mo Plex | Sarah Andrew

“We are leaning towards the Jim Dandy,” Englehart said.

Last week, Englehart said he might prefer to run Mo Plex, who won the GIII Ohio Derby in his last start, in the GI, $1-million Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park next Saturday.

Mo Plex is owned by Rick Higgins of Saratoga and Howard Reed of Albany (R & H Stable). Englehart said he originally tried talking his owners out of the Jim Dandy, but, after doing some thinking, decided that being at home was more of an advantage than heading out of town.

“If you go to the Haskell, you could have Journalism (Curlin); if we run here, you have Sovereignty and a couple other real nice horses,” Englehart said. “Any time you run in any of these races, you are going to have tough horses to run against.”

Englehart is hopeful that Ortiz will ride Mo Plex in the Jim Dandy.

“I am hoping,” Ortiz said after the work. “There has been no decision made yet.”

Ortiz rode Hill Road (Quality Road) in his last start, a fifth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes. He could be pointed to the Jim Dandy for trainer Chad Brown.

“I would love to have Irad,” Englehart said. “But if we can't, there are a lot of good riders in that room.”

Fierceness Works Towards His Date in Whitney

When 'TDN Rising Star' Fierceness (City of Light), works, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher expects good things.

Pletcher wasn't disappointed Friday when he watched the 4-year-old work five furlongs in 1:01.60 (4/10) with exercise rider Danny Wright on board, as usual. He worked in company on the main track with stablemate Dreamlike (Gun Runner), a 5-year-old gelding.

Fierceness (outside) & Dreamlike breezing Friday | Sarah Andrew

“It was typical of what we always see from him,” Pletcher said outside his office on the Oklahoma Training Track. “I thought he was very impressive; he did it in hand throughout. We wanted a good, solid work without overdoing it and that is what he did.”

This was his second work since finishing second in the GI Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga on June 7. The Saratoga target for Fierceness is the GI, $1-million Whitney Stakes on Aug. 2.

Pletcher is still mulling over whether Fierceness, owned by Repole Stable, Derrick Smith, Michael B. Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier, will have company in the Whitney.

He could also run 'TDN Rising Star' Mindframe (Constitution), unbeaten in three starts this year, in the Whitney. Mindframe, owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables LLC, won the GI Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs in his last start on June 28 and will return to the work tab next week, Pletcher said.

“We will continue to monitor how both are doing and wait as long as we can to make a decision,” Pletcher said about running both in the Whitney. “If you run them both against each other, barring a miraculous dead heat, one of them is going to get beat.”

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