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New York-bred Mo Plex makes the grade in G3 Sanford

by Keith McCalmont

R and H Stable’s New York-bred Mo Plex made his stakes debut a winning one in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford, a six-furlong sprint for juveniles, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Jeremiah Englehart and piloted by Irad Ortiz, Jr., the Complexity bay, bred by Everything’s Cricket Racing, made every pole a winning one to validate his impressive debut last month at Belmont at the Big A.

“This is where I call home all year long, and I concentrate and focus on buying New York-breds. Hopefully, we’ve got a few more we can unveil later in the meet and have some fun with,” Englehart said. “It’s just a tremendous program, and they’ve shown they can run with anything. To me, it’s fantastic and it’s almost like job security when you’re able to have New York-breds. I’m blessed.”

Mo Plex broke alertly from the outermost post 7 and surged to the lead through splits of 22.51 seconds and 45.92 over the fast main track as Mr. Squeaky Wheels and Baby Dukes dueled for second in front of the tracking Three Echoes.

Jose Ortiz angled Mr. Squeaky Wheels off the inside and into second position through the turn with Three Echoes advancing and the Xavier Perez-piloted Listed Tremont-winner Studlydoright rolling from near the back of the seven-horse field.

Mo Plex opened up a two-length advantage at the stretch call with Mr. Squeaky Wheels chasing in vain and drifting towards the rail as Studlydoright loomed the main danger. But there was no reeling in the runaway Mo Plex, who held the hard-charging Studlydoright at bay by one length in a final time of 1:11.72. In victory, he became the first stakes winner for his freshman sire Complexity.

It was a half-length back to Three Echoes, who was one length better than Mr. Squeaky Wheels in fourth. Soontobeking, who was bumped hard at the start by sixth-place Baby Dukes and Three Echoes, finished fifth while War Tax trailed nearly throughout. Mentee, the 6-5 morning line favorite, was scratched this morning after developing a fever according to Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

Mo Plex was similarly dominant on debut, exiting the outermost post 7 in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden sprint at the Big A where he opened up by five lengths at the stretch call on his way to a 10-length romp that garnered a 67 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He broke sharp today a lot more sharp than last time. I tried to keep him together, he was looking around a little bit and playing around, I think,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “He is a young horse, so I tried to keep him focused all the way to the wire. When we turned for home, I asked him, and he responded well. I had to keep him busy to keep his attention to get the job done. He is a really nice horse, he has talent."

The previously undefeated Studlydoright, a 13-1 winner of the Tremont on June 6 here, performed admirably in defeat for trainer John Robb. Perez lamented the scratch of frontrunning debut winner Mentee, who was expected to ensure a rapid pace.

“We got a great break, I tried to keep him close to the pace, and they let the eight [Mo Plex] go solo in front. That kind of killed, because speed was holding the whole day,” Perez said. “When I turned for home, I tipped my horse outside like last time, and he was coming on really hard at the end. They just let that eight go solo in front, and I think it cost me the race. I wish the one [Mentee] would’ve stayed in, he would’ve been up there with the eight. That’s horse racing. It is all about luck and good trips.”

Englehart said he will consider a number of options going forward for Mo Plex with local possibilities led by the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special on August 10 or the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful on September 2. Another possibility is the state-bred six-furlong $200,000 Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital on August 25.

“I’ll see how he comes out. I actually always thought he’d go a little further,” Englehart said. “I was surprised he had as much speed as he did, and they gained on him a little bit late. Hopefully, he comes out of this race well and maybe we look towards the end of the meet.”

Mo Plex, a $45,000 OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training purchase, is out of the Uncle Mo mare Mo Joy. His third dam is the graded stakes-winning Wild Again mare Anklet. He returned $5.70 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Grade 3, $175,000 Quick Call presented by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

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