Skytown To Make His Stakes Debut In Gander Stakes

March 04, 2025

Adelphi Racing Club will be looking to win our second Gander in a row (Pandagate won the race last year) when Skytown makes his stakes debut this Saturday at Aqueduct...

Courtesy of NYRA/Mary Eddy

R and H Stable’s graded stakes-winner Mo Plex is set to make his sophomore debut in Saturday’s $125,000 Gander, a one-turn mile test for New York-bred sophomores, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, the son of Complexity was last seen finishing second in the state-bred Sleepy Hollow going the Gander distance on October 27 at Belmont at the Big A, finishing 1 1/2 lengths behind Sacrosanct, who finished eighth in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gotham here for trainer Brad Cox.

In the Sleepy Hollow, Mo Plex set the pace from the inside post under Irad Ortiz, Jr. and was met with a challenge from Sacrosanct in the turn before running on well down the lane to land place honors 3 1/2 lengths ahead of returning rival Soontobeking. The effort was awarded a career best 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

“Brad always seemed high on Sacrosanct and we got off a touch slow and our hand was forced coming from the inside,” Englehart said. “I was very pleased with the way Mo Plex ran that day.

“We sent him down to Travis Durr in South Carolina, and when he sent him back, he was very pleased with his progress and how he was working on the farm,” Englehart continued. “So far, it’s been pretty good. The idea was to start him back in New York-bred company. Brad was pointing Sacrosanct to the Gotham and Linda [Rice] was going there with Sand Devil [second], so we thought this was a good spot for his first start back.”

Mo Plex has been a model of consistency in five lifetime outings, winning his first three starts that included a 10-length romp sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on debut in June here, and a pacesetting score in the Grade 3 Sanford in July at Saratoga Race Course. He capped the win streak with a determined nose score over Soontobeking from off the pace in the state-bred Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in August at the Spa ahead of a third-place finish in the one-mile Grade 1 Champagne in October and his Sleepy Hollow effort.

Englehart said Mo Plex can be adaptable to any pace scenario.