Gotham Stakes fits Swale winner Mischevious Alex 'really well'

Trainer John Servis sees Mischevious Alex, dominant winner of Saturday’s Swale Stakes (G3), as “more of a sprinter type” instead of a classic 2020 Kentucky Derby hopeful.

But the Gotham Stakes (G3) on March 7 at Aqueduct could allow the 3-year-old to enter into that mix, at least for one race.

Servis said Sunday that the Gotham is the likely next-out target for Mischevious Alex. The one-turn mile goes one furlong longer than the Swale, which the Into Mischief colt won by seven lengths under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

“It’ll probably fit him really well,” Servis said of the Gotham. “Now if he jumps up in the Gotham and runs really good then (owner Chuck) Zacney and I will talk and decide what we’re going to do.

“Right now, for me, the only way I think he would stretch out and really go long is simply because he’s got so much class. He’s got a good mind on him. He’ll just kind of sit and he’s so ‘push button,’ which is really good.”

The Gotham is essentially a win-and-you’re-in Kentucky Derby prep, paying 50 points to its winner toward a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gates May 2.

“I talked to Irad about it a little bit,” Servis said, “and he kind of thought that the one-turn mile would hit him right in the head.”

Zacney’s Cash is King LLC and LC Racing LLC campaign Mischevious Alex, who sports a 6: 3-1-1 record with $179,230 in earnings.

After winning on debut last June at Parx Racing, Mischevious Alex went winless over his next three starts. The last of those efforts was a seventh-place run Sept. 21 in Laurel Park’s Laurel Futurity, a race that represented his only run on turf and only finish outside the money.

Servis shifted Mischevious Alex back to the dirt after that, and also added blinkers. Since then, he’s won two stakes races – the black-type Parx Juvenile on Nov. 5 and the Swale on Saturday – by a combined 16¾ lengths.

“He would work in the morning and he would start looking in, then all of a sudden start looking out – just really showing a lot of greenness, you know, a lot of immaturity,” Servis said.

“For me, I hate putting blinkers on a horse too soon. I like giving them an opportunity to get some experience and figure it out themselves. Usually, if you see a first-time starter for me with blinkers on, that’s usually not a good sign. But that’s why he had a few races under him before we put the blinkers on him.”

The Swale victory Saturday came in a race that featured Grade 2 winner Green Light Go and Untitled, a well-regarded newcomer to trainer Mark Casse’s barn.

Mischevious Alex stayed steady after bumping with Untitled out of the gates. Ortiz kept him along the rail, contesting a pace set by Flash Pass and Shivaree.

The Servis trainee cruised to the lead coming around the turn and drew off from there to win by seven furlongs over second-place Shivaree.

“I mean I was very impressed,” Servis said. “He had been off quite a while. You’re always worried about having the time off and if they get tired coming back. He got a little tired. He switched off his lead late in the stretch and quartered up a little bit. But he obviously ran a big race.”