Skippylongstocking strides to wire in sloppy West Virginia Derby

The plan for Daniel Alonso’s Skippylongstocking worked to perfection on Saturday when the 3-year-old Exaggerator colt who had been competitive in two Triple Crown races broke through with his first stakes victory in the $500,000, Grade 3 West Virginia Derby.

Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Skippylongstocking in his last start on June 11 finished a solid third in the Belmont Stakes after dueling with eventual fourth-place finisher We the People for about a mile and a quarter. Joseph freshened the colt a bit before he returned to the work tab at Saratoga Race Course in July.

The goal, Joseph said, was the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park, which from the far turn to the finish turned into a battle between the two colts that did the early work in the 1 ½-mile Belmont.

We the People, a Constitution colt owned by WinStar Farm, Bobby Flay, Siena Farm and CMNWLTH and trained by Rodolphe Brisset, again grabbed the early initiative in West Virginia Derby with Skippylongstocking in second, never worse than 1 1/4 lengths behind. We the People, ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr., set an honest pace on a track rated sloppy with three-quarters of a mile in 1:11.50.

Skippylongstocking, ridden by Edwin Gonzalez for the first time, ranged up outside the leader on the far turn and the duel was on. The winner gradually edged clear of a stubborn We the People to win by 1 ¼ lengths 1:48.11. Simplification, who raced in third throughout, finished 4 3/4 lengths behind favored We the People. The winner paid $9.80 as the third choice.

Skippylongstocking, who doubled his career earnings to $672,600, was purchased for $37,000 at the Ocala Breeders 2-year-olds in training sale. The colt provided Alonso, who has been a Thoroughbred owner since 2015, with his first graded stakes win.

“This is huge,” said Alonso, who was part of a large group in the winner’s circle. “It’s our first graded-stakes win, and we’re looking forward and we’ll see what happens. Maybe we’ll take a shot at the big boys.”

Though the Brad Cox-trained Home Brew finished fourth in the West Virginia Derby after a troubled start, Cox had another banner day at Mountaineer. As was the case in 2018, Cox won three stakes including the $200,000 Grade III Governor’s Stakes.

All three were ridden by Paco Lopez, who came in from Monmouth Park for five mounts, all trained by Cox.

Juddmonte Farms’ homebred Fulsome capped it off with a 1 ¼-length score in the Governor’s Stakes. The 3-year-old Into Mischief colt was sixth but never far back in a bunched field and took over at the top of the stretch. The time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:43.48 and the winner paid $3.40.

Fulsome, a three-time Grade III stakes winner before his first trip to Mountaineer, now has four, and he cleared the $1 million mark in earnings.

Cox also won the $75,000 West Virginia Senate President’s Cup for fillies and mares at one mile and 70 yards with Adventuring, and the $75,000 West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker’s Cup for 3-year-olds and up at one mile and 70 yards with Price Talk. Both races were taken off the turf.