Stephanoatsee Doing Well for Strub

Conditions were suitable for trainer Graham Motion to ship Stephanoatsee from the East Coast for Saturday’s Grade II, $200,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.

The son of A.P. Indy owned and bred by My Meadowview Farm, LLC, last ran on Nov. 17 at Aqueduct, finishing third in the Grade III Discovery Handicap at nine furlongs.

“We got in Tuesday afternoon and he’s been training every day since,” said Motion assistant Alice Clapham. “He’s been in great form here. We had horses here in the past for a couple of years, so we’ve been here before.

“This horse needs a mile and an eighth and it seemed like a good spot for him. There really wasn’t much around and he was ready to run.”

The field for the Strub: Fed Biz, Mike Smith, 2-1; Guilt Trip, Joe Talamo, 5-2; Tritap, Corey Nakatani, 5-2; Groovin’ Solo, Alonso Quinonez, 30-1; Handsome Mike, Mario Gutierrez, 6-1; and Stephanoatsee, Julien Leparoux, 4-1. Shadow Runner was scratched.