Alysheba: Joseph, Mott go at it again with Skippylongstocking and Baeza
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – While White Abarrio and Sovereignty prepare for their second meeting in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster here in two months, trainers Saffie Joseph Jr. and Bill Mott will send out two of their other high-profile older horses when Skippylongstocking and Baeza meet in Friday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Skippylongstocking, at age 7, is in raging form, having won his last three races to improve his career record to 14 wins from 37 starts and earnings of $5.7 million. He beat White Abarrio in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January. After missing an intended start in the Santa Anita Handicap due to a shipping issue, Skippylongstocking was rerouted to the Grade 3 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park and dominated that field by 5 1/4 lengths.
Pretty heady stuff for a horse who last summer was well beaten in the Grade 1 Whitney and Grade 2 Charles Town Classic and looked as though he may have reached the end of the line.
Joseph said everything was on the table for Skippylonstocking last fall, including retirement. He made a few changes and when Skippylongstocking won the Harlan’s Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream in December, Joseph felt the horse was headed in the right direction.
Joseph said the combination of riding him more patiently and the addition of glue-on shoes has turned around Skippylongstocking’s fortunes.
“He wears glue-on, that’s really taken him to the next level apart from riding him more patient,” Joseph said.
Joseph also entered Navajo Warrior in the Alsyheba but said he will scratch him to run in the Pimlico Special at Laurel Park on May 15.
Baeza, after thirds in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes last year, got his breakthrough victory in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby last September. He ended his 3-year-old campaign with a sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Baeza will be making his first start for Mott, who was given the horse following the unexpected death of his previous trainer, John Shirreffs, in February. Baeza has been working steady throughout the winter at Payson Park in Florida, including a five-furlong move in 1:00.60 from the gate on April 21.
“We were looking at a two-other-than and maybe at the end of the day we’ll have decided that’s what we should have done,” Mott said. “I thought the toughest three horses in the country went to the race at Oaklawn, and I think he fits with everybody else. He’s pretty fit. He had a good work down at Payson the other day.”
Junior Alvarado will ride Baeza from post 3.
Corporate Power, a son of Curlin trained by Steve Asmussen, missed his entire 4-year-old season due to injury, but has run two strong races at age 5. He won a 1 1/16-mile allowance in February at Fair Grounds and then finished second, beaten a half-length, by Fair Grounds horse-for-course Touchuponastar in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic. Corporate Power earned a career-best 106 Beyer Speed Figure for the runner-up finish.
“The reality is how fast he ran,” Asmussen said. “I believe in numbers, huge number, unbelievable time for the day. We need to reproduce that. The concern is not if he’s fast enough, it’s if it’s far enough.”
Corporate Power is 2 for 2 at 1 1/16 miles, the distance of the Alysheba.
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Trainer Todd Pletcher is likely to scratch Disruptor from the Alysheba to run him in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on Saturday. He will still be represented by Grande. After Grande was scratched from the 2025 Kentucky Derby with a foot issue and given the rest of the year off, he has returned with two wins from as many starts, including a three-quarter-length victory in the Grade 3 Ghostzapper Stakes at Gulfstream on March 28.
“He’s come back great, both races have been good, happy with him,” Pletcher said. “Pretty good record he’s put together really.”
Nu What’s New, trained by James DeVito, has won three of his last four starts, the loss being a second to Magnitude in the Grade 3 Razorback at Oaklawn Park. Magnitude came back to win the Group 1 Dubai World Cup.
East Avenue, second in the Oaklawn Mile and winner of the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes the last time he raced at Churchill, and Tappan Street, the Grade 1 Florida Derby winner of 2025, add depth to this field.