Englehart to choose between two stakes for Mo Plex
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Mo Plex, the Grade 3 Ohio Derby winner who finished seventh in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 20, is targeting either the $250,000 Empire Classic on Oct. 25 or the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes for 3-year-olds for his next start, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Monday.
Englehart said the decision would come down to whichever he felt like was the “lighter race.”
The Empire Classic, run at 1 1/8 miles, is restricted to New York-breds but means facing older horses. The Dwyer, a one-turn mile, would give Mo Plex another chance to run in a race restricted to 3-year-olds.
“We’ll read the [past performances] and see what we’re going to do,” Englehart said.
Englehart was disappointed that Mo Plex didn’t give a better showing than his seventh-place finish in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, but he said jockey Joe Ramos told him the horse didn’t seem to be handling the surface.
“Ramos felt like even when he was getting ready to go, he wasn’t going,” Englehart said. “[Parx] can be a little quirky for some horses. We’ll do our best just to put a line through that.”
The Empire Classic would mark the first start versus New York-bred company for Mo Plex since he finished third, beaten a half-length, in the Gander Stakes at Aqueduct in March. That was his first start in four and a half months. Since the Gander, Mo Plex has raced in four open-company stakes, winning the Bay Shore at Aqueduct and the Ohio Derby at Thistledown before running fourth to Sovereignty in the Jim Dandy and seventh to Baeza in the Pennsylvania Derby.
On Saturday at Saratoga, Mo Plex worked a half-mile in 48.59 seconds, galloping out five furlongs in 1:01.63.
“The same horse we started with early in the spring is the same horse we have right now, which is very hard to do,” Englehart said.
The Empire Classic is expected to attract the 3-year-old Iron Dome, the dominant winner of the Albany Stakes at Saratoga who most recently finished second behind Bracket Buster in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.
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