High Oak, Speaker's Corner give Mott solid day

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When High Oak drew off to a very convincing 4 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Saratoga Special, the performance capped a very special half-hour for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, coming as it did on the heels of perhaps an even more impressive effort by his highly regarded 3-year-old prospect Speaker’s Corner in the previous race.

Making his first start since October, Speaker’s Corner rallied from midpack to a 5 1/4-length triumph over a loaded field of entry-level allowance rivals, earning a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure in the process and establishing the Godolphin homebred as a force to reckon with in the 3-year-old division during the final four months of the season.

“We wanted to bring him back at a mile and one eighth; the race didn’t go, [and] I was a little concerned whether seven furlongs was the right distance for him, but it worked out,” Mott said. “He was able to get to them and kick away. So maybe it was the right place to start after all.”

Speaker’s Corner went to the sidelines with a minor stress fracture in a hind pastern after winning a super key maiden special weight race going seven furlongs at Belmont Park on October 11. His return was further delayed when he contracted a virus during the spring.

“He would have been ready the end of Belmont, but we literally lost a month with him when he got sick and that cost us another month, so instead of returning at the end of June, first of July, here we are in mid-August. We have plenty of options moving forward off of this. Looking at the calendar, I guess we’ve got the Pennsylvania Derby. We’ve always been pretty high on him, so we wouldn’t really be afraid to step up a little bit.”

The Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby will be run at Parx Racing on September 25.

As for High Oak, Mott said his latest star came out of the Saratoga Special in good order. The victory was the second in as many starts for High Oak, a son of Gormley owned in partnership by Lee Einsidler’s LRE Racing Stable and Mike Francesa’s JEH Racing Stable. The 90 Beyer he received for the victory was a 33 point improvement over his debut win.

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“It was a super effort visually to me,” Mott said. “I thought it was very impressive. It wasn’t a struggle. He put them away and went on about his business. You’re always hoping they move forward and as time goes on you learn more about each horse, but he sure looked good yesterday.”

Mott said it is unlikely the Grade 1 Hopeful on closing day here would be under consideration for High Oak’s next start.

“It comes back a little quick, it really wouldn’t be fair, it would be asking a lot of him,” Mott said. “If it was the last start of the season, we wouldn’t hesitate. But there are a few more options, so I don’t think we’re forced into that.