Mott mulling two spots for Yoshida

Bill Mott has returned the rented formalwear for his trip to Royal Ascot, which must mean it’s time to turn the page and move onto the next chapter of Yoshida’s career.

Yoshida, with Mott in attendance, finished a respectable fifth last week in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes, the first race of the Royal Ascot meeting, and Thursday was to be his first day back training with Mott’s string at Saratoga.

“He’s back and doing well,” Mott said Wednesday.

Yoshida won the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs in his 4-year-old debut before traveling overseas to become Mott’s second Royal Ascot starter following Long On Value in 2017. For a moment, with about a quarter-mile left in the straight-course mile, it appeared that Yoshida had a chance to win, but his run ebbed late and he had to settle for the respectable rather than the spectacular.

“He ran well,” Mott said. “It’s hard to determine if he ran his best – the straight is so unusual for them.”

What also hasn’t been determined is where Yoshida will next race. Two possibilities are the Fourstardave at Saratoga and the Arlington Million, both Grade 1 races on Aug. 11. A trip to the 1 1/4-mile Million could push the distance limitations of Yoshida, who has won at 1 1/8 miles but probably didn’t show his best last summer in the Belmont Derby Invitational, his lone try at a distance as long as 1 1/4 miles.

Mott could also be figuring out how to separate Yoshida and Good Samaritan, who share common ownership, if Good Samaritan returns to turf in his next start. After winning the New Orleans Handicap in his 2018 debut, Good Samaritan was a well beaten third in the Alysheba at Churchill Downs and never a factor when seventh in the Metropolitan Handicap. Good Samaritan, who had his first work since the Met when he went a half-mile on June 22, made his first six starts on grass and a return to that surface is under consideration.

“Who knows – he might be really, really good on turf,” Mott said.

Mott also reported that Hofburg is galloping steadily at Saratoga following his third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes. If Hofburg stays on schedule, and Mott is pleased with his condition, his next race will be either the Jim Dandy Stakes on July 28 or the Curlin Stakes on July 27, both at Saratoga.