Mott steals the show as Pass the Hat noses Capitol Hill in Poker Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - What on paper looked to be a showdown between two Chad Brown horses in Sunday’s Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Saratoga turned into a battle between two Bill Mott trainees with Pass the Hat nosing out Capitol Hill at the wire.

It was 1 3/4 lengths back in third to 1-5 favorite Zulu Kingdom, who finished two lengths in front of his fellow Grade 1-winning stablemate Salamis. Ridari finished last of the quintet. Light ran fell during the race.

Pass the Hat, coming off a fast allowance win at Aqueduct on April 18, was kept up close Sunday by John Velazquez as he stalked Zulu Kingdom and Flavien Prat through a half-mile in 47.69 seconds and six furlongs in 1:10.88. Pass the Hat dueled with Zulu Kingdom until inside the eighth pole, then had to hold off Capitol Hill, who was charging late under Junior Alvarado.

Velazquez said he told Mott in the paddock that if his horse broke running he was going to be close to Zulu Kingdom, who was coming off a front-running score in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile. Velazquez had Pass the Hat within a length of the lead before asking him to go after the horse leaving the three-eighths pole.

“I said I better put a little bit of pressure on him, I put my horse on the bit and he got right on it,” Velazquez said. “We started rolling at the five-sixteenths pole, I caught up to [Zulu Kingdom] and Bill Mott’s other horse showed up. Now, I have to fight this one, but he put up a really good fight. I was really pleased with that.”

Capitol Hill, who had finished second to Zulu Kingdom in last year’s Grade 3 Manila, may have cost himself when he put his head up in deep stretch.

“I got a head in front for a little bit, all of sudden I see him throwing his head up, I don’t know if he’s trying to look at the horse on the inside,” Alvarado said. “I wish I would have cracked him once with my right [hand], just to get his attention again. I got beat by a better trainer.”

Pass the Hat, a 5-year-old son of Collected owned by Pin Oak Stud, covered the mile in 1:32.92 (95 Beyer Speed Figure) and returned $22.78 as the 10-1 fourth shot in the field of five.

Mott said Pass the Hat had shown speed when he ran him on dirt, but not so much on the turf, but was glad the horse wanted to be up close on Sunday.

“I just don’t think there was anybody else to do it,” Mott said. “Capitol Hill really ran well for a paceless race. He finished really well.”

Flavien Prat, the rider of Zulu Kingdom, said he was getting the trip he expected but just couldn’t finish it off.

“I thought I had a good trip,” Prat said. “We sprinted home, but so did the winner and the second horse.”

Pass the Hat and Capitol Hill would be considered for races like the Grade 3 Kelso on July 5 and/or the Grade 1 Fourstarstardave on Aug. 8.

Scottish Lassie returns a winner

The two-time Grade 1 winner Scottish Lassie, unraced since last September, returned a winner Sunday at Saratoga, taking a second-level allowance race by 8 1/2 lengths in gate-to-wire fashion under Flavien Prat.

Scottish Lassie won the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks here last summer and then finished fourth in the Cotillion at Parx Racing last Sept. 20. She was entered in, but scratched from, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff when she was found to have a quarter crack. She later had surgery to remove an ankle chip.

Trainer Jorge Abreu said he was looking for an easy comeback race and found one in this seven-furlong race. Now, he plans to stretch her back out in distance with races like the Grade 2, $250,000 Shuvee on July 24 and the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign on Aug. 29 as the summer goals.

On Sunday, Scottish Lassie went to the front under Flavien Prat and set fractions of 22.71 seconds and a half-mile in 45.37 and, despite getting a little tired late, she won comfortably.

“I didn’t want to throw her to the wolves, running hard in a graded stakes and have her run her ‘A’ race, I want to have her for the rest of the year,” Abreu said.

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