Skippylongstocking breaks through in West Virginia Derby

Skippylongstocking came through a busy, demanding first half of the season still in peak form and won his first graded stakes on Saturday, capturing the Grade 3, $500,000 West Virginia Derby.

Under Edwin Gonzalez, Skippylongstocking always kept pacesetting We the People in his sights, tracking the leader from second through splits of 24.03 and 47.80. Skippylongstocking caught 9-5 favorite We the People at the quarter pole, forged to the lead at the three-sixteenths marker, and edged clear for a 1 1/2-length victory in this 1 1/8-mile contest. The winner clocked 1:48.11 racing over a sloppy, sealed dirt track and earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

The top two home were much the best, with 2-1 second choice Simplification third, almost five lengths behind We the People, after a favorable inside stalking trip.

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There was trouble at the start, with 46-1 shot Courvoisier breaking sharply inward from post 5 and impeding the two horses just inside him, King Ottoman and Home Brew. Home Brew managed fourth but was almost nine lengths behind Simplification, with King Ottoman, Courvoisier, and Jr’s Gift following him across the line.

Skippylongstocking paid $9.80 as the fourth choice, winning for just the third time in 12 starts. Trained by Saffie Joseph for Daniel Alonso, Skippylongstocking has raced without any real break since he debuted in July 2021 at Gulfstream Park. Skippylongstocking finished a creditable third in the Wood Memorial, was a wide-trip fifth in the Preakness, and after pressing the pace held on for a respectable third in the Belmont Stakes. Joseph took his horse to Saratoga but swerved clear of the cream of the division there in the Jim Dandy, instead finding a sweet spot to the south.

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Bred in Kentucky by Brushy Hill, Skippylongstocking is by Exaggerator out of the War Chant mare Twinkling, and Saturday in West Virginia he was the star of the show.