Skippylongstocking completes Challenger three-peat in track-record time

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Three-peat complete.

Skippylongstocking won the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs for a third consecutive year, this time stalking pacesetting Most Wanted and persevering past that one in deep stretch to win the $95,000 Challenger by 1 1/4 lengths.

Most Wanted, making his first start since a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Clark last November, finished second, 14 3/4 lengths ahead of Instant Coffee in third, with El Principito last in the four-horse field. At scratch time, the race lost Bendoog, Patriot Spirit, Life Is Precious, and O Captain.

Skippylongstocking’s final time of 1:41.20 for 1 1/16 miles established a track record, smashing the previous mark of 1:41.75 set by Stanford in this race in 2017.

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“We thought he was sitting on that kind of a race,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said.

It was the eighth career stakes win – all in graded stakes – for Skippylongstocking, a 6-year-old son of Exaggerator owned by Daniel Alonso. Saturday's $60,000 first-place purse pushed his career earnings to $3,425,985.

Under Tyler Gaffalione, Skippylongstocking broke a little slow, but quickly recovered to get within a half-length of Most Wanted, who, under Florent Geroux, set fractions of 23.89 seconds for the quarter, 47.64 for the half-mile and 1:11.24 for six furlongs.

The two hooked up at the quarter pole and dueled into deep stretch before Skippylongstocking edged clear. Skippylongstocking returned $3.20 as the 3-5 favorite.

“He got a little antsy in there, sat back right before they sprung it and he leaped out of there,” Gaffalione said. “I was able to get him under himself and he carried me very well throughout the race. When I got to [Most Wanted] at the quarter pole, my horse found another gear and I was fairly confident he was going to get the job done.”

The presence of Most Wanted in the entries was a concern to Joseph, who was looking for an easy prep for the Oaklawn Handicap on April 19.

“He wasn’t a horse I wanted to face because I know how good he is and then when it scratched down it was going to become a tricky run race and it was basically a match race,” Joseph said. “We knew we weren’t going to be able to give him too much of a head start. I thought he really laid it down towards the wire; Most Wanted kicked away from him and Skippy laid his head down and really finished off. To me it looked like they were really running towards the line.”

Brad Cox, trainer of Most Wanted, had mixed emotions about Most Wanted’s defeat.

“I think showing the way was the thing to do, we got a good trip, we just didn’t cross the wire first, came up a little short,” Cox said. “We got away well, I thought we had the upper hand going up the backside. Coming off a layoff, hopefully he gets something out of it and moves forward.”

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