Skippylongstocking Handles The Heat For Challenger Repeat

After getting overheated and failing to finish in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational (G1) in his previous start, Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking was in fine fettle to withstand the hot weather Saturday at Tampa Bay Down and scored a repeat win in the $100,000 Michelob Ultra Challenger (G3).

Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., the 5-year-old son of Exaggerator chased pacesetter Impacto from second, moved to challenge around the far turn before willingly taking the lead, then drew off down the stretch to score by a comfortable 2 1/2 lengths.

Skippylongstocking covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.12 and returned $3.40 as the 7-10 favorite in the six-horse field.

“We were a little concerned he would be the only speed, but my horse was able to relax and let (pacesetter) Impacto go," Gaffalione said. "Then he got into a great rhythm. Saffie brought him here ready to run. I’m not really sure what happened last time (in the Pegasus World Cup Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park), but he definitely rebounded today. We just didn’t want to be too aggressive out of the gate – the last two starts, I might have overdone it. Hopefully this gets him back to where we need to be.”

Sherlock's Jewel, who settled off the early pace in fifth, came on for for second, finishing a neck to the good of Mbagnick (CHI) in third.

"It was great to get him back in the winner's circle, especially coming back from his last race (the Pegasus World Cup when he became overheated and was vanned off the track)," Joseph said of Skippylongstocking. "We had to go over him really good to make sure everything was proper and to be extra cautious. We covered every base. It was great today to see him come back and run a good race. There was a lot of pressure. This was an important race for him and an important race for us. We were concerned with the heat (82 degrees) and high humidity (felt like 88 degrees) at Tampa today. 

"One of the reasons we chose to go back there (and defend his title in the Challenger) was because it gets much cooler there than in South Florida. He's handled the heat pretty good in the past, but that day in January it was unusually hot and he had a problem. I was hoping Tampa would be a little cooler today, but it was not. It was hot. But it all worked out. Tyler rode a good one today, most definitely. We had him come back and work him and he was happy with him. We weren't going to rush him. Overall, everything went good. Thank God we're back on track with him."

Skippylongstocking has banked $1,654,185 in career earnings. His 7-2-4 record from 22 lifetime starts, includes  four other graded stakes, including a 3 1/4-length tally in last year's edition of the Challenger, as well as a third in the 2022 Belmont (G1) and last year’s Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1).

Bred in Kentucky by Brushy Hill LLC, Skippylongstocking was produced by the War Chant mare Twinkling. Alonso purchased him for $37,000 at the 2021 OBS Spring Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, where he was consigned by Top Line Sales.