Skippylongstocking looking for a rebound in Challenger

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Skippylongstocking has a history of bouncing back from poor or inexplicable efforts. He’ll look to do that again Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Challenger Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Tampa Bay Downs.

Skippylongstocking, third in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, was pulled up midway through the running of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said the horse “looked like he was overheated” after jockey Tyler Gaffalione was forced to send him from post 12.

“He was never a horse that we sent like that. It was abnormal, it took him awhile to cool out,” Joseph said. “After that, we did all kinds of tests on him. We went over him properly and everything checked out well and here we are trying to get back on track.”

Joseph said the idea to send the horse in the Pegasus World Cup was to try and overcome his outside draw with a short run to the first turn.

“We sent him in the Breeders’ Cup [Dirt] Mile pretty hard and I think we fell into that trap in the Pegasus,” Joseph said. “It wasn’t the right thing to do. It gets him out of rhythm.”

Skippylongstocking won the Challenger last year after finishing seventh of 12 in the Pegasus. In 2022, he won the Harlan’s Holiday at Gulfstream after finishing ninth in the Pennsylvania Derby.

The Challenger, which goes as race 6, drew only a field of six and Skippylongstocking looks like he could be on the lead or sitting just off Impacto, who goes first off the claim for trainer Gerald Bennett.

“It’s a spot that you’d like to think, if all goes well, he should have a good chance of winning,” Joseph said.

Sherlock’s Jewel, trained by Shug McGaughey, is coming off a pair of allowance wins going a mile and 40 yards at Tampa, his only two starts on dirt.

Dynamic One, winner of the Grade 2 Suburban in 2022, has only made three starts since then, none that have shown he has regained his best form. Mbagnick and Dash Attack complete the field.

Tok Tok returns in Columbia

Tok Tok, a stakes winner at 2, will kick off his 3-year-old campaign in the $75,000 Columbia Stakes going one mile on the turf.

Tok Tok, trained by Graham Motion, won a maiden race and the Kitten’s Joy Stakes at Colonial Downs last summer. Motion then stepped him up to graded company, where he finished fifth, beaten two lengths in the Grade 2 Bourbon at Keeneland and sixth, beaten 2 3/4 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

“Terrible trip in the Bourbon. He was really unlucky, inside traffic, knifed through, and really got in a tight spot,” Motion said. “In the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile Turf], I didn’t think he ran badly, he wasn’t beaten that far. We freshened him up, no physical issues.”

Tok Tok ran in the Breeders’ Cup with blinkers on for the first time. Jorge Ruiz, aboard for his two wins at Colonial, is reunited with Tok Tok on Saturday.

Full Nelson has won three straight races – two on turf at Tampa – since Jose D’Angelo stretched him out after claiming him for $35,000 from Saffie Joseph Jr. last September.

“He’s a better horse on grass. That’s why I sent him to Tampa and he won two times,” D’Angelo said.

Move to Gold, who won the Awad Stakes at Aqueduct last Oct. 28 as a maiden, goes out for Chad Brown. Two Ghosts won the Grade 3 Grey Stakes over Woodbine’s synthetic surface last Nov. 4 for trainer Barbara Minshall and makes his 3-yearold debut in this spot.

Fulmineo finished second to Agate Road in the Pilgrim Stakes last fall. Trainer Arnaud Delacour tried him on the dirt, where he ran second in an allowance race before finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Sam Davis.

Delacour has him back on turf but is concerned that the mile distance is too short for him and the fact he is drawn on the outside in this 10-horse field.

In a Jam, a winner of two straight on turf, Quokka, Rose Collector, Ninja Star, and El Principito, complete the field.

Sterling Silver back in Manatee

Sterling Silver, a multiple stakes-winning New York-bred, kicks off her 5-year-old season in Saturday’s $50,000 Manatee Handicap for fillies and mares at seven furlongs on dirt.

Sterling Silver ran fourth in this race last year for trainer Tom Albertrani. She finished first in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom, but was disqualified for interference. She bounced back to win the Iroquois Stakes before ending her season with a fourth-place finish in the Autumn Days on turf.

“She ran in the same race last year. She got used up close to the pace last year,” Albertrani said. “She’s training really well. I expect her to run a really good race.”

Albertrani said he is hoping to use this race as a prep for the Grade 1 Madison at Keeneland on April 6.