Spiced Up packs punch in Mahony stakes debut

Just when odds-on favorite Governor Sam appeared to have made the winning move in Sunday’s $175,000 Mahony (G3) at Saratoga, Spiced Up came flying down the outside to capture his stakes debut.

Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado – the same tandem responsible for reigning Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont (G1) star Sovereignty – Spiced Up was stepping up from a recent maiden score. The Juddmonte homebred had been unplaced in a pair of dirt sprints as a juvenile, but he relished the switch to turf in his June 20 reappearance at Aqueduct and made it two straight here.

Spiced Up, the 9-2 second choice in the Mahony, lagged well off the torrid pace in sixth. In contrast, 0.55-1 choice Governor Sam sat closer in third behind dueling leaders, Ortley Avenue and Gabaldon.

Ortley Avenue had his head in front of comebacker Gabaldon through fractions of :21.15 and :43.71 on the firm Mellon course. Entering the stretch, Gabaldon took command, only to tire in his first start since March. Governor Sam pounced as if on his way to extending his local mark to 3-for-3. 

Then Spiced Up suddenly surged into the picture in the center of the course. Mowing down the favorite by 1 1/4 lengths, the Quality Road colt clocked 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:01.22.

“Horse broke very well,” said Alvarado, who also lifted Saturday’s Arlington Million (G1) aboard Fort Washington. “I was thinking to be a little more forwardly placed, but I guess they went very quick, and I thought I was a little farther back than I wanted to be, but they were moving along pretty quick. 

“When I hit the five-sixteenths pole, I thought that I could feel the horses coming back to me, and my horse was picking it up at that time. I knew I had a good chance, so I had to make sure to tip out all the way to the clear to give him a clear run, and he finished up very strong.

“Ideally, I thought I'd be sitting third or fourth,” Alvarado added. “I was a little shocked that even though I got out of there good and sent the horse a little bit a good sixteenth of a mile, I was still very far back. That's the way the race kind of set up, and it worked out today.”

Governor Sam’s rider, Irad Ortiz Jr., tipped his cap to the winner.

“I got a good trip, honestly. That horse just ran me down,” Ortiz said. “I think my horse ran his race.

“He (Governor Sam) fights all the way to the wire, honestly. He was trying. They just ran me down.”

Governor Sam, who was conceding four pounds to his rivals, held second by a half-length from No Evidence. Next came Innovator, Gabaldon, Ancient World, Ortley Avenue, and Jet Sweep Joe, who trailed throughout after having to steady at the start. Saturday Flirt was scratched.

Spiced Up sports a mark of 4-2-0-0, $152,600. The Kentucky-bred furnished $11 while becoming the latest stakes winner for his all-star family. 

Spiced Up’s dam, the Pioneerof the Nile mare Cardamon, is a three-quarter sister to multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Emollient (by Empire Maker); a full sister to Grade 2-placed stakes scorer Courtier; and a half to multiple Grade 1-placed Hofburg, best known for finishing third to Justify in the 2018 Belmont. Mott trained them all. 

“We were thinking about that (the turf) last year,” Mott said of Spiced Up. “Most of the babies, I went through a stage last year where I wanted to try everything on the dirt. We got a couple races on the dirt, and then we had to stop on him – forced to stop on him, to give him a little time, and the decision was made to bring him back on the turf this year. He's halfway bred for it.

“Visually, for me, he finished good (on turf), where on the dirt, he was showing a lot of speed, and he wasn't finishing. Going six furlongs on the dirt, at the eighth pole, he was kind of folding it up. But, if they like the grass, it will carry them.”

Mott was well aware that Spiced Up was shortening up slightly from his six-furlong maiden victory.

“It's a little different type of race going 5 1/2 (furlongs) than six – to me, it's a huge difference. That sixteenth of a mile makes a lot of difference to some horses, but he was able to make it up today.

“When I saw where he was and then they hung up the :21 (opening quarter), I said, 'there's a chance.’”

It was also worth taking a class hike for the Mahony with an eye toward the Sept. 6 Franklin-Simpson (G1).

“The plan is to go to Kentucky Downs,” Mott revealed. “The reason we jumped over a condition race is to see if we could get him eligible to go to Kentucky Downs - there's a $2 million race.”