R and H Stable’s Mo Plex (Complexity – Mo Joy, by Uncle Mo) passed his first two-turn test when he prevailed by two lengths in Saturday’s $500,000 Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown, leading the slate of OBS grads to earn graded wins during the week.
Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, Mo Plex captured the Sanford (G3) and Funny Cide Stakes during his juvenile season and entered off a win in the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct in his previous start.
Mo Plex was purchased by JCE Racing for $45,000 out of the Hoppel LLC consignment at the 2024 OBS April Sale after breezing in :21 1/5.
Mo Plex’s victory highlighted a week that also saw fellow OBS grad Crimson Advocate (Nyquist – Citizen Advocate, By Proud Citizen) produce a devastating turn of foot to pass all of her rivals and score by a length and three-quarters in the Group 2 Duke Of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot June 18.
This is a second Royal Ascot success for the four-year-old, who won the Queen Mary Stakes in 2023, when trained in the USA by George Weaver. Now with John and Thady Gosden after being purchased by Wathnan Racing, that speed came to the fore as she swamped the field under jockey James McDonald.
Crimson Advocate was purchased by Dewsweepers II for $100,000 out of the Beth Bayer consignment at the 2022 OBS October Yearling Sale.
Other stakes winners included Rosie Jeeks (World Of Trouble – Remington Rose, By Take Charge Indy) who passed three horses in the final sixteenth of a mile on the way to a 1¼-length victory in Saturday’s $102,000 Goldwood Stakes at Monmouth Park June 21.
Owned by Team Hanley and Thirty Year Farm, Rosie Jeeks earned her third in five career starts for trainer Chad Brown. Drifaros rallied for second, a half-length ahead of Epona’s Hope.
Rosie Jeeks was purchased by Jay Hanley and Thirty Year Farm for $240,000 at the 2023 OBS April Sale out of the RiceHorse Stable consignment after breezing in :10 flat. She was previously sold by Summerfield to RiceHorse for $62,000 at the 2022 OBS October Yearling Sale.
At Hastings on June 22, Peter Redekop B. C., Ltd.’s Attracted (Enticed – Love’s Illusion, by Tapit ) captured the $50,000 Hastings Stakes to earn her first black-type win. The filly was purchased for $200,000 by Mike Ryan, agent from the consignment of Omar Ramirez Bloodstock at the 2023 OBS March sale after breezing in :20 3/5.