Gulfstream: Mr Skylight Seeking to Regain Form in $75,000 Awesome Banner

By David Joseph —-

Mr Skylight Seeking to Regain Form in $75,000 Awesome Banner

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Though Gulfstream Park doesn’t launch its 2024-2025 Championship Meet – the nation’s premier winter racing destination – for another three weeks, trainer Riley Mott is getting a head start when he sends out Peter Vegso’s Grade 3-placed homebred Mr Skylight in Saturday’s $75,000 Awesome Banner overnight handicap.

The seven-furlong Awesome Banner for 3-year-olds, honoring the multiple graded-stakes winning Florida-bred that notched six of his seven career victories at Gulfstream, goes as Race 10 on an 11-race program that begins at 12:20 p.m.

Mott, the 32-year-old son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott who worked 10 years for his father before going out on his own in the fall of 2022, had 13 wins, six seconds, eight thirds and $538,680 in purse earnings from 54 starters during last winter’s Championship Meet highlighted by victories from Beeline in the March 16 Hutcheson and Sand and Sea in the Orange Blossom and Key West overnight handicaps.

After such a strong debut season, where he enjoyed a 24 percent success rate, Mott is eagerly anticipating his return.

“You better believe it. We love it,” he said. “We love South Florida. The horses ran well there last year. Everyone treated us well and the horses left there looking fantastic, so I don’t think there’s a better environment to winter a horse than South Florida. We’re looking forward to being back again.”

Mr Skylight, a Kentucky-bred son of multiple graded-stakes winning millionaire Practical Joke, provided Mott with one of his Gulfstream wins, a popular half-length maiden special weight triumph going six furlongs on the same program as Beeline’s score in the Hutcheson.

“I was kind of looking for an opportunity to stretch this horse out beyond six furlongs and this race at Gulfstream was on the schedule. Particularly being against straight 3-year-olds was enticing at this time of the year, and it’s over a racetrack that we know he likes,” Mott said. “We’re just trying to get him back into the form he was showing earlier this spring.”

Second to Beeline in his Feb. 10 debut at Gulfstream, Mr Skylight notched a front-running score in his first try against winners April 20 at Keeneland, setting up for his stakes debut in the Chick Lang (G3) May 18 at Pimlico on the undercard of the 149th Preakness Stakes (G1).

Mr Skylight broke poorly and was last, trailing by as many as 12 lengths after a quarter-mile, before launching a rally to be third behind winner Frost Free, just a half-length out of second and beaten two lengths for it all.

“He was pretty unlucky not to have a better placing in the stake at Pimlico. He totally missed the break and ran well to be third,” Mott said. “And then I think I made a mistake by putting blinkers on him. He had productive races prior to that and then I overthought it a little bit and put blinkers on him, and I’m not sure he responded all that well to them.”

Mr Skylight went off favored in the June 17 Tom Ridge at Presque Isle Downs, his only try over an all-weather surface, but he brushed the starting gate and was never in contention while finishing 10th. From there he was fourth, beaten 1 ½ lengths, facing older horses in a 6 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance Aug. 25 at Ellis Park, his longest race to date, and seventh in a similar spot going six furlongs against his own age group Sept. 18 at Churchill Downs.

Paco Lopez is named to ride Mr Skylight from Post 2 of nine at 121 pounds, one fewer than topweight Big Effect.

“We’ve recently taken the blinkers off of him for his most recent workouts and I think he’s worked pretty darn good since removing that equipment,” Mott said. “Hopefully taking the blinkers off and stretching him out a little bit in distance will do the trick.”

Lawson Racing Stable’s Big Effect was claimed for $75,000 out of a fifth-place finish sprinting five furlongs on the Gulfstream turf July 6 and came back off a brief freshening to register a gate-to-wire optional claiming allowance triumph over older horses going six furlongs on dirt Sept. 28 in his first start for trainer Rohan Crichton.

Big Effect will be trying stakes company for the third time, having most recently run third in Gulfstream’s 6 ½-furlong Juvenile Sprint last November. Emisael Jaramillo, up for the latest run, returns to ride from Post 5.

The lone stakes winner in the Awesome Banner is Magic Stables, Cairoli Racing Stable and Midnight Racing’s Divieto, who captured the one-mile Aventura in front-running fashion last October at Gulfstream. The son of 2011 Florida Derby (G1) winner Dialed In is racing for the first time in nearly 12 months since a troubled eighth in the 6 ½-furlong Ed Brown at Churchill.

Cammarota Racing’s Secret Lover, second by a half-length at odds of 32-1 in the 2023 FSS In Reality last December at Gulfstream, exits a fourth in the one-mile Gil Campbell Memorial Handicap Oct. 19. Also stakes-placed is Just For Fun Stable Inc.’s Roar Ready, third in Gulfstream’s seven-furlong Carry Back July 5.

Holiday Pay, a last-out winner going one mile against older horses for Sunshine Meet leading trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Boomcchero, Icelander and Apollo Code complete the field.

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