When owner LNJ Foxwoods and trainer Bill Mott run horses beneath the Twin Spires, particularly before a packed house, the highlights just keep coming.
Teaming with Mott and co-owners Maury Shields and Guinness McFadden three years ago, they won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) with Country House upon the disqualification of Maximum Security , and May 6 on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs, they added the $500,000 Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet (G2) with the streaking Olympiad .
Though Olympiad—owned in partnership with Robert Clay's Grandview Equine and Cheyenne Stable—was clear at the end of the Alysheba, scoring by 2 1/2 lengths over Happy Saver , the outcome was in doubt in early stretch. Olympiad, who pressed a slow pace for the first three-quarters of the race, was passed leaving the second turn of the 1 1/16-mile race by a stalking Happy Saver under Irad Ortiz Jr.
The two then duked it out while drifting toward the inside, leaving pacesetting Weyburn in tight. The latter struck the rail, ultimately fading to fourth, 6 1/2 lengths behind the winner and 2 1/2 lengths behind show finisher Title Ready .
Stewards made no change to the order of finish, nor was the inquiry sign posted on the toteboard, though winning jockey Junior Alvarado said they did talk to him after he brought his mount back to be unsaddled.
Alvarado did not believe he was at fault, saying Olympiad came inside in a reaction to outside pressure from the Ortiz-ridden Happy Saver.
"He was doing his job. He was right on top of me, trying not to give me much room for my horse to finish off his run," Alvarado said.
Tyler Gaffalione on Weyburn said his horse "got a little intimidated when it tightened up. He's a big horse. He just needs more space than that."
Third-place finisher Title Ready avoided the close quarters with a wide stretch rally.
The Alysheba represented top-level performances from the winner and grade 1-winning runner-up, who had been unraced since the fall when second in the Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1).
Olympiad ($3.80) ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.60, less than three-fifths off the track and stakes record of 1:41.04 set by Successful Dan in the 2012 Alysheba. The fractions established by Weyburn in the Alysheba were steady and relatively slow for the class level—:24.21, :48.43, and 1:12.15.
Fast final times are nothing new for Olympiad. During his current four-race win streak, Olympiad captured the Mineshaft Stakes (G3) and New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots this year in record- and near-record time.
"The winner's very good," said Happy Saver's trainer's Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. "Hopefully we can make a move forward after getting a run under his belt."
"Can't complain, just got beat. He was the second-best today," Ortiz added of Happy Saver, winner of the 2020 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). "He's getting there, and is showing improvement."
The winning connections are reaping dividends this year after giving Olympiad time to recover from a physical setback as a younger horse that kept him out of action for 12 months.
"We thought he was a nice horse since he was a 2-year-old. He missed a lot of time in his 3-year-old year, unfortunately," Mott said. "The patience that we were allowed to have with him and waited until he got right paid off. He's a really good horse and competing at a top level."
Olympiad now looks like a potential force in the handicap division this year at age 4.
"What can I say? He's awesome," Jaime Roth of LNJ Foxwoods said of Olympiad.
Bred by Emory A. Hamilton, Olympiad was bought by bloodstock agents Alex Solis II and Jason Litt for $700,000 from the Gainesway consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Tokyo Time, he is the second of her five foals and lone stakes winner. Her most recent foals are a 2-year-old War Front filly bought for $450,000 by Larkin Armstrong from the Gainesway consignment at the 2021 Keeneland September Sale and a yearling American Pharoah colt.
With his success Friday, Olympiad improved his record to 6-1-1 in nine starts and added $303,800 to boost his bankroll to $952,240.
Mott said after the race that he did not have a next start planned on Olympiad's schedule. The only things missing from the colt's résumé are accomplishments in grade 1 races.
Should a class rise be in the works, Alvarado believes the colt is up to the challenge. Olympiad ran fourth in the Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) Dec. 4 in his lone upper-level stakes try, his last defeat.
"He's a grade 1 horse that hasn't had the chance yet to (win) a grade 1 race. But we're definitely going forward to those races," Alvarado said. "I'm very happy with what we have."
