By no means touring past a mile earlier than June 21, Mo Plex dealt with his first two-turn take a look at with aplomb to win the $500,000 Grade 3 Ohio Derby June 21 at Thistledown. Even after surging to a two-length victory, Mo Plex appeared eager for extra, proving troublesome to tug up for jockey Joseph Ramos.
Breaking from the outer publish within the subject of eight 3-year-olds, Ramos requested Mo Plex for some velocity and the colt responded, striding rapidly away from the barrier and angling over sharply to the within. As soon as clearing many of the rivals to his inside, the colt flanked the pacesetting Intelligent Once more by way of early fractions of :23.42, :47.75, and 1:12.04, by no means permitting the 9-5 shot to stray too far out of attain.
As they rounded the far flip, Mo Plex drew alongside Intelligent Once more, and in a single fell swoop, sailed previous his tiring tempo rival. Driving into the clear, Mo Plex stored late-running favourite Chunk of Gold at bay down the stretch to hit the wire in a last time of 1:50.72. Making his second begin since a ninth-place effort within the Kentucky Derby introduced by Woodford Reserve, Chunk of Gold completed a sport second. McAfee, third all through, ran evenly to finish the trifecta.
An completed 2-year-old final 12 months, Mo Plex confirmed proprietor R and H Steady and coach Jeremiah Englehart early that he was a formidable competitor, not simply towards state breds but additionally towards open firm.
After demolishing his rivals by 10 lengths in his New York-bred maiden particular weight profession debut, he captured the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes and gained the $200,000 Humorous Cide Stakes over state breds earlier than ending third within the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct.
The son of second-crop sire Complexity remained at one-turn distances to open his sophomore marketing campaign in 2025. He proved to be a extremely efficient sprinter final trip with a rating within the seven-furlong $145,000 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct April 19 that earned him a 101 Equibase Pace Determine.
Mo Plex ($12.80), by no means off the board in eight journeys to the publish, collected the fifth win and fourth stakes tally of his profession. The Ohio Derby pushed the bay colt’s earnings to $745,000.
