There was much that could be said or written about what happened July 29 on a sloppy, sealed racetrack at Saratoga Race Course in the $485,000 Jim Dandy Stakes presented by DK Horse.

A loose leader struggling to stay in front in the final yards. A champion showing his mettle and quality while sticking his nose in front at the finish line. A stewards’ inquiry before the result was made official. A soggy but fitting prep for the division’s blockbuster showdown Aug. 26 in the Travers Stakes.

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All of that was wrapped up neatly in one electrifying package when Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Forte managed to reel in front-running Saudi Crown by a nose in the 1 1/8-mile test and remind everyone that leadership of the 3-year-old generation still runs through the colt who was champ of the crop when they were 2.

“It’s a relief. It’s beyond a relief,” co-owner Mike Repole said. “It feels good.”

Yet as much as what happened on the final Saturday in July bodes well for the events of the final Saturday in August, they could not erase what took place on the first Saturday in May when Forte’s connections found themselves in a Kafkaesque nightmare. For on that May 6 morning, Forte, the favorite in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve was scratched by regulatory veterinarians over concerns related to right front foot that had been bruised days earlier. That started a wild and volatile ride that included the following week’s announcement of a post-race drug test that revealed meloxicam in the system of Forte after his win in last September’s Hopeful Stakes at the Spa (also on a sloppy track), causing a disqualification of the horse and a suspension and fine for trainer Todd Pletcher that is currently under appeal.

Then in Forte’s first race in 10 weeks, the son of Violence bred by South Gate Farm in Kentucky finished second in the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets, his first on-track loss since a fourth in the Sanford Stakes at the Spa in his second career start.

Suddenly, the horse that was a cut above the rest in the 3-year-old division was mired in a muddled battle for leadership of the 3-year-old male division and awash in controversy.

“It’s been four months, four tough months. This horse needed a win like this and it feels good. He’s the best 3-year-old in the country and today he proved it by gutting it out,” Repole said. “He’s gutsy. He fights and he fights.”

Repole hugs winning jockey Ortiz as Pletcher looks on. (Eclipse Sportswire)

It was not lost on Repole that after the race the outcome would hinge on the decision of the New York stewards, a group he has had cantankerous relations with, especially since the Hopeful disqualification. With Forte inside of Angel of Empire and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. looking for a lane to move into the clear and then continuing outside of the drifting Saudi Crown in the stretch, there seemed to be some bumping between Forte and the third-place finisher, but there was no change in the order of finish.

“Right now, the stewards don’t love me, so I was hoping that maybe it would be like when the head coach gets a [technical foul] and he gets the next call,” Repole said.

For Pletcher, there was pride afterward in the effort by his multiple Grade 1 winner.

“This was an important race for Forte to get back on track and return to the winner’s circle,” he said. “That was a quality horse on the lead and a quality horse that was third.”

But when asked if it eased some of the pain of the last four months, he quickly replied, “Nope.”

“You can’t just get over having to scratch the Derby favorite. That’s a tough one to get over,” Pletcher said.

Elite Power Reels in Gunite Late to Win Vanderbilt

Somewhere in Saratoga Springs on the night of July 29, trainer Bill Mott hopefully had himself some birthday cake. Why not? That’s what one does when one has a birthday and this year was a big one for Mott, who has been a member of racing’s Hall of Fame since 1998.

On this rainy day at Saratoga Race Course, Mott got to celebrate his 70th birthday.

One of his stable stars, a tough, refuse-to-lose 5-year-old horse named Elite Power, made sure it would be a happy one for the boss.

Elite Power passes Gunite (Eclipse Sportswire)

Elite Power, who looked beat coming down the stretch at the soggy Spa, turned on the jets and posted a rousing victory by a head in the $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap in front of a crowd of 34,771.

Elite Power and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., snatched a Grade 1 victory away from the extremely game Gunite, who ran too good to lose.

“I am very proud of this horse,” Mott said as raindrops splashed on his face in the winner’s circle.

Elite Power, owned by Juddmonte, continued his personal run as the Vanderbilt was his eighth straight victory, dating back to June 30 of last year. This was his fifth graded stakes win and second Grade 1. The first came in November of 2022 when he won the Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint on the way to the Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding sprinter.

For years, it was a standing gag around these parts that Mott always won — or so it seemed — a race at Saratoga on his birthday.

The local media made a big deal out of it and Mott usually had a good chuckle over it.

After Elite Power’s winning run in the Vanderbilt, Mott admitted that he thought about what a nice thing it would be to win on this special day when he woke up on July 29. He thought he had some good chances on the 12-race card, but the only win came with the big horse.

Mott said it had been calculated that over the last 26 years, he had won a race on his birthday 17 times. Give him one more.

“Winning on your birthday is fun, but the most important thing is that we generate Grade 1 wins for a major stable like this horse did today,” Mott said. “That’s what it is really all about.”—Tim WIlkin