Bishops Bay  made short work of the field in the June 14 Salvator Mile Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park, winning just as a 1-2 favorite should in collecting his third consecutive stakes victory.

A $450,000 son of the late stallion Uncle Mo, Bishops Bay has steadily been climbing the ranks in the older horse division since returning to the races as a 4-year-old last fall. The Brad Cox trainee turned a corner at Oaklawn Park over the winter, capturing back-to-back races before becoming a graded stakes winner in the May 4 Westchester Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Breaking from the outer 9 hole, Bishops Bay didn’t attain the lead as easily as he had in his last two outings, and was forced to use his speed early to secure his favorable front-running position. And even then, the bay was not without company, as Nelson Avenue  proved a tough customer to his inside. The pair battled through opening fractions of :22.81, :48.20, and 1:12.35 before Bishops Bay asserted his dominance with a quarter-mile to go.

Clearing his rivals, Bishops Bay powered to a five-length score with scarcely a drop of mud to be seen on jockey Flavien Prat’s yellow and pink silks. Bishops Bay ($2.60) stopped the timer in 1:37.16 over a sloppy (sealed) track.

“He’s such a professional horse. I think he’s getting better race after race,” Prat said of Bishops Bay. “He was forwardly placed and very comfortable. He seems to be gaining confidence and he understands what he needs to do when he gets on the track … He hasn’t really run much before this so he has had room to improve. It’s not like he is 5 years old and he has run in a ton of races.”

Nelson Avenue was second by 3 3/4 lengths over 20-1 shot Surface to Air  in third.

Bishops Bay was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, who retained a percentage of ownership in the horse when he passed through the sales ring. WinStar owns the 5-year-old in partnership with Spendthrift Farm, Steve Landers, Martin Schwartz, Michael Dubb, Ten Strike Racing, Jim Bakke, Titletown Racing,  Kueber Racing, Big Easy Racing, Rick Kanter, and Michael Caruso.

Bishops Bay is the older half sibling to stablemate and grade 2 winner Catching Freedom  (Constitution  ) and is one of four winners from four foals to race produced from the Pioneerof the Nile mare Catch My Drift . A stakes winner and grade 1-placed on the track, Catch My Drift is also the dam of the multiple stakes-placed gelding Strava (Into Mischief  ).

With his victory in the Salvator Mile, Bishops Bay received an automatic berth for the $400,000 Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3) on Haskell day July 19. The Monmouth Cup would mark Bishops Bay’s first attempt at the 1 1/8-mile distance since his runner-up efforts in the 2023 Ohio Derby (G3) and Peter Pan Stakes (G3) as a 3-year-old.

Courtesy of the Bloodhorse