The Mother Goose Stakes (gr.1) will be run for the 55th consecutive time on Saturday at Belmont Park and heralds the return of Kentucky Oaks winner Plum Pretty. Inaugurated in 1957, The Mother Goose is one of the most prestigious races in the nation for three-year-old fillies. Listed among the race’s illustrious roster of winner are such great names as Shuvee, Ruffian, Davona Dale, Cicada, Go For Wand, Serena’s Song and of course Rachel Alexandra. From 1957-58 the Mother Goose was run at a distance of 1 1/16 miles before being run at the 1 1/8 mile distance for the next 50 years until 2010 when the race was removed from the Triple Tiara series and reverted to its original 1 1/16 mile distance. Named for well known thoroughbred breeder/owner H. P. Whitney’s famous filly, Mother Goose, who defeated the males in the Belmont Futurity Stakes, the important event has been held at Belmont Park all but four times when the race was run at Aqueduct (1963, 1967, 1969 and 1975).
Two fillies were originally scheduled to make their first starts in the Mother Goose since running in the Kentucky Oaks (gr.1) on May 6th but Oaks winner Plum Pretty was declared from the race today by trainer Bob Baffert due to a fever. That makes the second high-profile defection from the race as Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner Royal Delta was also withdrawn from consideration Monday morning after trainer Bill Mott announced his charge has a bruised foot. This pretty much leaves the race open for Joyful Victory to steal if she is up to the task. [Read the complete post and a short update on Awesome Feather on Distaff Runner at HRN]
No comments:
Post a Comment