Alandra has suitable pedigree for Demoiselle distance

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – If ever there was a horse bred for success going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct, it’s Alandra. The 2-year-old filly will count on her pedigree, as well as her talent, to carry her to victory in a competitive renewal of Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct.

The Demoiselle drew a bulky field of 12, though I Dare U will scratch after running second in Thursday’s off-the-turf Tepin Stakes.

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Alandra is by Blame out of the dam Altesse, who was a two-time stakes winner going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct, including in the 2008 Turnback the Alarm. Other horses in Alandra’s pedigree that won going nine furlongs at Aqueduct were Atelier and Twining. Aldiza won sprinting over Aqueduct’s main track.

Alandra, trained by Shug McGaughey for Helen Alexander and Helen Groves, won going seven furlongs at Saratoga on Sept. 1 in her debut. Sent off the favorite in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland, Alandra finished third, 9 1/2 lengths behind winner British Idiom, who came back to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita.

“She got bothered leaving the gate, got way back, and she was eating all that dirt, and she made that run at the end but it was too late then,” McGaughey said of Alandra’s effort in the Alcibiades.

Alandra has come back with a series of steady workouts at Belmont leading to the Demoiselle, where she will break from post 5 under Joel Rosario.

Coming off a 5 1/2-length victory in the Tempted Stakes here on Nov. 1, Maedean could go favored in the Demoiselle. A daughter of Tapit trained by Mark Hennig for Courtlandt Farms, Maedean has made all three of her starts going a one-turn mile. Hennig has liked what he’s seen from the filly since the Tempted and believe she’s well suited to handle the 1 1/8-miles and two turns of the Demoiselle.

“Racing’s really agreeing with her. She’s put on a lot of weight after the Tempted; she’s eating more grain than any horse in the barn,” Hennig said. “She’s a real athlete.”

Jeremiah Englehart sends out the uncoupled entry of Daphne Moon and Critical Value, both maiden winners at Saratoga. Critical Value won the Maid of the Mist for 2-year-old New York-bred fillies by 5 1/2 lengths on Oct. 19. Daphne Moon finished fifth in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont on Oct. 6.

Englehart believes the added distance could benefit both.

Of Critical Value, Englehart said: “She likes to run. I do think the distance will be just fine.”

Englehart said “the more distance the better” for Daphne Moon.

“She’s just a big, scopey, long-ranging filly,” he said.

Lake Avenue, a daughter of Grade 1 winners Tapit and Seventh Street owned and bred by Godolphin Racing, won her maiden against three rivals by 12 3/4 lengths in her second start.

“She seems like she’s got stamina to go along with her speed,” said trainer Bill Mott, who on Thursday won the off-the-turf Tepin Stakes for Godolphin with Antoinette.

Fiftyshays Ofgreen, Glass Ceiling, Miss Marissa, Jara, Blame Debbie, and Water White complete the field for the Demoiselle, which goes as race 8 on the 10-race card.