Austin's Mom faces familiar cast

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - left her rivals in the dust when she won the Grade 3 Affectionately by 5 1/2 lengths last month. On Monday at Aqueduct in the $75,000 Rare Treat Handicap, Austin's Mom meets some of the same horses she faced in the Affectionately, as well as a few new shooters, but the outcome probably won't be any different.

Austin's Mom is the one to beat in the 1 1/8-mile Rare Treat, which drew a field of seven. Trained by Allen Iwinski, Austin's Mom picks up six pounds off her Affectionately win and carries 118 as the highweight. She concedes four to seven pounds to her rivals.

Four of the horses defeated by Austin's Mom in the Affectionately - Golden Damsel - Consort Music, Dancen in the Sun, and Green Jeans, are entered in the Rare Treat.

Austin's Mom, a winner of her last three starts, ran down the loose-on-the-lead Golden Damsel with a powerful stretch move in the Affectionately. Iwinski was caught off guard by the ease of the win.

"I didn't want her on the lead, but I was surprised with how far back she was," Iwinski said. "We were all surprised with her strong finish."

Apprentice Pablo Fragoso, aboard Austin's Mom in the Affectionately, rides from post 5.

Gary Contessa saddles the uncoupled entry of Golden Damsel and Dancen in the Sun. Golden Damsel, second in the Affectionately, is a front-runner. Dancen in the Sun, seventh in the Affectionately before winning an allowance sprint on Jan. 30, is a stalker.

Contessa said Dancen in the Sun ran poorly in the Affectionately because she wasn't properly trained for the race.

"She got dead-tired in the Affectionately because I hadn't been training her with that race in mind," Contessa said. "I missed works because I intended to run her in races that never filled."

Edwin Perez rides Dancen in the Sun, who drew post 3.

Golden Damsel will race with draw reins in an attempt to make her more relaxed during the early running.

"They keep her head lower," Contessa said.

Richard Migliore rides Golden Damsel, who drew the outside post.

Consort Music came from off the pace to finish third in the Affectionately.

An interesting horse is U K Trick, who ran mostly in turf stakes last year but was an easy winner of a $50,000 claiming race over the inner track last month.

Green Jeans was beaten 32 lengths in the Affectionately. Biogio's Beauty won her last two starts against weaker company.