Belmont Park: Black-Eyed Susan winner Royal Delta will miss Mother Goose
Royal Delta, the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner, will be forced to miss Saturday’s Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes due to a bruised foot, trainer Bill Mott confirmed Monday morning.
Mott said Royal Delta had missed about five days of training as of Monday and would be forced to miss a couple of more before being sent back to the track. Mott said Royal Delta will be pointed to the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 23 followed by the Alabama on Aug. 20.
“It’s really bad timing, but it could be a blessing in disguise,’’ Mott said Monday by phone from Saratoga. “They shortened the Mother Goose [from 1 1-8 miles] to a mile and a sixteenth, which I wasn’t that crazy about. We got two good races up here and they’re both around two turns and that’s the type of filly she is.’’
News of Royal Delta’s minor injury comes on the heels of Mott having to retire his Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic winner Unrivaled Belle, who broke her withers when she fell in the paddock at Belmont waiting to be saddled for the Phipps.
However, not all the news was bad from the Mott barn. Earlier on Saturday, Raison d’Etat, a 3-year-old son of A.P. Indy out of the Grade 1 winning-mare Sightseek, won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 7 3/4 lengths in his third career start. He covered the distance in 1:41.88 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 95.
“We’ve always liked him,’’ said Mott, who trains Raison d’Etat for Juddmonte Farms Inc. “He’s such a big fella, obviously a late developer; maybe not too late.’’
Raison d’Etat debuted last fall at Belmont, finishing fourth in a one-mile race in which he made a middle move and flattened out, according to Mott. He finished third in his 3-year-old debut last month here, reacting negatively to getting mud kicked in his face.
“He was jumping up and down from the mud kicking him in the face,’’ Mott said. “He looked like a rabbit down the backside.’’
Mott was uncertain what might be next for Raison d’Etat. The Dwyer on July 2 comes back too quick. Races race at Saratoga, such as the $75,000 Curlin Stakes on July 29 or the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy the following day are possibilities.