Cairo Sugar upsets Maddie May going wire to wire
OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Two equipment changes, one planned, one not, helped Cairo Sugar pull off a 27-1 upset in Sunday’s $100,000 Maddie May Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct.
With a new bit to help her run straight and a repaired shoe that had become dislodged in the paddock, Cairo Sugar made the lead soon after the start, kept a measured advantage over two of her rivals, and ended up winning the Maddie May by 1 1/4 lengths over favored Les Bon Temps. It was 1 3/4 lengths back to Sweetest Princess in third. I’mhavingamoment, Luna Loca, and Starry Midnight completed the order of finish.
Sent off the longest shot on the board, Cairo Sugar returned $57.50 to win.
Both jockey Andrew Wolfsont and trainer Alan Bedard spoke afterward how Cairo Sugar had been lugging in during the stretch run of her last two starts, which included a five-length maiden win here on Jan. 19.
Bedard changed to what he called a “straight-mouth” bit in order to help Cairo Sugar run straight. He noted it had “done wonders” for another one of his horses, Tic Tic Tic Boom “so gave it a shot and it looked like she ran straight today,” Bedard said.
Bedard was concerned when Cairo Sugar pulled her left front shoe off in the paddock. An on-call blacksmith put it back on.
“The blacksmith did a fantastic job getting it on because she wasn’t real easy about it,” Bedard said.
In the race, Cairo Sugar broke a half-step slow from the rail, but Wolfsont asked her some and she easily made a one-length lead after running an opening quarter in 23.56 seconds. She maintained that advantage through a half-mile in 47.34 and though Luna Loca came to apply some pressure, she quickly dropped back. Les Bon Temps, a stalking third, ran one-paced throughout.
“I was hoping they’d give me an easy lead, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that,” Wolfsont said. “Once I saw that Jose Gomez [on Luna Loca] wasn’t really committed to the lead, I figured I’d just let her get comfortable a length in front. She [got] away a little faster than I was expecting so I eased her back a little bit, got her in a nice, relaxed rhythm, and she had plenty left in the tank.”
Cairo Sugar, a daughter of Cairo Prince out of the Grade 1-winning mare Spun Sugar, covered the mile in 1:38.44.
Les Bon Temps was sent off even-money coming off two previous stakes wins. But Jose Lezcano said she was just one-paced when he asked her to run.
“I was in a good position the whole way,” Lezcano said. “When I asked her, she kind of stayed even.”
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