Constellation lays over three rivals in Cicada
The star power of Constellation was apparent at entry time of Saturday’s $125,000 Cicada Stakes, when only three other 3-year-old fillies signed on for the 24th running of the six-furlong dash.
As noted by track announcer John Imbriale, Constellation “was out of this world” in taking the Ruthless Stakes by 10 lengths in her seasonal debut Jan. 17. She was dispatched as the 1-20 favorite that day and will be held at miserly odds once again as she breaks from the outside post against Takrees, Anydayismyday, and Lost Raven.
The Cicada is the third of nine races on the final day of racing on the inner dirt track, with post time at 2:20 p.m. Eastern. There is no racing at Aqueduct on Easter Sunday, and racing switches to the main track this coming Thursday.
Constellation was purchased as a 2-year-old for $800,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale. The daughter of Bellamy Road has won three of five starts, her only losses a third in the Grade 1 Spinaway and a second in the Grade 2 Matron.
Trained by Hall of Fame nominee Steve Asmussen, Constellation closed out her juvenile season by winning the Furlough Stakes by better than eight lengths at Aqueduct’s fall meet and returned to toy with her opponents in the Ruthless. Among them was Mo d’Amour, who subsequently won the Busher Stakes.
“She’s such a nice filly,” said assistant trainer Toby Sheets, who oversees Asmussen’s New York division. “She’s very straightforward. She thinks she is the boss, and we let her be the boss.”
With regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr. in Dubai on Saturday, Constellation gets a switch to his brother Jose, who is on the verge of his second straight inner-track title.
The only other entrant with anything more than a maiden victory is Lost Raven, a Repole Stable homebred who captured the Smart Halo last November and thus became the seventh stakes winner for champion freshman sire Uncle Mo. Her trainer, Todd Pletcher, shoots for his fourth win in the Cicada.
Lost Raven cuts back in distance after dueling for the lead in the mile-and-70-yard Busanda and 1 1/16-mile Busher and weakening late.
Takrees has improved steadily through her four starts. She is a Shadwell Stable homebred trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, the same connections who won the Cicada in 2013 and 2014 with Elghayoor and Mamdooha.
Anydayismyday, purchased as a yearling for a mere $3,000, tries winners for the first time after graduating from the maiden ranks for trainer Ed Pringle in her sixth attempt.