Effie Trinket back with statebreds for Mount Vernon

ELMONT, N.Y. – Effie Trinket has been knocking on the door of late against graded stakes company. But against New York-breds, she has been almost unbeatable throughout her career.

On Saturday, Effie Trinket returns to statebred competition and likely will be heavily favored when she takes on eight rivals in the $125,000 Mount Vernon Stakes at Belmont Park. The Mount Vernon is the female counterpart to the $125,000 Kingston, which also will be decided at a mile, an hour earlier, over the Belmont turf course.

Effie Trinket has been Grade 2-placed in each of her last three starts, beginning with a second-place finish behind Emotional Kitten to close out her 2013 campaign in the Mrs. Revere at Churchill Downs. She has raced just twice this season, finishing third in both the Honey Fox at Gulfstream Park and, most recently, the Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill.

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The Mount Vernon will be Effie Trinket’s first try against New York-breds since she outgamed Sally’s Dream by a nose to take the Ticonderoga here last fall. She also rallied to defeat Wholelottashakin by a neck in the John Hettinger. Overall, Effie Trinket has captured four of her last five starts against statebreds and five of her last seven dating back to her 2-year-old campaign, when she won the six-furlong Aristie over the main track at Saratoga.

“We stepped up and took a few shots against serious company, and she showed up every time,” said Rick Violette, who trains Effie Trinket for owner Patsy Symonds. “Putting her back with statebreds in this spot Saturday is a business decision; $125,000 is a lot of money, and it’s really the logical place to go. If it were to rain and the race came off the grass, then we might try the Just a Game on Belmont Day. But hopefully, we can come out with a victory here and then look again to get a graded win for the mare after that.”

Although Effie Trinket appears to be a standout off her recent form with open company, Violette knows that nothing is a certainty in this business.

“There’s some nice fillies in this field, and she still has to go out and get a good trip, but this is a filly who always show up and does her job,” Violette said. “And I do know one thing: You’re going to win a lot more races being 4-5 than you are if you’re 45-1.”

Violette said one of the horses he fears in the Mount Vernon is Roses for Romney, who is coming off a convincing optional-claiming win against statebreds in her first start since joining trainer Christophe Clement’s stable.

Other contenders include the multiple New York-bred stakes winner Frosty Bay, Mah Jong Madness, and Miz Owell.

The Kingston brings together a familiar-looking group that includes such old rivals as Lubash, Kharafa, and Notacatbutallama. That trio ran one-two-three under optional-claiming conditions at Aqueduct on April 14. Lubash rallied from just off the pace that day to register a head decision for his first victory since defeating open company here last May in the Grade 3 Fort Marcy.

Kharafa won a pair of New York-bred stakes, the West Point at Saratoga and the Mohawk at Belmont, last summer. He and Lubash finished second and third behind the odds-on favorite King Kreesa in the 2013 edition of the Kingston.

Notacatbutallama seeks to snap a five-race losing streak since he scored over a sloppy track in the Grade 3 Hall of Fame last summer at Saratoga.

Compliance Officer captured the 2012 Kingston but has won just once in nine subsequent tries and comes into the race idle since December.