Effie Trinket looks for first win of 2014 in Hettinger Stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Effie Trinket will look to win her first race of 2014 while seeking a repeat victory in the $125,000 John Hettinger Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares Sunday at Belmont Park.
For a five-month period from May 30 to Nov. 19, 2013, Effie Trinket won 4 of 5 starts and finished second in her only loss. The streak included a neck victory in the Hettinger and a nose score in the Ticonderoga, both run last fall at Belmont Park.
This year, Effie Trinket is winless in five starts, though she hasn’t necessarily run poorly. Her biggest disappointment was when she finished second to Mah Jong Maddnes as the 2-5 favorite in the Mount Vernon Stakes here May 31.
Most recently, Effie Trinket finished third behind the Grade 1 winners Dayatthespa and Discreet Marq in the Yaddo Stakes for New York-breds on Aug. 24 at Saratoga.
“They’re obviously Grade 1 horses. It was exceptional company,” said Rick Violette, the trainer of Effie Trinket. “It should have been a graded restricted race. She ran well, just not well enough.”
While the 1 1/8 miles of the Hettinger could be stretching it beyond Effie Trinket’s best distance, Violette is expecting the Hettinger “to be one of her better races, the way she’s training.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Effie Trinket. Trainer David Donk is 6 for 41 with a $4.30 ROI over the past five years on the NYRA circuit with horses making their second start off a layoff in turf routes. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Mah Jong Maddnes beat Effie Trinket in the Mount Vernon going one mile. She is 5 for 13 at Belmont and 1 for 12 elsewhere. She will be attempting 1 1/8 miles for the first time.
“The two times she won at a mile and a sixteenth, she was drawing away both times,” trainer John Morrison said. “A mile and an eighth is as far as she’s going to want to go. The whole key is going to be the trip.”
Key contenders
Effie Trinket (Last 3 Beyers: 92-83-87)
* Has recorded four of her six career victories over the turf at Belmont, including a neck victory in this race last year.
* Finished third in 2 of 3 graded stakes attempts this year.
* The only member of this field with a win at 1 1/8 miles.
Selenite (Last 3 Beyers: 79-61-74)
* The only 3-year-old in the field, she should appreciate the 1 1/8 miles, based on her pedigree and how well she ran in winning a division of the New York Stallion Stakes going a mile at Saratoga last month.
* Did beat older New York-bred fillies and mares in a first-level allowance race at Aqueduct in April.
Mah Jong Maddnes (Last 3 Beyers: 86-87-89)
* A consummate horse for course with a record of 5-1-3 from 13 career starts at Belmont.
* Finished three lengths behind Effie Trinket when running fifth while Effie Trinket was third in the Yaddo last month at Belmont.
* Gets rider switch from Taylor Rice to Jose Lezcano.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 10 Invading Humor. Trainer Bruce Levine and jockey Rajiv Maragh are 3 for 48 with a $1.04 ROI over the past five years when teaming up in turf races. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan