Expect improved performance by Moam in Maddie May Stakes
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In a seemingly wide-open renewal of the $100,000 Maddie May Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies Monday at Aqueduct, Moam has a chance to score at a price.
A debut winner at 11-1 at Saratoga last August, Moam was off seven months before returning in the Franklin Square Stakes going 6 1/2 furlongs here on Jan. 22. As in her debut, Moam was off slow only in the Franklin Square, losing early contact with the field. She made a smart-looking move along what was a strong rail around the turn, but then tipped extremely wide in the stretch drive. She passed a few tiring horses and finished fourth, beaten 15 lengths by winner Sterling Silver.
Trainer Horacio De Paz blamed himself for Moam breaking slowly in the Franklin Square.
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“That was error on my part,” he said. “She only ran once. We stood her in the gate, but I didn’t think about breaking her because she was real professional about it. That day, she didn’t break well and took herself back. I thought she made a really good run and showed she wanted to be competitive. This time we dotted our I’s and crossed our T’s.”
According to DRF Formulator, De Paz hits at 26 percent rate with a $2.57 ROI over the last five years with horses making their second start off a layoff of between 45 and 180 days. One of those victories came with Moam’s half-sister Sharp Starr.
Yo Cuz, as a second-out maiden, was a front-running winner of the $500,000 Fifth Avenue division of the New York Stallion Series here on Dec. 18. She broke slowly and finished a rallying fifth in her debut a month earlier.
With Gulfstream Park dark Monday, Jose Ortiz is up from South Florida to ride Yo Cuz. He rode her in the Fifth Avenue win. It is Ortiz’s only mount on the card.
Debut winner Stone Creator is certainly worth considering in the Maddie May. A daughter of Creative Cause, Stone Creator set a pressured though moderate pace on Jan. 16 and drew away to win that seven-furlong race by five lengths.
“She seems like a filly I always thought would want more distance, so I think a mile should be great for her,” trainer Charlton Baker said. “She’s got tactical speed, so she’ll put herself in the race. If you ask her for it, she’ll give it to you.”
Reigning Chick was an emphatic 8 3/4-length debut winner at 16-1 last December for Orlando Noda. She came back to run third behind Magic Circle in the Busanda Stakes on Jan. 23 and now cuts back from 1 1/8 miles to a one-turn mile. Jalon Samuel rides from post 3.
Sandy’s Garden, who rode the gold rail to a second-place finish in the Franklin Square, Thinking It Over, Captainsdaughter, and Caragate complete the field.