Gun Song likely favored in eight-horse Mother Goose

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – There are two opportunities for 3-year-old fillies to win stakes in their own age group this fall at Aqueduct where they won’t have to face the dominant division leader Thorpedo Anna.

The first of those races is Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. The eight-horse field includes three progeny of the stallion Gun Runner – Gun Song, Life Talk, and Headline Numbers – and a half-sister to Gun Runner named Pretty Ana.

Gun Song, who came within a neck of upsetting Thorpedo Anna in the Grade 1 Cotillion on Sept. 21 at Parx Racing, will likely go favored in the Mother Goose, which for decades was run during the spring at Belmont Park, but moved to the fall by the New York Racing Association.

Gun Song, trained by Mark Hennig, won the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico and the Cathryn Sophia at Parx before her gallant effort in the Cotillion. Tarifa, a multiple Grade 2 stakes winner in the winter, finished third in the Cotillion and is back in this field.

Life Talk, trained by Todd Pletcher, won the Grade 2 Demoiselle going 1 1/8 miles last December at Aqueduct after finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Life Talk came off a five-month layoff to run second to stablemate Miss Justify in the Seneca Overnight Stakes on Sept. 21 at Churchill Downs.

:: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.

Trainer Chad Brown entered two in the Mother Goose – Headline Numbers, who is 2 for 2, and Pretty Ana, who has run twice on turf for Brown without success.

“They sent her to me to try her on the turf, by Quality Road out of a Giant’s Causeway mare, made sense,” Brown said. “She doesn’t have the turn of foot on the turf that I had hoped, but her dirt works have been unbelievable. I’m not sure why she tailed off on the dirt before, maybe I’ll find out on Saturday.”

Dorothy’s Dream, Call Another Play, and Just Music complete the field.

Following the Mother Goose, Aqueduct will host the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Nov. 30.

◗ Carson’s Run and Deterministic, the one-two finishers from the Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby on Oct. 5, worked a half-mile in 50.55 seconds Monday morning over the Belmont Park training track.

Trainer Christophe Clement said he plans to run each horse one more time this year with one potentially headed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 30 at Del Mar, and one likely to stay home for the Grade 3, $200,000 Hill Prince on Nov. 9.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.