Macanga's connections confident coming into Wild Applause

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Macanga was so impressive winning an allowance race in her first start after being transferred to Rick Dutrow’s barn earlier this spring that her trainer was ready to jump her right into the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 6. But after discussing it with the filly’s connections, as well as getting some input from jockey John Velazquez, Dutrow ultimately opted to take the more conservative route and entered Macanga in Saturday’s $150,000 Wild Applause Stakes at Aqueduct.

The Wild Applause, a mile race on the inner turf for 3-year-old fillies, is the 10th on an 11-race program that begins at 12:35 p.m.

Macanga was highly thought of by her owners, the partnership of John Guarnere and Mark Barnhart, from the moment she first stepped on the turf to win a maiden special weight race in impressive wire-to-wire fashion under Velazquez last fall at Gulfstream Park. She was ultimately sent to Dutrow following a disappointing seventh-place effort in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride Stakes on March 2.

She reverted to her maiden-winning form when controlling a high-priced optional-claiming/allowance race from start to finish by 2 1/2 lengths when making her local debut seven weeks ago.

“I always wanted to have a horse with Rick,” Guarnere said. “And when Elizabeth [Dobles] said she wanted to stop traveling, this seemed like the right time with this horse.

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“Rick made a few changes, including burning off some splints, and she looked like a different horse in her last start. She was always one of the fastest horses I’ve ever had. It was just a matter of calming her down and getting her to relax.”

Guarnere said Dutrow was confident off the win that Macanga could handle the jump into Grade 1 company. But after a discussion with Velazquez, who has ridden her in all five career starts, those plans were changed.

“Johnny told Rick why not notch her down, win a stakes, then shoot for the stars at Saratoga. And he agreed,” Guarnere said. “The fact that he even wanted to run in the Belmont Oaks, and believed she had a legitimate shot, pretty much tells you all you need to know about how much confidence he has in this filly on Saturday.”

Macanga will face a solid group led by Gala Brand, winner of the Grade 3 With Anticipation against males in just her second lifetime start at 2. But she comes in idle since her 13th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The field also includes trainer Chad Brown’s trio of maiden winners Grayosh, Chantilly Road, and Oversubscribed; the stakes-placed trio of Curlin’s Girl, her former stablemate Vino Rouge, and Awesome Czech; and Tina Ballerina.

Curlin’s Girl rallied to finish third in the Memories of Silver Stakes before being moved to trainer Linda Rice’s barn shortly thereafter. That was the third in a series of good efforts, all from off the pace, for the very consistent filly. Rice was as surprised as anybody to see Curlin’s Girl dueling for the lead when stepping up in class for the Grade 2 Wonder Again in her most recent start.

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“She had gotten shuffled back the time before [in the Memories of Silver] and my client got frustrated with that and wanted her placed a little closer last time,” Rice explained. “And we were both surprised to see her on the lead like that.

“I don’t expect that to be the case this time. Hopefully, she’ll be in a stalking position with a target in front of her. She’s training well but she’s going to need to move forward. This is a very competitive race.”

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