Mah Jong Maddnes gets first stakes win in Mount Vernon

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mah Jong Maddnes showed some surprising speed under apprentice Taylor Rice, then used her early advantage to register a three-quarter-length decision over the odds-on Effie Trinket in Saturday’s $125,000 Mount Vernon Stakes at Belmont Park.

Mah Jong Maddnes, who rallied from a dozen lengths off the lead to win her previous start going six furlongs, sped to the lead inside Lady’s Lunar Luck in the one-mile Mount Vernon. She shook off her early pursuer near the quarter pole, then dug in gamely to repulse a try from the favorite through the final furlong.

Effie Trinket raced within easy striking distance, came wide into the stretch, lugged in briefly near the eighth pole, and could not get to the winner while finishing two lengths clear of Lady’s Lunar Luck to be second-best.

Mah Jong Maddnes, a 5-year-old homebred daughter of Freud, posted her first stakes victory in the Mount Vernon. Trained by John Morrison for Joseph Gioia’s Very Un Stable, Mah Jong Maddnes returned $13.20 after completing the distance in 1:34.42 over a very fast track.

“We were a little worried about the pace,” Rice said. “But we broke on top, and she settled for me very nicely. When she did that, I thought, ‘Now all we have to do is wait it out.’ When we got to the head of the lane, I had loads of horse left.”

Rick Violette, who trains Effie Trinket, said, “There was no pace, and we might have been a little far back. They went up the lane in 22 4/5 [seconds], and we probably ran 22 flat. You can only run so fast. She ran hard and got beat.”