Midnight Bisou heads seven-horse field in Mother Goose

Seven 3-year-old fillies, headed by Santa Anita Oaks winner Midnight Bisou and the unbeaten Road to Victory, were entered Wednesday for the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes, the Saturday feature at Belmont Park.

Midnight Bisou makes her first start since being transferred from the California stable of Bill Spawr following a third-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks into the Churchill Downs string of trainer Steve Asmussen. Midnight Bisou won the Santa Ynez, the Santa Ysabel, and the Santa Anita Oaks before finishing behind Monomoy Girl and Wonder Gadot as the 2.3-1 favorite in the May 4 Kentucky Oaks.

Monomoy Girl, the leader of the 3-year-old filly division, went on to win the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont, and the only horse to have beaten Monomoy Girl in her eight-start career is Road to Victory. Trained by Mark Casse, Road to Victory won a Woodbine maiden race before handing Monomoy Girl a narrow defeat in the Golden Rod Stakes last November at Churchill Downs, but Road to Victory, recovering from an injury, was slow to get started this year, winning the Alywow Stakes on June 9 at Woodbine in her 3-year-old debut.

Midnight Bisou and jockey Mike Smith break from post 2 in the one-turn Mother Goose. Manny Franco rides Road to Victory, who drew post 6.

From the inside out, the others in the race are Indy Union, Mo Smart, Gio Game, Coach Rocks, and My Miss Lilly. Casse also trains Gio Game and is expected to scratch her in favor of the Delaware Oaks the following weekend. Mo Smart, trained by Todd Pletcher, has started her career with two wins by more than 20 lengths combined. Coach Rocks was second last out in the Black-Eyed Susan, while My Miss Lilly won the Grade 2 Gazelle at Aqueduct this spring.

The supporting feature, the $10,000 Perfect Sting for older females at one mile on turf, also drew seven entrants, and it’s an appealing race group. The field, from the rail out, is Feeling Bossy, Intercontinental Stakes winner La Sardane, Lido, Thais, Princess Gibraltar, In the Lee, and Pas de Soucis.