Mother Goose next for Rachel's Valentina

ELMONT, N.Y. – Rachel’s Valentina, sixth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks, will make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park on July 2, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed Friday.

Though she would have had five weeks between the Kentucky Oaks and the Grade 1 Acorn – run last Saturday on the Belmont Stakes undercard – Pletcher felt that even more time would be beneficial for the daughter of Bernardini and Rachel Alexandra. Rachel Alexandra won the 2009 Mother Goose by 19 1/4 lengths.

“We felt, historically, she’s run well with plenty of time between races,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher noted that Rachel’s Valentina ran in the Kentucky Oaks four weeks “after a pretty demanding effort in the Ashland for her first start of the year.” Rachel’s Valentina finished second in the Ashland to Weep No More.

On Friday, Rachel’s Valentina worked a half-mile in 49.60 seconds over Belmont’s training track in company with the 3-year-old maiden turf winner American Patriot.

Pletcher said that Off the Tracks, second in the Acorn, could be a candidate for the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga on July 24. At 1 1/8 miles, the CCA Oaks would be the farthest Off the Tracks has run.

Pletcher noted that at Saratoga, the options for Off the Tracks are either seven furlongs – in a race like the Grade 1 Test – or 1 1/8 miles in the CCA Oaks.

“I would be inclined, the way she was finishing at a mile, to give two turns strong consideration,” Pletcher said. “We’ll see how everybody else feels about it.”

Pletcher said that Belmont Stakes runner-up Destin and fifth-place finisher Stradivari have come out of the race well. Both galloped Friday at Belmont. Destin is possible for the Jim Dandy Stakes or Haskell Invitational, while those two races as well as the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga are under consideration for Stradivari.

Curalina and Stopchargingmaria, fourth and sixth in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, will be considered for the Grade 3, $200,000 Shuvee at Saratoga on July 31. Pletcher noted that Curalina lost her right front shoe in the Phipps, but Stopchargingmaria had no visible excuse for her dull performance.