My Mane Squeeze could use Gazelle to test open company
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – My Mane Squeeze likely earned herself a spot in an open-company stakes following her 4 3/4-length victory in Sunday’s $100,000 Maddie May Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies.
The Maddie May was the third straight New York-bred stakes victory for My Mane Squeeze. She earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure for Sunday’s performance.
“Thinking Gazelle,” trainer Mike Maker texted Monday, referring to the Grade 3, $200,000 race at 1 1/8 miles scheduled for April 6 at Aqueduct.
The Gazelle is a qualifying race for the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 3. William Butler, the owner-breeder of My Mane Squeeze, said he has ties to Maryland having gone to school at Loyola College in the 1970s that make a race like the Black-Eyed Susan on May 17 equally as attractive.
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Following the race on Sunday, Butler recalled he would attend the Black-Eyed Susan Day card and sit in section AA at Pimlico and wonder what it might be like to have a horse in that race.
“There would be nobody there for the Black-Eyed Susan and I would see these magnificent 3-year-old fillies run,” Butler said. “It was a goal I set back then.”
My Mane Squeeze, by Audible, is a half-sister to five-time stakes winner Rotknee (by Runhappy) and four-time winner Mama’s Gold (by Bolt d’Oro), who has won twice at 1 1/8 miles.
My Mane Squeeze gave Maker his fourth stakes victory of the meet, three of which came for Butler.
◗ Dylan Davis, the leading rider at the Aqueduct meet, will serve a one-day suspension Friday for overuse of the riding crop on Hazardous Humor in race 3 on Feb. 15.
Davis was cited for striking the horse seven times, one more than permitted under regulations from the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority during the running of the race. In addition to the fine, Davis was fined $250.
Through Sunday, Davis led all riders at Aqueduct with 27 wins.
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