Northlands: Two horses stand out in Madamoiselle Stakes

The $50,000 Madamoiselle at Northlands Park on Monday drew five horses but the 1 1/16-mile feature for fillies and mares shapes up as a battle between Alywyn and Summer Song.

Summer Song has done most of her running at Hastings but she thrives at Northlands where she has won three stakes. Her only loss in Edmonton came in an allowance race she used as a prep for the John Patrick which she won by 2 1/2 lengths July 9. She came back to work a bullet five furlongs in 59 seconds July 25, and her trainer Alan May said she couldn’t be doing any better.

“It’s been hard to train her because of all the rain we’ve had here,” said May. “But she seems to love this track and while I didn’t want her to work that fast, it didn’t seem to take anything out of her.”

Summer Song is versatile and Fernando Perez will probably need to keep her within close range of Notoriously, who figures to set a moderate pace.

Alywyn has 11 wins from 19 career starts at Northlands. She is on a two-race losing streak, but in both the Wild Rose and the John Patrick she had excuses. “With any luck she might have won them both,” said trainer Jim Meyaard. “You can’t take anything away from Summer Song, but Alywyn had a brutal trip in the John Patrick.”

Alywyn never got to run her race when she finished third in the John Patrick. She spotted the field a few lengths at the break and then was in tight going into the second turn and also at the quarter pole. By the time she was clear it was too late.

She has good tactical speed and could have a slight edge over Summer Song if she breaks alertly with usual rider Rico Walcott aboard.

Miss Victoriana made a strong late move to finish second in the John Patrick, but Notoriously looks more intriguing as a longshot possibility. Trained by Rod Cone, Notoriously dominated the local 3-year-old filly division last year but due to a bout with colic missed a lot of training prior to the John Patrick where she set the pace before tiring to finish fourth. She is eligible to move forward in her second straight route and could be dangerous if she gets away on her own.