With options aplenty, Mother Goose draws field of five

ELMONT, N.Y. - The glut of stakes for 3-year-old fillies has had a negative impact on New York.

Two weeks ago, the Grade 1 Acorn drew a field of five, but ultimately went with four after the late scratch of race favorite Echo Zulu due to a lameness issue. Wednesday, when entries were taken for Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose at Belmont Park, the race drew only five led by the Grade 1 winner Juju’s Map.

Upcoming stakes for 3-year-old fillies include the Grade 3, $300,000 Delaware Oaks on July 2, the $100,000 Boiling Springs at Monmouth Park on July 3, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Indiana Oaks at Horseshoe Indianapolis and Grade 3, $225,000 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows, both on July 9.

Among the quintet entered for the Mother Goose is Venti Valentine, the New York-bred filly looking to bounce back from a last-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks on May 6. After sitting third behind dueling leaders Echo Zulu and Yuugiri until the far turn, Venti Valentine was taken up by jockey Tyler Gaffalione after being passed by horses on either side of her. From there, Venti Valentine was eased.

“It was a weird race,” trainer Jorge Abreu said. “She was forwardly placed and all of a sudden he checked her pretty good and I didn’t see the reason to be checked that hard.”

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Abreu said after that, Venti Valentine “lost all interest in the race. She came back out of the race in good shape and has been breezing pretty well.”

Prior to the Oaks, Venti Valentine was in good form having gone 2 for 3 at age 2 with her only loss a neck defeat to Nest in the Grade 2 Demoiselle. After winning the Busher Stakes by seven lengths at Aqueduct on March 5, Venti Valentine finished second in the Grade 3 Gazelle to Nostalgic, who snuck through on her inside in the stretch.

Jose Ortiz is named to ride Venti Valentine in the Mother Goose, a one-turn, 1 1/16-mile race.

Juju’s Map won the Grade 1 Alcibiades last October at Keeneland and finished second to Echo Zulu in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, a race that ran with only six 2-year-old fillies.

She made a solid 3-year-old debut in a second-level allowance, a race she won by 4 3/4 lengths.

Also entered in the Mother Goose were Shahama, the UAE Oaks winner who finished sixth in the Kentucky Oaks; Gerrymander, last year’s Tempted Stakes winner who finished sixth in the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill; and Midnight Stroll, winner of the Sophomore Fillies Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, who finished ninth in the Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico.

* Trainer Chad Brown has three of the five runners entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Wild Applause Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf. Brown entered Eminent Victor, Lakota Spirit, and Oakhurst. Rounding out the field are Al Qahira (Bill Mott) and Breeze Easy (Christophe Clement).