Pletcher aims three at Mother Goose
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher will celebrate his 43rd birthday on Saturday. It looks like he wants to give himself a Grade 1 victory as a present.
Pletcher on Wednesday entered three horses in Saturday's $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, a race that drew a field of only five. Pletcher will likely have the favorite in Devil May Care, who drew post 3, as well as the multiple stakes winner Ailalea (post 2) and the promising Katy Now (post 5). Biofuel and Connie and Michael complete the field.
"Obviously, in a perfect world, I wouldn't be running all three of these fillies in the same race against each other -- it's not effective stable management from my perspective," said Pletcher, a two-time winner of this race with Octave and Jersey Girl. "But on the other hand I think it's what the owners want to do, it's a Grade 1, it's at home, so those things are attractive."
Devil May Care will be making her first start since running 10th in the Kentucky Derby. Prior to that she won the Grade 2 Bonnie Miss Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths and is already a Grade 1 winner over this track, having taken the Frizette here last fall.
Pletcher said he could have run Devil May Care in the Acorn on Belmont Stakes Day, but with the major targets being the Coaching Club American Oaks on July 24 at Saratoga and the Alabama on Aug. 21, Pletcher felt it best to skip that race.
"It made more sense to wait for this," Pletcher said.
Ailalea comes off a victory in the Grade 3 Dogwood at Churchill Downs, a race in which she broke slowly, quickly recovered, and went on to win by a length. Ailalea's three victories have all come in one-turn mile races, including a maiden win over this track last fall and Grade 3 Tempted last November at Aqueduct.
Katy Now was purchased privately last fall by the Brady family's Mill House after she won two straight races for trainer Ian Wilkes. In her one start for Pletcher, Katy Now won a second-level allowance race by 4 1/2 lengths. She will stretch out from six furlongs 1 1/16 miles here.
Kent Desormeaux has picked up the mount on Katy Now.