Road to Victory late to party in Mother Goose

In a perfect world, the connections of Road to Victory would’ve had a horse for the Kentucky Oaks. In this imperfect world, what they got as the Oaks came and went was a filly taking her time to come around after an ankle injury.

But all is not lost. The talent Road to Victory evinced at age 2 still was evident when she finally made her 3-year-old debut three weeks ago, and Road to Victory steps back into graded-stakes competition Saturday at Belmont Park in the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes.

She could be worth a bet.

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Midnight Bisou in her most recent start finished third as the Kentucky Oaks favorite and is likely to be favored again in the Mother Goose. She’s a formidable rival, but Road to Victory hasn’t lost to anyone yet, and that includes Monomoy Girl, whom Road to Victory bested by a neck in the Golden Rod Stakes last fall. Monomoy Girl has won her seven other races, including Grade 1 victories in the Ashland, the Kentucky Oaks, and the Acorn.

“I have great respect for [Midnight Bisou],” said Mark Casse, who trains Road to Victory for Gary Barber and John Oxley. “If she ever were going to beat us, this is the time.”

Casse doesn’t expect Road to Victory to be at her very best, not after a 6 1/2-furlong turf race following a layoff of more than six months. But Road to Victory, who will have Manny Franco in the irons, can win anyway. Casse said that after it became clear that Road to Victory wouldn’t be ready in time for the Kentucky Oaks, he mapped out a schedule calling for a comeback run in the Alywow on Woodbine turf as a Mother Goose prep.

In the Alywow, Road to Victory, a sizeable daughter of Quality Road, broke from the fence and got buried along the rail before wheeling out at the quarter pole and inhaling the competition. Tactics Saturday should be similar to the Golden Rod, in which Road to Victory showed plenty of pace.

The 1 1/16-mile Mother Goose is contested at level weights (121) and around one turn, and Road to Victory’s outside draw gives Franco options. Casse said his second entrant, Gio Game, would be scratched to start in the Delaware Oaks barring a setback to Road to Victory.

There was nothing wrong with Midnight Bisou’s Kentucky Oaks, yet the performance felt like a letdown following a three-race win streak capped by victory in the Santa Anita Oaks. Midnight Bisou won the Santa Anita Oaks with an electric move on the far turn, but that turn of foot never showed up at Churchill.

Midnight Bisou races for the first time since being moved from trainer Bill Spawr to trainer Steve Asmussen. The partners that own her (the Madaket Stables earlier this week purchased an interest) said the barn change was made strictly because Spawr is based in Southern California and there are greater racing opportunities for Midnight Bisou on the East Coast.

Mike Smith comes in to ride Midnight Bisou, who has posted five workouts since changing trainers.

“We’re just hoping for more of the same from her – which is excellence,” said Asmussen. “She’s a Grade 1 winner and she looks like it and acts like it.”

Indy Union is overmatched. Mo Smart, trained by Todd Pletcher, hasn’t earned flashy speed figures, but her two starts have produced blowout victories and her ceiling is unknown. Coach Rocks won a mushy edition of the Grade 2 Gulfstream Oaks and since has been exposed. My Miss Lilly has been freshened since finishing 11th in the Kentucky Oaks.

The Mother Goose is carded as race 8, post time 5:18 Eastern. The forecast calls for sunshine and a high temperature in the low 90s.