Mother Goose tops Saturday card at Belmont
By NY Hot List Staff | Friday, June 23, 2022
It may not be “The Mother of All Gooses,” but Saturday’s renewal of the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park features an accomplished field of five that includes a Grade 1 winner, two other graded stakes winners, and two stakes winners. It seems like the right ingredients for a lively battle at a 1 1/16-mile distance that could showcase a filly to watch down the road in the key Grade 1 stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga.
Here’s the Hot List picks for the Mother Goose Stakes:
The $250,000 Mother Goose (G2) – Belmont Park, Saturday, Race 8.
(5) Juju’s Map returned to make her 2022 debut in an allowance at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Oaks undercard. She won that race by almost five-lengths. Last year, she was a finalist for the Eclipse Award for 2-year-old fillies after running second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and winning the Alcibiades (G1). Brad Cox’s horses have been winning big races recently. (1) Shahama moved to the barn of Todd Pletcher after winning her first four starts at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. In her first American appearance she tried the best in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and finished sixth after falling pretty far behind in the early going. (2) Venti Valentine was 14th in the Oaks after recording three wins and a pair of seconds to start her career. She is unbeaten in two starts at Belmont. (4) Gerrymander will represent the Chad Brown barn. She made her first start of the year in the Eight Belles (G2) and finished sixth. Last year, she won the Tempted at Belmont and was second behind Champion Echo Zulu in the Frizette (G1).
The rest of the NY Hot List picks and the Special Saturday Pick 3 are available free of charge at this website.