Nine New York-bred fillies line up in the Maddie May at Aqueduct on Saturday
Nine New York-bred fillies line up in the Maddie May at Aqueduct on Saturday // From the New York Hot List staff // Friday, February 19
The $100,000 Maddie May at Aqueduct on Saturday has drawn a deep field of nine New York-bred 3-year-old fillies who will go a one-turn mile.
The 3-1 morning line favorite is Brattle House who won her first start by more than five lengths back in November at the Big A as an odds-on favorite for trainer Christophe Clement. Since then she has been training in Florida.
“She’s doing well. I gave her one start at the end of last year and then gave her a bit of a break,” Clement said. “She will be much better in the spring and around April, but I do think she’s been working well. She still has a winter coat, but she’s done well. Her works have been good.”
The high-priced daughter of Malibu Moon was a wire to wire winner of that one-mile maiden special weight against state-breds.
“Going one mile first out is not easy to do, but Clement had her ready and she won,” said OXO Equine racing manager Don Chatlos. “She’s had the winter down in Payson and we’re hoping to see her best on Saturday. One of the reasons we gave Clement the filly is because he trained the broodmare, so he knows the family really well. You trust Christophe in those situations. He has Hall of Fame credentials. He could have waited for an allowance, but he sees something he likes in going after this stakes.”
Here are the Hot List picks for the Maddie May:
The $100,000 Maddie May, Aqueduct, Saturday, Race 8.
(8) Brattle House (A) was an impressive five-length debut winner at Aqueduct back in November for OXO Equine and trainer Christophe Clement. The $775,000 yearling purchase has been training at Payson Park in Florida for Clement and will ship back north to take on state-breds in the Maddie May for 3-year-old fillies. (5) Shanes Pretty Lady (A) was a debut winner back in September at Belmont Park for Gary Gullo who has since retired from training. She was moved to Todd Pletcher and since then she was third in a NY-bred stake at Aqueduct and hit the board twice in allowance races. Most recently, she got stuck on a bad rail and still managed to rally for third and, thus, has 8-1 morning line odds. (7) Secret Love won first-time out at Belmont in September for Jon Kimmel and has an allowance second and a stakes win at Aqueduct since then. She will stretch out to a mile now. (3) Make Mischief raced in three graded stakes as a 2-year-old including a second in the Schuylerville (G3) and then in the Adirondack (G2) at Saratoga. She was moved to the barn of Chris Englehart and returned last month to win an allowance by more than three lengths after racing seven-wide turning for home.
The Maddie May is the final leg of the Cross Country Pick 5 which this week combines races from Aqueduct and Tampa Bay Downs. All five races will be shown on America’s Day at the Races on Fox Sports. The sequence begins at 3:20 ET and ends with the Maddie May at 4:50.
Analysis of the other NY Hot List races and the Special Saturday Pick 3 are available free of charge at this website.