The $250,000, Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes Saturday at Belmont at the Big A (Aqueduct) features a compact field of seven 3-year-old fillies, including five stakes winners.
Defining Purpose should be listed first among that quintet as she won the Grade 1 Central Bank Ashland Stakes this past April as well as the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks in July, although since then she finished a non-threating third in August and then fifth in September. Foggy Night won the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks in July and the Cathryn Sophia Stakes in August before a poor sixth-place effort last month in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes. Occult won the Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks near the end of July and wasn’t disgraced in her most recent race when third in the Cotillion in September. Then there’s Xigera, who although winless in three graded stakes tries, won both the listed Tepin Stakes in July as well as the Seneca Overnight Stakes last month. Undervalued Asset showed she belonged at the level when second in the Grade 3 Charles Town Oaks in August but then was a non-threatening fifth in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Stakes at this Belmont at the Big A meet four weeks ago. Julia Shining won the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct last December and ran well when third in the Ashland this spring but most recently was ninth of 10 in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales. Peak Popularity rounds out the field, running in a stakes race for the first time and bringing a 1-for-5 career record into the race.
Main win contenders:
Xigera started her career on the grass last summer and ran very well, first by posting a runner-up effort and then a strong win by nearly six lengths. Moving to dirt for the first time last fall, Xigera ran in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes, but after pressing the pacesetter in second for most of the race, she faded to fourth in the final sixteenth of a mile (moved to third via DQ). After finishing last of 14 when back on turf for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Xigera was given seven months off and returned stronger, first winning at a mile on grass and then winning the Tepin Stakes after stalking the pacesetter in second. After a poor effort in the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational with a perfect excuse (soft turf), Xigera moved back to dirt for the Seneca Stakes on dirt. That was by far a career-best effort where she earned a 102 Equibase Speed Figure. In the Seneca, she stalked the pacesetter in second for the first seven furlongs and then moved quickly to lead by three lengths in the stretch before extending that margin to 6 ¼ lengths. In the race chart, Xigera was reported to cross the wire “under wraps,” suggesting she could run even better in this race, her next start. Before leaving trainer Phil Bauer’s base in Kentucky, Xigera put in a strong workout on Oct. 13 which was the best of 27 on the day, and she also brings along jockey Julian Leparoux, who has ridden the filly to all four of her wins to date. Considering she has the ability to stalk the early leader, or to set the pace if no other filly orse goes to the front from the start, Xigera is the one to beat in this year’s Mother Goose Stakes.
Julia Shining demonstrated a lot of talent last fall in the first two starts of her career, first winning a seven-furlong race and then in only the second start of her career stretching out to the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Mother Goose to win the important Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct. After a few months off, Julia Shining began her run for the Longines Kentucky Oaks with a third-place effort in the Suncoast Stakes this winter and then was only beaten three-quarters of a length in the Ashland Stakes (by Defining Purpose), earning a career-best 99 figure in the process. However, Julia Shining did not have the necessary points to enter the starting gate for the Oaks so she took some time off. Returning to race in August, Julia Shining ran in the 1 ¼-mile Alabama Stakes but finished ninth of 10 and never threatened. Now she’s back at the track and distance of her Demoiselle victory and she’s already shown she belongs at this level. Julia Shining could be a strong contender if she repeats any of her four efforts previous to the Alabama.
Occult began to show a lot of promise when winning by 4 ¼ lengths in her first route race last December and then following that up with a win in the Busanda Stakes in January at Aqueduct at the distance of the Mother Goose. She returned in the Gazelle Stakes three months later but only managed fifth, and then after a two-month rest she finished third in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes Presented by Great Jones Distilling Co. Her second start off the layoff was significantly better, as Occult won the Monmouth Oaks by 10 ¼ lengths with a 99 figure. Moving up in class to the Cotillion Stakes in September, Occult found herself last of nine after a half-mile had been run over a sloppy track, and although she valiantly rallied she only managed to finish third at the end. The 97 figure was pretty good considering the track conditions and, like Julia Shining, Occult will be returning to the track and distance where she has a stakes win previously. That could help her return to top form, and winning this year’s Mother Goose Stakes seems within her reach.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Defining Purpose (100), Foggy Night (97), Peak Popularity (89) and Undervalued Asset (98).
Win Contenders, in preference order:
Xigera
Julia Shining
Occult
Pick 4
6-3-5-6
6-3-5-6
$28
Pick 5
7-6-3-5-6
7-6-3-5-6
$92
Superfecta
6-7-5-3
6-7-5-3
$6
Pick 4
6-3-5-6
6-3-5-6
$28
Pick 5
7-6-3-5-6
7-6-3-5-6
$92
Superfecta
6-7-5-3
6-7-5-3
$6
