Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park

Dave Bond, OTB Writer

Las Vegas, NV - The 56th running of the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes takes place this Saturday, June 23rd from Belmont Park. Three year old fillies will chase their share of the $300,000 purse when they go 1 1/16 miles around one turn on Belmont's main track.

A small but solid group of five have been assembled for the big race which is race 10 on Belmont Park's Saturday schedule. Quality not quantity is the story here. Post time is 5:47 PM. Here is a look at all five entries and the credentials that brought them to this Grade 1 event.

Greyhound Betting

2012 Mother Goose Stakes Race Favorites

Believe You Can - has won three of her last four starts - the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks last time out in impressive fashion on May 4th to follow up a win in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 31st . Believe You Can also has a win this year in the Silverbulletday Stakes at Fair Grounds on January 21st and an uncharacteristic fourth in the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra Stakes on February 25th. In nine career starts, Believe You Can has six wins making her the most dangerous horse in the field.

Contested - Bob Baffert trained Contested has only five career starts with four wins and a second place finish - four straight wins going into the Mother Goose! After an overwhelming win against an Allowance field on April 15th, she was able to prove that her results weren't a fluke. Contested went on to win the Grade 3 Eight Belles Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4th in very impressive fashion and then won the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes by five lengths last time out on this track on May 28th. Contested is a serious threat - it wouldn't be a shock to see her victorious on Saturday

Mother Goose Stakes 2012 | Remaining Field Entries

Zo Impressive - won her first two career starts- an Allowance Optional Claiming at Gulfstream on February 25th and a Maiden Special Weight race on January 22nd also at Gulfstream. She followed that up with an impressive second behind Grace Hall in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Oaks Stakes on March 31st and a second last time out in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes here behind fellow Mother Goose competitor Contested. She has placed in all four career starts.

Mother Goose Stakes betting at Belmont Park with OffTrackBetting.com

Disposablepleasure - Todd Pletcher pupil Disposablepleasure had a very impressive win at the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes at Aqueduct in November but has not tasted victory since - a fourth in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, a third in the Grade 2 Fair Ground Oaks and a respectable second in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes last time out. She has two wins, a second and a third in six career starts but steps up in competition in this Grade 1 race.

Wildcat's Smile - finished third in the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes last time out on May 18th and before that won an Allowance Optional Claiming race at Aqueduct on April 20th . She has placed in every race of her eight career starts - three wins, three seconds and two third place finish. Among the more impressive results is a second in the Grade 2 Demoiselle Stakes in November and a win at the New York Breeders' Futurity in October.


2012 Mother Goose Stakes Entries & Odds

Race 10 on Belmont Park's Saturday card with a Post Time of 5:47 PM.

Post Horse Jockey Trainer ML Odds
1 Believe You Can R. Napravnik J. Jones
8-5
2 Contested J. Castellano B. Baffert
7-5
3 Disposablepleasure R. Dominguez T. Pletcher
8-1
4 Wildcat's Smile J. Lezcano D. Galluscio
10-1
5 Zo Impressive R. Maragh T. Albertrani
5-1