Maedean Tackles Two Turns in Demoiselle Stakes
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Joe Labozzetta
Maedean wins the Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
The Demoiselle Stakes (G2) and Remsen Stakes (G2) are basically family.
Both will be run Dec. 7 at Aqueduct Racetrack. Both are at 1 1/8 miles for 2-year-olds. One for fillies, one ideally for males. Both offer points toward starting in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) or Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) on the first weekend in May at Churchill Downs.
Yet if there's a difference in the two races, it's that the Demoiselle for fillies is an even more accurate barometer of future success in Kentucky in the spring. While the Remsen falls a furlong short of the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby, the Demoiselle offers fillies a chance to tackle the nine furlongs of the Kentucky Oaks at 2.
That might explain why the Demoiselle has produced a Kentucky Oaks runner-up (Wonder Gadot, 2017 Demoiselle) and two third-place finishers (Lewis Bay 2015, Unlimited Budget 2012) since 2012 and why trainers are generally eager to brave the chilly conditions and test their promising fillies in a competitive two-turn setting.
Reflective of that, a bulky field of 12 will turn out for Saturday's race at the Big A.
"Once you have 1 1/8 miles under your belt that early in a career, it's nice to go forward knowing your early part of the 3-year-old season is simplified," trainer Mark Hennig said.
Hennig has been looking forward to the Demoiselle for a while with Courtlandt Farms' Maedean, a daughter of Tapit .
After stumbling in her Sept. 8 debut, Maedean broke her maiden in her second start. She then scored an impressive 5 1/2-length victory for owners Donald and Donna Adam in the Nov. 1 Tempted Stakes at a one-turn mile at the Big A, and Hennig believes she will be well suited by the two turns.
"She turned in a real good effort in the Tempted, and we look forward to stretching her out even more. That's why we waited to run her, so we could get her to the longer distances. She's been looking for longer distances all along," Hennig said. "I think she'll relish the two turns. She has the breeding for it."
Bred in Kentucky by Payson Stud, Maedean is out of the Arch mare Summer Solo, who finished third in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) in her final start. The first stakes winner out of Summer Solo, Maedean sold for $450,000 from the Stone Farm consignment at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Maedean and jockey Luis Saez will break from post 2.
The Demoiselle will also be a revealing test for Godolphin's Lake Avenue, who romped by 12 3/4 lengths against three rivals in a Nov. 14 seven-furlong maiden special weight race at Aqueduct after finishing second in her debut.
"She ran very well in her last race," trainer Bill Mott said about the gate-to-wire win. "It was a small field, but she won easily."
Lake Avenue breaks her maiden at Aqueduct
The Tapit homebred is out of the Street Cry mare Seventh Street and is a half sister to Marking, who was second in the 2015 Malibu Stakes (G1). Seventh Street was a multiple grade 1 winner around two turns, which bodes well for Lake Avenue's chances in her stakes debut.
"She's never been one to fold up. She didn't do it in her maiden win, and she doesn't do it in her works. We'll be going a couple more furlongs Saturday, which will make it interesting," Mott said. "I'd like her to be comfortable in the race while getting in a rhythm so she can kick on at the end. The second time they tend to show a little more speed once they figure out what's going on."
Lake Avenue's task was complicated at the draw as she and jockey Junior Alvarado landed post 12.
Helen Alexander and Helen Groves' Alandra already has stakes experience around two turns. She finished third at 1 1/16 miles in the Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland. Trained by Shug McGaughey, she finished 9 1/2 lengths behind British Idiom, who went on to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
The Alcibiades marked the second start for the homebred daughter of Blame who was a Sept. 1 maiden winner at Saratoga Race Course.
Ten Strike Racing's Critical Value has a stakes win. The daughter of Bodemeister prevailed in the Maid of the Mist Stakes for New York-breds at a one-turn mile for trainer Jeremiah Englehart in her previous start.
Also, E.V. Racing Stable's Water White is coming off a Nov. 15 maiden win for trainer Rudy Rodriguez at Aqueduct but was second to Maedean in an Oct. 5 maiden race before that, and Alfonso Cammarota's Miss Marissa won by five lengths in Maedean's debut but was sixth last time out in the Frizette Stakes (G1) for trainer Jim Ryerson.
As part of the Road to the Kentucky Oaks series, the Demoiselle will award 10-4-2-1 starting points to the top four finishers.
The Demoiselle will be the eighth of 10 races Saturday, with post time scheduled for 3:13 p.m. ET.
Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, December 07, 2019, Race 8Entries: Demoiselle S. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
Fiftyshays Ofgreen (KY)
John R. Velazquez
118
John C. Servis
-
2
Maedean (KY)
Luis Saez
120
Mark A. Hennig
-
3
Glass Ceiling (KY)
Eric Cancel
118
Danny Gargan
-
4
Miss Marissa (KY)
Dylan Davis
118
James T. Ryerson
-
5
Alandra (KY)
Joel Rosario
118
Claude R. McGaughey III
-
6
Critical Value (NY)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
120
Jeremiah C. Englehart
-
7
Jara (KY)
Joe Bravo
118
John C. Servis
-
8
I Dare U (KY)
Manuel Franco
118
George Weaver
-
9
Blame Debbie (KY)
Javier Castellano
118
H. Graham Motion
-
10
Daphne Moon (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
118
Jeremiah C. Englehart
-
11
Water White (KY)
Luis R. Reyes
118
Rudy R. Rodriguez
-
12
Lake Avenue (KY)
Junior Alvarado
118
William I. Mott
-
