Always Carina Makes Stakes Debut in Mother Goose

There was a time when the Mother Goose Stakes (G2) was considered one of North America's premier races for 3-year-old fillies.

That was in an era when legends such as Cicada, Dark Mirage, Shuvee, Chris Evert, Ruffian, Mom's Command, Go for Wand, and Serena's Song graced the winner's circle after their victory in the popular stakes.

And, of course, there was the 1991 edition, the famed "Mother of All Gooses," when Meadow Star prevailed by a slim nostril over Lite Light, who was owned by hip hop star MC Hammer.

More recently, the Mother Goose lost its grade 1 status in 2017, but its two most recent winners, Dunbar Road  and Midnight Bisou, are both grade 1 winners.

Canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mother Goose returns from its one-year hiatus June 26 at Belmont Park with a five-horse renewal that may not carry the star power of past years, but will say a good deal about the depth of the 3-year-old filly division.

While the division leaders, Malathaat  and Search Results , may meet July 24 in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga Race Course in a rematch of Malathaat's epic neck victory in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), the $250,000 Mother Goose should spotlight candidates for not only the Oaks, but also the Aug. 21 Alabama Stakes (G1) at the Spa and the Sept. 25 Cotillion Stakes (G1) at Parx Racing.

In particular, the one-turn, 1 1/16-mile Mother Goose should be quite revealing for Three Chimneys Farm's undefeated Always Carina , who makes her stakes debut after impressive and decisive maiden and allowance wins for trainer Chad Brown.

"She looked like one of Chad's better 2-year-olds last year but had a setback and has come back at 3 and so far, so good. Now the real test happens. It's a real race when they put 'G's' next to the name," said Doug Cauthen, vice chairman of Three Chimneys Farm.

.A homebred daughter of the late Malibu Moon out of the More Than Ready   mare Miss Always Ready, she was a four-length winner of her six-furlong April 11 debut at Aqueduct Racetrack. Brown, the four-time Eclipse Award winner, then brought her back most recently in a May 20 allowance optional claiming race at Belmont Park and was treated to an easy 9 3/4-length triumph at a flat mile.

"I think it's a good stepping stone as far as distance and now we'll see if she can handle the step up in class because it's clearly going to be a challenging race. We think she has talent and she deserves the chance to be in there," Cauthen said. "You always dream about moving forward to the very top races, but you have to take your steps and this is a very good step. She has to beat some really good fillies to move up to the next stage."

Stonestreet Stables' Clairiere  turned in a strong effort for trainer Steve Asmussen in the Kentucky Oaks, rallying from eighth and missing third by a nose. A winner of the Rachel Alexandra Stakes Presented by Fasig-Tipton (G2) in February, she was then second in the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) in her final prep for the fillies' version of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Unraced since her fourth in the Kentucky Oaks, she surely has a distance pedigree as a daughter of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin   out of Stonestreet's multiple grade 1-winning mare Cavorting (Bernardini  ).

Trainer Todd Pletcher will try to match fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas with a record six Mother Goose wins, sending out Shadwell Stable's Zaajel . A homebred daughter of Street Sense   out of Asiya (Daaher  ), she was a tired seventh in the Edgewood Stakes Presented by Newport Racing & Gaming (G2T), which was also her turf debut, and now returns to the main track where she won the Forward Gal Stakes (G3) in just the second of her four career starts.

She was sixth in the Fair Grounds Oaks prior to the Edgewood.

Reiko and Michael Baum's Illiogami , a Tapit   filly, also makes her stakes debut after breaking her maiden in her fourth try and following that up with a victory in an April 30 allowance optional claiming race at Churchill Downs as she rallied from eighth.

"We're really excited about her," trainer Rusty Arnold said. 

The field also includes Gary Barber's New York-bred Make Mischief , a Mark Casse-trained daughter of Into Mischief   who was third June 5 in the Acorn Stakes (G1), 1 1/2 lengths behind Search Results.

The Mother Goose (4:40 p.m. post time) will be the eighth of 10 races Saturday on a card that also features the Wild Applause Stakes on turf for 3-year-old fillies.

Entries: Mother Goose S. (G2)

Belmont Park, Saturday, June 26, 2021, Race 8

• Grade II
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $250,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 4:40 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Make Mischief (NY)	Eric Cancel	121	Mark E. Casse	-
2	Always Carina (KY)	Flavien Prat	121	Chad C. Brown	-
3	Clairiere (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	121	Steven M. Asmussen	-
4	Zaajel (KY)	Joel Rosario	121	Todd A. Pletcher	-
5	Illiogami (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	121	George R. Arnold, II	-