Mommasgottarun Wheels Back for Distaff Score

Ronald Stewart's Mommasgottarun  returned off just five day's rest to make the grade for trainer Linda Rice in the April 7 $150,000 Distaff Handicap (G3), a seven-furlong main track sprint for older fillies and mares, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Mommasgottarun finished a pacesetting fifth under returning rider Eric Cancel in the nine-furlong Top Flight Stakes last Sunday at the Big A, but raced with different tactics in the Distaff, rallying from off-the-pace to secure the 1 1/2-length victory. She cut back to sprinting for the first time since she was haltered for $50,000 by Rice out of an off-the-board effort going the Distaff distance in December.

"I didn't feel like she got the right trip and things didn't work out the way I'd hoped in the Top Flight," Rice said. "I was looking at both races trying to decide which one to use and I decided to go to the longer race, but it didn't unfold how I'd hoped. But to get a graded placing for a filly is a big deal and that's what I was hoping for (today)."

The daughter of Maclean's Music   emerged from the outermost post 7 as post-time favorite Rossa Veloce  broke awkwardly to her inside under Jose Ortiz and trailed the field early. Gerrymander  rushed up along the rail from her inside post to lead the field exiting the chute and through an opening quarter-mile in :23.60 over the fast main track.

It was a three-way battle for the lead between Gerrymander, longshot Hydra  and Rossa Veloce approaching the turn as Cancel began to coax Mommasgottarun to unleash a four-wide bid after a half-mile in :47.25.

Mommasgottarun took command at the top of the lane and drew clear from an all-out Rossa Veloce and Hydra while Funny How  found her best stride late in the stretch and made one last try at the sixteenth pole, but could not make up the needed ground.

Mommasgottarun ($16) remained well clear of her rival and crossed the wire first in a final time of 1:25.29.

Funny How held second by five lengths over Hydra, who bested Rossa Veloce out of show honors by a half-length.

Cancel said Mommasgottarun showed a marked improvement in the short time from her last race.

"Last time, she didn't perform like I wanted her to, but going back to seven-eighths is the right distance for her and she proved it today," Cancel said. "Today, she was on the bit from the get-go. I was just trying to sit patient and time everything just right."

Rice said she will consider either the one-mile $200,000 Ruffian Stakes (G2) on May 6 or the 6 1/2-furlong $175,000 Vagrancy Stakes (G3) on May 14, both at Belmont Park, as a potential next spot for Mommasgottarun.

Bred in Ontario by Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Mommasgottarun is out of the Tiznow mare Love in Tokyo and hails from the family of 2010 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Super Saver  .

She has hit the board in 4-of-5 starts since being claimed by Rice last winter. She banked $82,500 for her Distaff victory, boosting her total purse earnings to $337,298 and improving her career record to 19-6-4-3.

Video: Distaff H. (G3)