Midnight Bisou Dominant in Six-Length Mother Goose Win
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Midnight Bisou cruises to the wire under Mike Smith in the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park
In her first start for trainer Steve Asmussen June 30, Santa Anita Oaks (G1) winner Midnight Bisou simply cruised around the main track at Belmont Park.
With a scratch-shortened field of four for the $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes (G2), the Midnight Lute filly's trip was a far cry from her troubled trek in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), and she galloped to a six-length score with little asking.
After a break from post 2 under regular rider Mike Smith, Midnight Bisou was momentarily inside of pacesetter Road to Victory, but she dropped back slightly and got to the outside of the frontrunner as the quarter went in :23.79 and the half in :46.87.
Road to Victory still held a half-length advantage through six furlongs in 1:10.87, but by the time they reached the end of the turn in the 1 1/16-mile test and Smith had yet to move on his mount, the end result was clear.
Midnight Bisou kicked away with ease at the top of the Belmont stretch and doubled her lead from the furlong pole to the wire. She finished the distance in 1:41.02. Road to Victory held second and was followed by My Miss Lilly and Indy Union.
"I had a feeling she'd like it out here as well, and she was really good today," Smith said. "She was really unlucky in the (Kentucky) Oaks. I still feel horrible, but I couldn't do anything about it. She just got knocked down leaving (the gate), and it was just unfortunate because she would've made it a race."
Transferred to Asmussen's barn on the East Coast from West Coast-based conditioner Bill Spawr following her Kentucky Oaks third, Midnight Bisou trained for the Mother Goose at Churchill Downs.
"She came to us in great condition from Bill Spawr," said Scott Blasi, Asmussen's top assistant. "She's been a pleasure to be around. (She's) very easy to train, does more when you need her to, and does things effortlessly like the good ones do."
With her fourth graded victory, Bloom Racing Stable, Allen Racing, and Madaket Stables' Midnight Bisou upped her earnings to $691,000. The $80,000 purchase by Jeff Bloom out of the 2017 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training has a 4-2-1 record from seven starts.
"We'll see how she comes out of this tomorrow, and she'll move up to Saratoga this week with our barn," Blasi said. "We're starting to move horses in there right now, and we're excited about this summer and the fall ahead with this filly. I think she's capable of major things."