At Delaware, Maya Malibu Aims for First Stakes Score

Eleven months ago, Maya Malibu looked as though she could be one of the top 2-year-old fillies in the country. While a stakes win has proven elusive, trainer Graham Motion sees the grade 1-placed filly moving in the right direction as she enters the $300,000 Delaware Oaks (G3) July 7 at Delaware Park.

My Meadowview Farm's Maya Malibu, a daughter of Malibu Moon  out of grade 1 winner Island Sand, by Tabasco Cat, won her first start in eye-catching fashion at Delaware Park, then followed that effort with consecutive grade 1 placings in New York. She rallied along the inside to finish second in the Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga Race Course and passed two horses in the stretch to finish third in the Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park. 

This year, it's been a somewhat puzzling road for Maya Malibu. She enters Saturday's 1 1/16-mile test off a win at Delaware in an off-the-turf, optional-claiming allowance, a race her trainer feels should set her up nicely for a return to stakes company.

"We were pleased with her race last time out," Motion said. "She's run well since we've been racing her around two turns, and hopefully she's returning to the form that she had last year in her first two starts."

Maya Malibu closed out last season with a 12th-place finish in the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), a move Motion now questions.

"We probably shouldn't have run her. We felt she'd earned a chance to go in the race, but looking back, it might have been asking a bit too much of her at that stage of her development," Motion said. "For some reason she seemed to tail off a bit after that big race in the Spinaway and never seemed to come close to that performance last fall. 

"Since we brought her back this year, she's started to come around again. She ran well over a muddy track at Pimlico the first time we put her in a middle distance, she just ran into a monster race by one of Todd Pletcher's horses (Mo Smart). Then last time, I was pleased with her race here. The competition wasn't the type we'll face Saturday, but she broke sharp, used her speed to advantage, and Jorge (Vargas Jr., who has ridden Maya Malibu in her last two races) seems to communicate well with her. Sometimes with fillies, the way a rider gets along with them can be critical to any success."    

Maya Malibu is perfect in two races at Delaware Park, winning those efforts by a combined 9 3/4 lengths. She has trained well since her last effort, but Motion said that has been the norm.

"She's always trained well in the morning, right from the very start, and she's coming up to the race in the right way," the horseman observed. "Now we've got to see if she can get back to coming close to the filly we saw in the Spinaway. If she can, then I think we can be competitive Saturday."

Entries: Delaware Oaks (G3)

Delaware Park, Saturday, July 07, 2018, Race 10

• Grade III
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 5:45 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Mo Shopping (KY)	Mario G. Pino	116	Todd A. Pletcher	8/1
2	2Blue Union Rags (KY)	Carol Cedeno	116	John C. Servis	20/1
3	3Takechargedelilah (OH)	Trevor McCarthy	118	Todd A. Pletcher	10/1
4	4Maya Malibu (KY)	Jorge A. Vargas, Jr.	116	H. Graham Motion	8/1
5	5Blue Strike (KY)	Alex Cintron	116	John C. Servis	10/1
6	6Cascanueces (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	116	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
7	7Prospective Lady (FL)	Daniel Centeno	120	Gerald S. Bennett	12/1
8	8Coach Rocks (KY)	Rajiv Maragh	122	Dale L. Romans	5/1
9	9Red Ruby (KY)	Paco Lopez	122	Kellyn Gorder	3/1
10	10Gio Game (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	116	Mark E. Casse	4/1