Long Island Stakes Appears Good Fit for Lady Montdore

Godolphin Racing's Lady Montdore will look to build on her strong start since arriving from France when she competes in the $400,000 Long Island Stakes (G3T) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up Nov. 24 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Long Island, contested at 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf, will see Lady Montdore in her first start since running third behind Onthemoonagain and winner Fourstar Crook in the grade 1 Flower Bowl at 1 1/4 miles Oct. 7 on Belmont Park's inner turf.

After making her first five career starts in France trained by Andre Fabre, Lady Montdore made an impression in her first North American start when she rallied to defeat allowance company by 4 1/2 lengths Aug. 6 at Saratoga Race Course. The 4-year-old Medaglia d'Oro  filly then won again over the same course and again at the Long Island distance when she went gate-to-wire to capture the grade 2 Glens Falls Sept. 1.

"She's been training very well heading into the race," said trainer Tom Albertrani. "She's been pretty steady ever since she ran her first race at Saratoga, which I liked. If anything, she's been training a little more forwardly coming into this race, which I like to see. If she keeps up the same type of form in the last couple of races, hopefully we'll get a real good effort out of her."

Lady Montdore's past seven starts, including her last four in France, have come at distances ranging from 1 1/2 miles to 1 3/4 miles, giving Albertrani optimism. All three of her U.S. races have come on turf labeled good, which could set her up well in her Aqueduct debut.

"I'm very confident she'll have no problem handling the distance at all," Albertrani said. "A lot depends on what the ground will be like with the weather, but it seems like she can handle the soft ground quite easily, so I wouldn't mind if it came up a little on the soft side."

Jockey Manny Franco, who was aboard for the Glens Falls win and the Flower Bowl, will have the return call from post 2.

"She's pretty versatile. Last time, she never really got into a good rhythm as there was a lot of cat-and-mouse going on along the backside," Albertrani said. "She ran up to the front and Manny took a hold of her because he didn't want to get into a speed duel. In hindsight, it might have been better to let her go on a little bit more, but hopefully we'll get her into a good rhythm [Saturday] and go from there. Manny has a good feel for her over the last couple of races and hopefully we'll get the trip that we need."

Entries: Long Island S. (G3T)

Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, November 24, 2018, Race 9

• Grade IIIT
• 1 3/8m
• Turf
• $400,000
• 3 yo's & up Fillies and Mares
• 3:50 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Pollara (IRE)	Joel Rosario	119	Chad C. Brown	3/1
2	2Lady Montdore (KY)	Manuel Franco	123	Thomas Albertrani	7/2
3	3Violet Blue (KY)	Junior Alvarado	119	James J. Toner	20/1
4	4Si Que Es Buena (ARG)	Rajiv Maragh	123	H. Graham Motion	20/1
5	5Tricky Escape (KY)	Dylan Davis	123	Lynn A. Ashby	8/1
6	6Gipoia (FR)	Luis Saez	121	Mikel Delzangles	15/1
7	7Danceland (KY)	Jose Lezcano	119	Claude R. McGaughey III	12/1
8	8Pamina (KY)	Edgar S. Prado	115	Michael W. Dickinson	20/1
9	9Sexy Reasons (ARG)	Rider TBA	125	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
10	10Lady Paname (FR)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	119	Chad C. Brown	9/2
11	11Night of England (GB)	Jose L. Ortiz	115	Chad C. Brown	6/1
12	12Golden Attitude (KY)	Trevor McCarthy	119	Arnaud Delacour	10/1
13	13Unbridledadventure (NY)	Rider TBA	123	Bruce N. Levine	5/1
14	14Matty's Magnum (KY)	Rider TBA	118	David G. Donk	10/1