Chelsea Durand Photo

Midnight Bisou posts six-length win in G2 Mother Goose romp

by Brian Bohl & Heather Pettinger

La Sardane flawless in gate-to-wire Perfect Sting victory

The ultra-consistent Midnight Bisou continued her stellar sophomore campaign, stalking the pace before overtaking Road to Victory out of the turn and cruising to a six-length win in the 62nd running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday at Belmont Park.

Off as the 2-5 favorite in a four-horse field, Midnight Bisou, under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, tracked the previously undefeated Road to Victory, who set the early fractions of 23.79 seconds for a quarter-mile with the half in 46.87 on the fast main track.

Midnight Bisou pushed closer to Road to Victory nearing the turn and gained command from the outside near the top of the stretch. Smith, whose Saturday appearance at Belmont Park was his first since piloting Justify to a Triple Crown-winning effort in the Belmont Stakes on June 9, steadied her to the wire, where she completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.02.

The dark bay or brown Midnight Lute filly was coming off a third-place effort in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 4 at Churchill Downs, finishing behind Wonder Gadot and top division contender Monomoy Girl. That was the only time in seven career starts Midnight Bisou has not finished first or second, with the Mother Goose win boosting her career record to 4-2-1.

“I’ve got goose bumps – Mother Goose bumps,” said Smith with a laugh. “I had a feeling she’d like it out here as well and she was really good today. She was really unlucky in the Oaks. I still feel horrible but I couldn’t do anything about it. She just got knocked down leaving there and it was just unfortunate because she would’ve made it a race. I’m not saying she would have won, but man, that would’ve been a horse race. I’d like to have seen that, but I got really bothered twice. I thought it really hindered her chances, and [we] only get beat [by] four lengths.”

Trained by fellow Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bisou won for the fourth time in five starts in her 3-year-old year, adding to victories in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez, the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks.

"She came to us in great condition from Bill Spawr. She’s been a pleasure to be around,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to Asmussen. “Very easy to train, does more when you need her to and does things effortlessly like the good ones do. We’ll see how she comes out of this tomorrow and she’ll move up to Saratoga this week with our barn. 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.”

Midnight Bisou, owned by Bloom Racing Stable, Allen Racing and Madaket Stables,  paid $2.90 on a $2 win wager. She improved her career bankroll to $691,000.

“I’m just really happy,” Smith said. “She ran like I know she’s capable of. She’s getting better. Steve and his team has done a great job with her and Bill did a great job with her. I just get on her. We were unbeaten until last time. They’ve done a great job of just keeping her happy. She’s growing, she’s getting better, starting to fill out more. She was young coming up and now she’s getting older and more mature. That’s what happens when they’ve got that kind of talent.”

Road to Victory, trained by Mark Casse, was 3-for-3 entering her Belmont debut and finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of My Miss Lilly for second. Indy Union was fourth.

Mo Smart, Gio Game and Coach Rocks were scratched.

Earlier on the card, Team Valor International’s La Sardane flashed her versatility with a frontrunning, half-length score in the $100,000 Perfect Sting for fillies and mares at a mile on the Widener turf in Race 4.

The win was the second New York stakes in a row for the 4-year-old French-bred filly by Kingsalsa, following an off-the-pace charge for victory in the Grade 3 Intercontinental, and the third from four starts in 2018.

With regular jockey Flavian Prat aboard, the Neil Drysdale trainee took the field of seven through a quarter-mile in 23.68 and the half in 46.41, holding a one-length advantage over Thais through the early going. Pas de Soucis advanced into second in the far the far turn, but La Sardane fought on down the stretch to complete the mile on firm turf in 1:33.19.

In the Lee closed late to finish second, a half-length ahead of Pas de Soucis in third. Princess Gibraltar was fourth, followed by Feeling Bossy, Thais, and Lido.

“I always wanted to try and be on the lead with her,” said Prat. “She won in France on the lead, so I thought on this turf, she would like that a little bit better. She’s very fast and has a high-cruising speed. When I asked her to go, she gave me that great kick. She did all the rest.”

La Sardane, sent off as the 9-5 favorite, returned $5.60.