First Look: Mother Goose is 1 of 3 graded stakes Saturday

The graded-stakes calendar is light this weekend, allowing us to take a bit of a breather before we gear up for the summer classics.

Three graded stakes are on the schedule, all on Saturday: the Ohio Derby (G3) at Thistledown, the Mother Goose (G2) at Belmont Park and the Chicago (G3) at Churchill Downs.

Here is an early look at the likely fields.

Saturday

Mother Goose (G2), Belmont Park, 1 1/16 miles, 3-year-old fillies

Radio Days, third in the Black-Eyed Susan (G2) last out, is 0-for-4 this year after winning her only two starts last year. Juju's Map – second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies – won an allowance on the Kentucky Oaks undercard in her first start after a six-month layoff, bringing her record to 5: 3-2-0. Gerrymander had two wins and two seconds from four starts before finishing sixth in the Eight Belles (G2) in her first start of the year.

Ohio Derby (G3), Thistledown, 1 1/8 miles, 3-year-olds

White Abarrio, winner of the Florida Derby (G1) and Holy Bull (G3) but 16th in the Kentucky Derby last out, is one of three horses coming out of the Run for the Roses who will be in the signature race near Cleveland.

Tawny Port, winner of the Lexington (G3) before finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby, and Classic Causeway, a two-time graded-stakes winner who was 11th at Churchill, also were entered.

Chicago (G3), Churchill Downs, 7 furlongs, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Bell's the One, the 6-year-old winner of five graded stakes, looks for her first win this year after finishing second in the Madison (G1) and fourth in the Derby City Distaff (G1). Sconsin was off for eight months before her second consecutive Winning Colors (G3) victory on May 30. Bayerness came off a nine-month layoff to win the black-type Roxelana (with a three-horse field) on April 30.

This will be the second time the Chicago Stakes has been run at Churchill Downs. The storied race was previously run at Arlington, where Bell’s the One broke her maiden in 2018. The other time the Chicago was run at Churchill Downs was in 2017, when Finley’sluckycharm defeated nine rivals as the heavy 1-5 favorite.