Mamdooha Gets Nose Down in Ruthless

Mamdooha got her nose down on the wire after a ferocious  battle with Vero Amore through the final yards to take Sunday's $100,000 Ruthless at Aqueduct Racetrack and earn her third straight victory.

The 2-1 second choice in the field of five 3-year-old fillies, Mamdooha settled in third, just a few lengths behind her stablemate, Summertime Friend, who led through an opening quarter mile in 23.49 seconds over a muddy track. Nudged into contention as Vero Amore took over on the turn, Mamdooha barreled three-wide into the stretch and drew alongside the game Vero Amore a furlong out, with neither giving way as they matched strides to the finish line.

"The last part of the race, I thought I got a little bit ahead," said Castro. "The other horse [Vero Amore] didn't make it easy for me. They fought hard to the wire. She's a good filly."

"The other horse passed me, but my filly came back a little bit so I thought maybe we had it," said Irad Ortiz, Jr., aboard the runner-up. "We got second, but my filly was great."

Mamdooha, a Shadwell Stable homebred by Daaher out of the Rahy filly Marraasi, completed the six furlongs in 1:12.01 and earned $60,000 to boost her bankroll to $170,200.

"Eddie did a great job of keeping her a little bit closer, we didn't want to get too far behind in a five-horse field," said Art Magnuson, assistant to winning trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. "He rode her great and we got a little lucky on the wire. We couldn't be happier for Shadwell Stables, who's breeding these horses."

Mamdooha returned $6.10 as she extended her record to 3-1-0 from four starts, including the Gin Talking stakes at Laurel Park in her previous start. Second in her September debut at Monmouth Park, she came from off the pace to break her maiden going six furlongs on November 3 at the Big A.

Alpaca Fina was third, 9 ¼ lengths behind Vero Amore, with 4-5 favorite Summertime Friend finishing fourth and Keep in Mind checking in fifth.