Small Field Set For Mother Goose

With Take Charge Lady and Bella Bellucci both on the sidelines, a field of jut five 3-year-old fillies will run Saturday at Belmont in the grade I Mother Goose Stakes.

The race is the last of 10 at Belmont Saturday in order to fit in the final spot of the NTRA Summer Pick Three, which also includes the Molly Pitcher (gr. II) from Monmouth and Arlington Classic (gr. II).

The Mother Goose will be televised as part of CBS's hour of live coverage beginning at 5 p.m.

Two fillies shipping to New York from Churchill Downs in Kentucky should garner a good deal of support in the Mother Goose--Chamrousse and Belterra.

Chamrousse is trained by Niall O'Callaghan and will be ridden by Edgar Prado, while Belterra, trained by Carl Nafzger, will be piloted by Jon Court.

Chamrousse has won three of six starts and is coming off a win in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (gr. I) at Pimlico the day before the Preakness (gr. I). She is owned by Arthur B. Hancock III and James Stone.

Robert Manfuso's graded stakes winner Belterra had throat surgery following a third-place finish in Keeneland's Ashland Stakes (gr. I) that forced her to miss the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I). She had made one start since the surgery, garnering a strong win in allowance company.

The field and riders, in post position order:
Seba, Richard Migliore
Belterra, Jon Court
Dust Me Off, Jose Santos
Chamrousse, Edgar Prado
Nonsuch Bay, Jerry Bailey