Cherry Lodge Looks for Matron Success

Photo Credit: NYRA/Adam Coglianese

Contested over a distance of six furlongs, the Matron Stakes (GIII) has a history of producing top fillies, whether they be top sprinters or classic runners. Previous winners include Paulassilverlining, Awesome Maria, Proud Spell, Storm Flag Flying, Sky Beauty, Meadow Star, and Lakeville Miss. This year, a short field of five line up in an attempt to become a potential addition to the elite group mentioned above.

Lining up in gates 4 and 5, Cherry Lodge and Spirituality, are likely to draw attention. While both fillies dazzled in their debuts, neither performed as well in their second starts when trying stakes company.

Spirituality, a $250,000 two-year-old purchase for WinStar Farms, finished ninth in the Arlington-Washington Lassie Stakes over an all-weather surface. Cherry Lodge performed better than her stablemate in her stakes debut, finishing third in the Spinaway Stakes (GI), as the favorite. She is cutting back in distance today which might make the difference for her.

The rest of the field consists of three other juvenile fillies; Fly, Amapola, and Arella Rockstar.

Fly, by freshman sire Brilliant Speed, is shipping in from Laurel after winning her debut and finishing 4th in the Selima Stakes. This will be the Fly’s first start on traditional dirt, after her debut and stakes debut were both came over the turf. Fly is half sibling to 13 named foals from the mare Desert Stormer, one being the stakes winning Sahara Gold.

Amapola, The Bill Mott trainee, comes into the race as a maiden, finishing second in her last two starts. The filly has not been burning up the track during her morning works, but that is far from atypical for a Mott trainee.

In the number three spot is Arella Rockstar, a daughter of first crop stallion Astrology. The filly comes into the Matron off of a win in a maiden claiming event at Saratoga, on August 31. She is trained by Rudy Rodriguez, who should not be ignored on the New York circuit. Arella Rockstar has been training at Aqueduct, posting five works since her debut. Judging by those works, she seems slow, however she led most of the way in her debut when winning by 2 ¾ lengths at odds of 12-1. She will likely go off a lot higher here, but might be eligible to spring an upset.

Overall, no horses is a real standout in this short edition of the Matron Stakes. Todd Pletcher has the likely two favorites, but they also might be fillies to play against, due to the odds they will likely have by post time.

Casey’s Picks: Cherry Lodge, Arella Rockstar, Spirituality

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