Munasara Takes Undefeated Record to Mother Goose

Munasara Takes Undefeated Record to Mother Goose: Sired by Bernardini and out of turf champion mare Lahudood, it is safe to call Munasara’s pedigree an interesting mix. After all, Bernardini was a dirt monster and the majority of his progeny tend to follow his footsteps in preferring dirt, with some exceptions. Lahudood had a stellar turf career and won the 2007 Breeders’ Cup F/M Turf over an exceptional field. Her overall pedigree is European. Yet, here is Lahudood’s daughter Munasara with two dirt wins on the resume.

Munasara goes for three straight wins in the Mother Goose (GI) on Saturday at Belmont Park, run at 8.5 furlongs around one turn. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin should have her cranked up for this initial graded stakes attempt under the Shadwell Stable colors.

In Munasara’s March 15 career debut at Gulfstream Park, she won a seven furlong sprint in an unimpressive fashion. There are a couple of things to note though. Considering her sire Bernardini preferred nine furlong races or longer, and Lahudood’s Breeders’ Cup win came at 11 furlongs, judging Munasara harshly in a seven furlong event is not the best idea. She won her career debut and that is better than how most horses fare without experience.

Munasara then reappeared two months later at Belmont Park and won an optional claiming event at one mile. Unfortunately, the replay is not on YouTube, but she won by the same margin of just over two lengths. When reading the past performances, it is important to note that seeing italics on the other runners means that horse won next time out. The second place finisher So You Say won an allowance event in her next race to back up the quality of Munasara’s win. From post position four, expect Munasara to sit off Embellish the Lace’s flank early, and maybe jockey John Velazquez can notch a Grade I win for this Bernardini filly.

Embellish the Lace will not go down easily. A sibling to notable runners Afleet Express and Reporting for Duty, this filly improved rapidly after her 14-length loss three starts ago. She won her last two starts by a combined 23 lengths!

The first of those two wins came at PARX, a lower-tier racetrack with questionable competition. This makes analyzing the win difficult. At least, the italics show for the runner-up. At Pimlico, Embellish the Lace then won by 13 lengths in an optional claimer. The comments on the side note she was under a “solid hand ride.” Again, be careful about getting too excited. Pimlico is a step above PARX and a step below Belmont Park as well. The switch to Irad Ortiz is interesting because he tends to be more patient than other jockeys, which might work against this filly’s style. The rail post position may force Ortiz’s hand and encourage him to send.

Beyond the top two choices, the options look untrustworthy for anything more than a minor share. Include Betty from the number two post position will put in her usual late run. She just seems to be a step below the best. Joel Rosario pilots Chide for trainer Al Stall from post number five, and she has not finished worse than second in three tries. Also, fans of Tale of Verve might notice trainer Dallas Stewart sends out Pleasant Tales for the same owner Charles Fipke. Give Wonder Gal a glance from the far outside too, as she likes running in the money.

Watching Munasara’s progression will be interesting, as promising Bernardini stars tend to flame out more often than not. From various sources, the demeanor of most Bernardini progeny has been noted as less than pleasant, and perhaps this hampers their progression. For now, Munasara is in top form and appears the best horse on paper for this race. Use Embellish the Lace in horizontal wagers along with Munasara and focus on them in exotics, or if there is no value to be found underneath then skip the race.

Mother Goose Stakes 2015 Post Positions & Odds
Race 9 5:28 PM ET
1 Embellish the Lace 7-2 Ortiz, Jr./Dutrow
2 Include Betty 5-1 Van Dyke/Proctor
3 Hot City Girl 30-1 Ortiz/Rice
4 Munasara 10-1 Velazquez/McLaughlin
5 Chide 12-1 Rosario/Stall, Jr.
6 Pleasant Tales 15-1 Alvarado/Stewart
7 Money’soncharlotte 20-1 Cancel/Breen
8 Danessa Deluxe 8-1 Franco/Navarro
9 Eskenformoney 4-1 Castellano/Pletcher
10 Wonder Gal 3-1 Maragh/Gyarmati