Mother Goose 2025
Whether you view the Mother Goose Stakes as a Grade 2 or Grade 3 race, it is one of the more noteworthy races in the United States this weekend on the heels of the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar. This one is at Aqueduct and features nine 3-year-old fillies/mares and maybe an idea of some of the horses we can look at for some wins early next season.
A lot of strong riders and trainers are on hand for this one, even though the race has lost a lot of its fanfare in recent years. Nevertheless, it is a quality field with a lot of depth and a pretty tough handicap all things considered.
The Mother Goose Stakes will be Race 9 in your Saturday Aqueduct program with post time expected to be 3:39 p.m. ET on November 8.
Mother Goose 2025 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Being Myself | J. Velazquez | C. DeVaux | 6-1 |
| 2 | Queen Azteca | J. Lezcano | R. Brisset | 12-1 |
| 3 | Lemon Zest | F. Prat | B. Cox | 9/2 |
| 4 | Ourdaydreaminggirl | E. Ruitz | L. Linder Jr. | 8-1 |
| 5 | Filly Freedom | R. Santana Jr. | C. Brown | 15-1 |
| 6 | Fully Subscribed | D. Davis | C. Brown | 4-1 |
| 7 | Cue the Duckboats | J. Alvarado | W. Mott | 6-1 |
| 8 | So There She Was | J. Rosario | D. O’Neill | 6-1 |
| 9 | Drexel Hill | B. Curts | D. Beckman | 7/2 |
Only three of the contenders in this field are coming off of wins, as So There She Was took down the Remington Park Oaks and Being Myself won an allowance at Churchill Downs. Filly Freedom put up a big number in winning her maiden here at Aqueduct in the Belmont at The Big A meet. However, Drexel Hill (Kentucky Oaks – 2nd), Queen Azteca (Alabama – 5th), and Ourdaydreaminggirl (Cotillion – 3rd) are coming off of Grade 1 stakes races.
We’ll go 1 ⅛ in this race, as that distance has been kind to some and not to others. Some haven’t even tried that far yet.
Here are some thoughts on each horse at the odds at time of publish:
1. Being Myself (6-1; Velazquez/DeVaux): The daughter of Curlin and Fact File has won back-to-back races and she’s improved her numbers each time she’s gone out on the track. Being Myself ran her maiden in September of last year and finished fifth in a sprint. She came back after nearly 11 months off and won over a mile at Ellis Park and again over 1 1/16 at Churchill.
The second race was a really big effort, as she bested a field of 12 with a phenomenal effort after the final turn to win by four lengths at nearly 14-1. She also gets a rider upgrade here from Axel Concepcion to John Velazquez. Brian Hernandez Jr. won for Cherie DeVaux aboard at Ellis Park at around 5/2.
2. Queen Azteca (12-1; Lezcano/Brisset): Queen Azteca made her American debut at the Alabama Stakes three months ago and finished fifth. Prior to that, she went 1-for-2 at Jagersro and also ran on the dirt at Meydan and won the UAE Oaks and finished fifth in the UAE Derby. She is the most experienced 3-year-old in the field with 10 starts to her name.
She just never fired for Joel Rosario in the Alabama, failing to get into stride after getting bumped at the break in the six-horse field. She’s been moved from Nils Petersen to Rodolphe Brisset now and that could help, as Brisset has hit the board nine times this year in graded stakes on the dirt.
3. Lemon Zest (9/2; Prat/Cox): Speaking of failing to fire, Nyquist daughter Lemon Zest greatly disappointed in the Remington Park Oaks, as her first notable race resulted in a second-place finish, well behind So There She Was. The Goldophin filly barely held second by a nose as a 2/5 favorite. Luis Saez had that ride. Brad Cox goes to Flavien Prat here.
Lemon Zest hasn’t raced since Sept. 28, but she’s on a pretty similar schedule to where she’s been throughout the season, even though she didn’t start until May 17 at Churchill Downs, finishing sixth in her debut. She won the next two races and ran very well for Jaime Torres over a mile at Ellis Park in her third start. Maybe she’ll prefer the 1 ⅛ here. Her father liked two turns on dirt.
4. Ourdaydreaminggirl (8-1; Ruiz/Linder): The daughter of Instagrand and Itsinthestars hasn’t finished worse than fourth in nine career starts. This will be her first effort at 1 ⅛ after stretching out to 1 1/16 for the first time in the Cotillion, where she landed third behind Clicquot and Dry Powder.
Trainer Louis Linder Jr. has a closer on his hands here and if the endurance can hold up over an extra eighth, that might be where she makes her hay. And maybe gets a little extra hay in her stall after the race. Eliseo Ruiz has had her last four rides and gets his fifth straight here and he’s been aboard for both of her wins.
5. Filly Freedom (15-1; Santana/Brown): The first of two Chad Brown entries side by side is Filly Freedom, the daughter of Constitution and Zapperkat, who was sired by Ghostzapper. There’s some serious firepower in the bloodline here and she kind of showed it last time out with a mile win on Oct. 3. She won by eight lengths in that race, but now she’s going a lot longer and in a much better field.
Ricardo Santana Jr. gets his second straight ride, as he got the win at about 4-1 in the last race. Equibase only gave her a 78 speed figure for that last data point and that is far below the performances of others in the field.
6. Fully Subscribed (4-1; Davis/Brown): Dylan Davis has the whip on Brown’s other entry, Fully Subscribed, a chestnut filly by way of Tiz the Law and Sweetbaby. After a seven-furlong win, she was on the shelf for almost 11 months and will now be racing for the third time in about 70 days. She stepped up to 1 ⅛ and finished second last time out, so she’s used to two turns and used to it on this track.
She came up just short to Points Is Points, a 4-year-old Constitution filly who won for the first time in almost a year. So, it’s really hard to know what to expect here. Running right with an older horse in a route race for the first time is impressive. She fits the closer profile and Davis gets his fourth straight ride on her for Klaravich Stables.
7. Cue the Duckboats (6-1; Alvarado/Mott): Cue the Duckboats is coming off of her best performance by Equibase Speed Figure, but her worst performance by result. The daughter of Bernardini and Conquest City Girl finished fourth to fill out the super, but had never finished worse than third and had only finished worse than second one other time. That was also on the synthetic track at Woodbine, so it’s entirely possible that she just wasn’t a massive fan.
She won over 1 ⅛ at Churchill in June and won over a mile at Saratoga in September before going north of the border for the Ontario Damsel Stakes. Sahin Civaci had that ride for Bill Mott, as he goes back to Junior Alvarado, who led her victory two races ago. She’s been training at Saratoga, so it’s fair to wonder how she takes to Aqueduct.
8. So There She Was (6-1; Rosario/O’Neill): Remington Oaks champ So There She Was has hit the board in six of her seven starts, including two victories. This will be the New York debut for the daughter of Munnings and Risk Premium, as she’s run in California, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. In other words, shipping shouldn’t be a problem.
Joel Rosario gets his first ride on her for Doug O’Neill here, who primarily used Antonio Fresu previously. Ramon Vazquez rode her at Remington, where she outran Lemon Zest by nearly three lengths. She started as a sprinter and was okay with 1 1/16 last time out, but also did something her father never did – win a race longer than seven furlongs.
9. Drexel Hill (7/2; Curtis/Beckman): There are elements of the unknown to every horse in this field, but none greater than the ones with Drexel Hill. The daughter of Bolt d’Oro and Ascot Walk finished second in the Kentucky Oaks. We haven’t seen her since. The winner of the Busher listed stakes here at Aqueduct started on the synthetic surface at Woodbine and shifted to dirt for her 2-year-old finale at Fair Grounds.
She was 32-1 in the Oaks during Derby weekend and finished very strong after a rough start at the gate to finish a couple lengths behind heavily favored Good Cheer. But, she hasn’t run since May 2. That’s more than six months and the reality is that none of the Kentucky Oaks field aside from Good Cheer has done much of anything the rest of the year. Fondly won the Delaware Oaks and Quickick won the Iowa Oaks. Take Charge Milady won the Monomoy Girl. Not exactly a huge set of accomplishments.
Mother Goose Stakes Predictions
There are cases to be made and holes to be poked for every single horse in this field. I really like the trend line for Being Myself and will take her to win from the rail. I’ll take her over Cue the Duckboats, who I think just didn’t like the Woodbine surface. And I’ll roll with Queen Azteca, as Brisset has done well with imported horses in the past and she should be much more comfortable in the States now. Ourdaydreaminggirl to finish out the super.
Prediction: 1-7-2-4
For more coverage, check out our horse racing page.
