OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With a race under her belt and now back on her favorite surface, the New York-bred Moonage Daydream looks well prepared to step back into open company in Sunday’s $150,000 Athenia Stakes at Aqueduct.
Moonage Daydream, voted the New York-bred female turf champion of 2024 following three statebred stakes victories last fall, came off a 10-month layoff with a solid second-place finish in the Yaddo Stakes three weeks ago at Saratoga. She was beaten a half-length by Awesome Czech, who has shown an affinity for the Saratoga turf course, having won four of her last five starts over it. Awesome Czech is back in this field on Sunday.
While Moonage Daydream has won at Saratoga, she has recorded five of her six career victories at Aqueduct, including a narrow win in last September’s John Hettinger Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, the distance of the Athenia. This year, the Hettinger was shortened to six furlongs and run in the spring, leaving the Ticonderoga Stakes on Oct. 25 as the only New York-bred turf stakes opportunity for females at this meet.
Moonage Daydream, a 5-year-old daughter of Candy Ride, did previously win an open-company stakes at Aqueduct – the six-furlong Stewart Manor in November 2022.
Jorge Abreu, the trainer of Moonage Daydream, said he was happy enough with the mare’s return race in the Yaddo, considering it was her first start in 10 months.
“She just got beat on the wire. She needed the race, she came out of the race in very good shape,” Abreu said. “She’s training very, very good, so we’re going to give it a try.”
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When Moonage Daydream won the Hettinger at 1 1/8 miles last year she did so on the lead when able to set extremely soft fractions. Abreu said he’ll leave tactics up to jockey Joel Rosario, who will ride Moonage Daydream for the first time. Flavien Prat, aboard for Moonage Daydream’s last three starts, is named to ride Whiskey Decision.
“I just don’t want to see her fighting with anybody on the lead,” Abreu said of Moonage Daydream. “If she takes the lead by herself that’s fine, but she’s a filly that doesn’t need to be on the lead. She needs to be forwardly placed and who’s better than [Rosario] for that.”
Spinning Colors and Edict are likely to be forwardly placed in the Athenia. Spinning Colors, trained by Mark Hennig, won the Mount Vernon Stakes at Saratoga in June from a front-running position and also set the pace in two narrow defeats in the De La Rose and Yaddo. Edict, trained by David Donk, finished fifth after setting the pace in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa.
Awesome Czech, trained by Horacio De Paz, came from off the pace under Ricardo Santana Jr. to win the Yaddo after going gate to wire to win an open allowance. Both of those wins came at Saratoga, where Awesome Czech is 4 for 7, including two starts on the dirt at the beginning of her career. She is 1 for 7 at Aqueduct.
Like Abreu, De Paz is using the Athenia to get to the Ticonderoga.
“She’s doing well. She’s always been very honest. She’s going to have to run against [Moonage Daydream] in the Ticonderoga, so we might as well go ahead and get a race into her,” De Paz said.
Trainer Chad Brown sends out Whiskey Decision, who won the Grade 3 Eatontown at Monmouth Park before finishing fourth in the Ballston Spa.
Lady Firefoot, a three-time winner at Aqueduct, Flowers for Me, and Dreaming of Abba complete the field.
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