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Filly on fire in Mother Goose Ron and Ricki Rashinski's BUSHFIRE (Louis Quatorze) continued her domination of the three-year-old filly ranks with a three-quarter of a length score in Saturday's $250,000 Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont Park. Sent off the 3-1 co-second choice in the seven-horse field, Bushfire gave back $8.60, $4.60 and $3.40 for her second straight and third overall Grade 1 victory while running nine furlongs in 1:49 4/5 on the fast dirt. Quickly moving to the lead when the gates opened, Bushfire and jockey Edgar Prado set the opening quarter of :23 4/5, but were content to settle into second thereafter as Teammate (A.P. Indy), who ducked in and stumbled at the start, rushed up to take control. That filly continued through fractions of :46 3/5 for the half and 1:11 for three-quarters, but her early antics had taken a toll and Teammate began fading back. Bushfire was quick to capitalize, grabbing the advantage again through a mile in 1:36 1/5, and she easily held off the fast-closing Pine Island (Arch), who suffered her first career defeat after weaving in and out during the stretch run. Pine Island, off at 5-1, paid $6.10 and $4.60 for overtaking Ready to Please (More Than Ready), who returned $3.30, by 1 1/2 lengths at the wire. The exotics were worth $73.50 (exacta) and $262.50 (2-7-4 trifecta). "I think the key to the race was the first quarter mile," Prado said. "She broke sharp, but wasn't rank. She was relaxed and even when another horse came to us, she was still relaxed. She was waiting for me to tell her what to do. When I shook her up, she found another gear and went on with it." Lemons Forever (Lemon Drop Kid), making her first start since taking the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1), was another 3 3/4 lengths back in fourth and followed by Teammate, She's Excellent (Senor Speedy) and Joint Effort (Runaway Groom). Bushfire won the Acorn S. (G1) prior to this one, and now owns the first two legs of New York's Triple Tiara. The Eddie Kenneally-trained bay has also posted victories in the Ashland S. (G1) and Florida Oaks this year, and finished third in the Kentucky Oaks before being disqualified to sixth for interference in the stretch. She now boasts a 9-6-0-1 career mark with $783,299 in lifetime earnings. Out of the stakes-winning Traki Traki (Mo Power), she's a half-sister to stakes winners Frosty's Girl (Frosty the Snowman), Maracaibo (Skip Trial) and Frosty's on Track (Frosty the Snowman) as well as an unnamed yearling colt by Macho Uno. Bushfire RNA'ed for $37,000 at the 2004 Fasig-Tipton October yearling sale. She was bred in Florida by Moreau Bloodstock International and Mandolynn Hill Farm. Bushfire will likely bypass the last leg of the Triple Tiara -- the July 22 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) -- in favor of a short vacation, according to Kenneally. "She's had a hard campaign and she might need a little break now," he explained. "It's starting to get hot as well. I think we're going to back off now and shoot for the fall. She likes Churchill Downs and we'd like to point her to the Breeders' Cup there. "The Triple Tiara is very prestigious; I just wish the races were spread farther apart," Kenneally added. "We might run her in the (August 19) Alabama (G1) and then possibly the (September 9) Gazelle (G1)."
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