The July 25 Monmouth Oaks (G3) has proven to be doubly rewarding for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
For starters, he won the 3-year-old filly stakes with My Miss Mo.
Beyond that, in that race he also spotted Bodacious Bay, who finished second to his filly.
So, Joseph contacted Mark Cornett, of C2 Racing Stable, who organized a large group to buy the filly from Storyteller Racing and her breeder, Breffni Farm.
"It was a large sum they paid for her," Joseph said. "It was a lot more than she was worth at the time. We often pay a pretty premium for a horse, but we feel if it works out right, we'll be ahead."
It did not take long for the daughter of Not This Time to pay a dividend as, in her first start for Joseph and her new connections, Bodacious Bay won the $1 million Cotillion Stakes (G1), beating Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Always a Runner.
"The filly came to us (from trainer Rodolphe Brisset) in great shape. Sometimes when you get a horse you are a little disappointed in them, but everything went like clockwork with her. Everything was perfect and she trained tremendously for the Cotillion," Joseph said. "We were hoping for a top three finish, but winning was the icing on the cake."
Plans originally called for Bodacious Bay to skip the Breeders' Cup and point for a 4-year-old campaign in 2027. Then Joseph spotted the Nov. 7 $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park, which would give her some experience at a one-turn, 1 1/16-mile distance at the track where next year's Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) will be contested at a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile distance.
And, boom, just like the old days when it was a spring/summer fixture, the Mother Goose had two grade 1 winners in its field.
"The more we talked about the Mother Goose, the more sense it made to run," Joseph said. "With the Breeders' Cup there next year, let's give her a race over the track and see how she handles the configuration."
The Monmouth Oaks marked Bodacious Bay's first stakes appearance after posting two seconds and a win in three maiden races.
The new ownership group also includes St. Elias Stable, Miller Racing, Mathis Stable, BAG Racing Stables, Carr Legacy Racing, and Steve Taub.
She is a daughter of the Mineshaft mare Bodacious Babe and was bred by Garrett and Rhonda O'Rourke of Breffni Farm, which also bred the undefeated presumptive 2-year-old champion male Hughes.
Speaking of dividends, moving the Mother Goose to the fall has paid off nicely for the New York Racing Association. After attracting just four starters in 2022 when it was contested in the summer for the last time, a field of 11 has been entered for Saturday's edition.
The field also includes Whisper Hill Farm's stakes-winning Tap to Open, a Tapit filly trained by Brad Cox who was fourth in the Cotillion; Klaravich Stables' Cognition, a Practical Joke filly coming off an impressive Keeneland maiden win for trainer Chad Brown; Iron Orchard, the 2025 Frizette Stakes (G1) winner who was eighth in the Cotillion; and the undefeated Intrepids Fantasy (Jess's Dream), who has won all three races at Delaware Park by a combined 23 1/2 lengths.
Joseph will also start Tahlequah (Authentic ), who was third in the Charles Town Oaks (G2), and Laken (Good Magic ), off a third in an allowance optional claimer at Churchill Downs for previous trainer Vicki Oliver.
Champion Ted Noffey returns in Dwyer
There are three other additional stakes Saturday including the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes for 3-year-olds, which features the return of 2025 champion 2-year-old male Ted Noffey.
It will mark the long-awaited first start for Spendthrift Farm's undefeated son of Into Mischief since he won last year's Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).
"We've got him as fit as we can get him without running him," said Stu Hampson, an assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. "The rest is up to him. He's breezed only on the training track here, but we've been happy with what we've seen. He's offered a few generous gallop-outs and seems to be working closely to the Ted Noffey that we knew last year as champion 2-year-old. Now, we just need to hope he shows up and replicates it in the afternoon."
Ted Noffey was the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby (G1) until early January when he was sidelined with bone bruising.
Besides the Juvenile, his other graded stakes wins came in the Breeders' Futurity (G1) and Hopeful Stakes (G1).
The field of 10 also attracted Flanagan Racing's Sea Strike, a Midshipman colt who won the Curlin Stakes for trainer Chad Brown. He has not raced since finishing sixth in the Travers Stakes (G1).
Belmont Park, Saturday, November 7, 2026, Race 9Entries: Mother Goose S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Cognition (KY) Flavien Prat 120 Chad C. Brown - 2 Answered Prayers (KY) Junior Alvarado 120 William I. Mott - 3 Tap to Open (KY) Manuel Franco 122 Brad H. Cox - 4 Laken (KY) Vincent Cheminaud 120 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 5 Iron Orchard (NY) Dylan Davis 124 Steven M. Asmussen - 6 Ati Girl (KY) John R. Velazquez 120 William I. Mott - 7 Bodacious Bay (KY) Micah J. Husbands 124 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 8 Ivy Girl (KY) Antonio Fresu 122 Amelia J. Green - 9 Tahlequah (KY) Paco Lopez 120 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 10 Intrepids Fantasy (MD) Jorge Ruiz 120 Gary Capuano - 11 Run Wild (KY) Samuel Marin 120 Miguel Clement -
Belmont Park, Saturday, November 7, 2026, Race 8Entries: Dwyer S.
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Bravaro (NY) Paco Lopez 124 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 2 Overtime Rules (KY) Samuel Marin 122 Arnaud Delacour - 3 Stimulate (KY) Junior Alvarado 122 William I. Mott - 4 White Smoke Rising (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 122 Charlton Baker - 5 Stop the Car (KY) Dylan Davis 122 Brendan P. Walsh - 6 Ted Noffey (KY) John R. Velazquez 124 Todd A. Pletcher - 7 Decisive Win (KY) Antonio Fresu 120 Doug F. O'Neill - 8 Igniter (KY) Manuel Franco 124 Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. - 9 Sea Strike (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Chad C. Brown - 10 Mailata (PA) Mychel J. Sanchez 124 Robert E. Reid, Jr. -
