Photo: Adam Coglianese
Alan Garcia piloted Patsy C. Symons’ Gitchee Goomie to a come-from-behind victory chasing soft fractions in the one-mile $100,000 Mount Vernon Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares at Belmont on Sunday, while runner-up Paraiba ran a strong race to upset post time favorite Chorus Music.
The first of two co-featured one-mile turf races for New York-breds on Belmont’s Memorial Weekend Sunday card, the Mount Vernon, was billed as a face-off between Gitchee Goomie and odds-on Chorus Music, a six-year-old daughter of Strategic Mission, who had not finished out of the exacta in seven of her last eight races dating back to the fall of 2009. Chorus Music’s performances include a good-looking second to You Go West Girl in last year’s renewal of the Ticonderoga, and a commanding 5-½ length victory in her prior start on April 29 in the Irish Linnet Stakes by a commanding on Belmont’s opening day.
Rick Violette-trained Gitchee Goomie, for her part, owned the back class of the field. Countering fellow state-breds for the first time since the Saratoga meet, the bay four-year-old daughter of City Zip finished third in Belmont’s Grade 1 Garden City Stakes in September and won open Topicount overnight stakes at Belmont in October. Returning this year, she won a second level turf allowance / optional claimer at Gulfstream on April 2 and delivered terrific performance in the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at Belmont on Derby Day, finishing second by a neck to heavily-favored German rival Daveron. Not only was Gitchee Goomie in excellent form going into the Mount Vernon, trainer Rick Violette seems to have helped the talented filly resolve her loading problems, which led to two gate scratches in the past. Gitchee Goomie broke from post 5 under Alan Garcia, aboard four times previously, as second choice in the wagering at 2-to-1.
Akilina was fastest out of the gate, but Exclusive Scheme came on between horses to take over. Paraiba, whose indifferent recent form deflected attention from her potential in the Mount Vernon, tracked in second in the two path. Gitchee Goomie raced in fifth, between Frivolous Buck and Chorus Music.
While Exclusive Scheme controlled the pace up front, Ramon Dominguez husbanded her speed, guiding her through soft early fractions of 24.93 and 48.95. Coming out of the turn, the tracking Paraiba took over the lead, while the two favorites continued to race fifth and sixth. When Paraiba put on a burst of speed mid-stretch to shake free of the pacesetter, Gitchee Goomie began barreling down the middle of the track.
There was no stopping Gitchee Goomie’s closing kick, as she surged ahead to hit the wire a half length in front of Paraiba. Chorus Music got up narrowly for third at the rail 1 ¾ lengths behind Gitchee Goomie. After three-quarters of a mile in 1:12.50, a sharp final furlong in 22.77 made for a final time of 1:35.36 for the one-turn mile run over firm turf. Akilina, Frivolous Buck and Exclusive Scheme completed the order of finish. [VIDEO]
Both winning trainer Rick Violette and winning jockey Alan Garcia focused on the contrast between Gitchee Goomie’s pre-race quirks and her on-track performance. Violette said, “She’s a funny filly. In the morning, she’s perfect, you could set a bomb off under her and she’d stand still in the gate. In a race, once she gets out of the gate, she’s just such a consistent filly that you’d like to have a barn full of them. It was a terrific ride, too. It was subtle terrific, but he had the favorite inside all the way.” Garcia likewise: “My only concern was that she break good coming out of the gate. When she did, I thought, ‘that’s half the battle won.’ After the start, I was so comfortable with where she was. I had to wait until turning for home to let her do her thing, and she did.”
Gitchee Goomie’s second stakes victory improved her record to 4-4-1 from 10 starts with $226,554 in earnings. Bred by Barry R. Ostrager and foaled at Dutchess Views Farm in Pine Plains, Gitchee Goomie is one of two winners from three foals to start out of Riotous Miss ($382,310), a stakes-placed daughter of Brief Ruckus all of whose 13 victories came on turf. Gitchee Goomie’s older half-sister Miss Rapture (Gulch) won five times and earned $114,290.
Riotous Miss has an unplaced three-year-old colt by Roaring Fever (Riotous Fever), an unraced two-year-old full brother to Gitchee Goomie (Sonnyandpally), and a yearling filly by King Cugat, all New York-breds. She gave birth to a full sister to Gitchee Goomie on May 18.
