Zo Impressive wins Belmont’s Mother Goose Stakes

NEW YORK (AP) — Zo Impressive beat Disposablepleasure by three-quarters of a length Saturday in the $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Belmont Park.

The race was billed a showdown between Kentucky Oaks winner Believe You Can and Contested, the Acorn winner trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and owned by his wife, Jill.

Neither fired their best shot.

Contested, the 1-2 favorite, set the pace before fading to last in the five-horse field.

Believe You Can, the 5-2 second choice, angled outside in the lane and stalled, settling for third.

Zo Impressive took advantage of the favorite’s failings to secure her third win in five starts, and first stakes victory. Rajiv Maragh was aboard for trainer Tom Albertrani as Zo Impressive ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.28, paying $14.60, $6.60 and $10.

Disposablepleasure returned $5.90 and $10.20, and Believe You Can paid $5.20 to show.

Ramon Dominguez, the rider of Disposablepleasure, lodged a claim of foul against the winner alleging interference as the two dueled in the stretch. The stewards dismissed the objection following a video review.