Full Moon Madness, coming off a triumph in the March 1 Tom Fool Stakes (G3), vies to return to the Aqueduct Racetrack winner's circle in the $300,000 Carter Stakes (G2) April 5.
The Jay Em Ess Stable homebred has been in good form since returning from an 11-month layoff last year. Going 2-1-1 in four starts since November, Full Moon Madness has shown improvement with each successive race. The Tom Fool was the latest proof.
Trainer Michelle Nevin believes the son of leading sire Into Mischief has matured.
"Maybe age is on his side. Maybe that is what is helping him to really go forward now," Nevin said. "He is a large, large horse. Maybe at age 2 and 3, he was just still a little gangly and immature. Now he is starting to put it all together."
The seven-furlong challenge features seven other older horses, among them 8-year-old Surveillance. He is trained by Linda Rice, who won the trainer and owner titles at the Big A's recently concluded winter meet.
Rice claimed him in November, and he has since responded with three straight seconds, including a runner-up effort in the Tom Fool.
Coming into the Carter off two victories from as many starts in 2025 is Crazy Mason, trained by Gregory Sacco for owners Donna Wright and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing.
After running third in last year's Long Branch Stakes, Sacco gave the gray or roan Coal Front colt a break and brought him back as a sprinter. He ran fourth in his initial sprint last fall before capturing the aforementioned races this year.
"He'd been in training since March of his 2-year-old year. We gave him four months off and cut him back to sprinting," Sacco said. "All of his sprint races have been super, including the time he broke his maiden at Saratoga and when he was second in the Inaugural to Patriot Spirit, who turned out to be a really nice horse."
Also in the Carter are Dilger, Donegal Momentum, Maximus Meridius, Quint's Brew, and Sheriff Bianco.
Maximus Meridius twice defeated Full Moon Madness in stakes at Aqueduct over the winter.
Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, April 5, 2025, Race 10Entries: Carter S. Presented by NYRA Bets (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Crazy Mason (KY) Manuel Franco 118 Gregory D. Sacco - 2 Quint's Brew (MD) Mychel J. Sanchez 118 Edward T. Allard - 3 Surveillance (KY) Jose Lezcano 118 Linda Rice - 4 Full Moon Madness (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 120 Michelle Nevin - 5 Donegal Momentum (KY) Javier Castellano 118 Thomas Morley - 6 Dilger (IRE) Dylan Davis 118 Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. - 7 Maximus Meridius (PA) Joel Rosario 118 Robert E. Reid, Jr. - 8 Sheriff Bianco (NY) Ruben Silvera 118 Linda Rice -
Irish MAxima Ready for Distaff Stakes
Irish Maxima heads into the $175,000 Distaff Stakes (G3) off a gate-to-wire performance in the Barbara Fritchie Stakes with her sights set on making it six wins from her last seven starts.
After a 10th-place finish in the 2023 Fern Creek Stakes, trainer John Servis gave the Maximus Mischief filly a nine-month hiatus. Since then, finishing second in the Cheryl S. White Memorial Stakes is all that has kept her from six straight wins
"She's been training very good. She had a little bout with skin disease a little while back, but other than that, she hasn't missed a beat," Servis said. "She grew up a lot mentally with the time off. She's always been a big, strong filly, but mentally, she learned to settle a lot more and can actually sit off horses now or go right up for the lead. She's got good speed and a good mind, so that's put her in the winner's circle."
Bred by Pillar Property Services, Irish Maxima is 7-1-0 from 10 starts.
Rice trainee St. Benedicts Prep has been in the almost club for most of the year. After winning an allowance optional claimer at the Big A, the Flatter mare has finished second or third in her next four starts. Last time out, she fell short by a nose in the Correction Stakes.
Now she gets her first shot at graded company.
"We had been pretty aggressive with her, for about six weeks, running her in stakes that I found to be attractive and good spots to try and get some black type next to her name," Rice said. "We were successful in that. Now she has had a little breather in between races and we are going for a grade 3. Grade 3 races are important for fillies and their futures in the breeding shed, so that is what we are going to try."
Also entered are All Class, Ocean Gateway, Royal Spa, Sea Dancer, and Socially Selective.
Aqueduct Racetrack, Saturday, April 5, 2025, Race 7Entries: Distaff S. (G3)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Irish Maxima (KY) Frankie Pennington 120 John C. Servis - 2 Sea Dancer (KY) Manuel Franco 120 Brittany T. Russell - 3 Ocean Gateway (KY) Dylan Davis 118 Christophe Clement - 4 St. Benedicts Prep (KY) Jose Lezcano 118 Linda Rice - 5 Socially Selective (KY) Joel Rosario 118 William I. Mott - 6 Royal Spa (KY) Alex Achard 118 Rodolphe Brisset - 7 All Class (FL) Eric Cancel 118 Linda Rice -
