How to bet the Matron Stakes

An especially deep group of 12 juvenile fillies will travel six grassy panels on the Aqueduct outer turf in Thursday's $175,000 Matron S. (G3). I came away pretty impressed with #8 Royal Testament (3-1) when the Midshipman filly routed the boys at Colonial Downs most recently, and I will use the lass in all of my plays. 

Matron Wagers:

• $5 exacta key box 8 with 6,7,12 ($30)
• 50-cent trifecta 8 with 6,7,12 with all ($15)

Trained by George Weaver, who does excellent work with dashers on the grass, the chestnut has displayed a ton of talent in her last pair of appearances, and I don’t think that we have seen the best of her yet, either. The March foal will have to improve and navigate a sensible trip in a field with an abundance of pace and ability, but I have confidence that she will under Eric Cancel. 

#6 Snow Face Princess (7-2) has been excellent in her trio of lifetime tries on the sod and rates an obvious chance in the bulky field. Purchased for $775,000 by Winchell Thoroughbreds in the summer, the dark bay daughter of Midshipman bagged the Bolton Landing S. at Saratoga two back, and checked in second in the $1 million Untapable S. at Kentucky Downs in her latest appearance. The Kentucky-bred will make her second showing since being transferred to the Asmussen barn and will stalk the early tempo beneath Flavien Prat. 

Joe Sharp is another conditioner who seems to prosper in the turf sprint ranks, and he will saddle Kentucky Downs maiden heroine #7 Valala (20-1) in the dash. The Vekoma filly toppled a stacked field in her graduation and has a lot of room for improvement going forward. I expect her to be a huge price while forwardly placed from the break beneath Ricardo Santana, Jr. 

The Brad Cox-trained #12 Bella Knows (15-1) came from nowhere in the early stages of her debut at The Spa to win at first asking. I’m not sure if the Kantharos filly beat the deepest field in her unveiling, but the Ohio-bred still displayed a fine turn of foot, and she could be a dangerous player with a better break on Thursday. Manny Franco retains the ride.