How to bet the Athenia Stakes

Eight fillies and mares are entered for the turf in Saturday’s $150,000 Athenia S. at Aqueduct. The 1 1/8-mile affair on the turf attracted an excellent bunch in a race that is of graded stakes quality. I expect there to be a healthy tempo in the contest, which will set things up quite well for my leading selection. 

Athenia Wager

$10 exacta key box 7 with 4,6 ($40)

Trained by Mark Casse, #7 Papilio is far from a win machine with four tallies in 17 career tries, but the four-year-old has a lot of back class and looks like an excellent fit to me in the race. Starspangledbanner four-year-old kept excellent company with numerous good results as a sophomore, and while she has been uneven this campaign, the filly has had some excuses along the way and could get overlooked in the field. 

Papilio put in a belated run to finish fifth in the lucrative One Dreamer S. at Kentucky Downs in her most recent venture, and that performance will have the Irish-bred ready for Saturday. She will sit well off of the contested early pace prior to putting in her bid as the cast turns for home. Dylan Davis will pilot the value play. 

Grade 2 heroine #6 Prerequisite is the more accomplished of the two in the heat for conditioner Chad Brown and has to be included. A good second in the Belmont Oaks (G1) in her penultimate start in 2023, the bay four-year-old kicked off this season with a facile allowance triumph over the Saratoga surface on Sept. 2 and has trained forwardly since. Upstart four-year-old does her best work when she is close throughout, and I expect Flavien Prat to have the Kentucky-bred in striking distance from the early stages of the affair. She will be the one to run down inside the final furlong. 

Brown’s #4 Child of the Moon takes a big class hike from a first-level allowance race, but her turn of foot is strong and the French import appears to be a nice prospect with further improvement in her. The Grey Gatsby four-year-old picks up Manny Franco and will attempt to run her foes down late in her initial stakes try in the states. She could peak in her third effort off the long absence, too.