The Gazelle (Grade 2) (KYO)- $300.000 Purse
AQU- For Fillies Three Year Old
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
April 9, 2016

We can file this one away in the, “Didn’t see that coming” category.    At odds of 20/1, Track Queen pulled off a stunner here at AQU.  With only 2.5% of HRP selecting her in the pick ‘em, and being previewed here as a longshot, this result was not expected.   Next time she hits the track, she will certainly get more people to look her way after what was truly a remarkable effort.   Track Queen was never too far off the pace in this one, but with a bit of an outside push and impressive stretch run that required her to hold off the more highly regarded Swarley Kapai, there are certainly a lot more believers now in the Beauty King filly.  Up next will be the KYO, which is a truly remarkable accomplishment.  Congratulations to Heavens Own on getting his new purchase into the Oaks!  It is the first win for the trainer in the Gazelle, and jockey S X Bridgmohan picks up his second such win in three years.    The time of the race was 1:48.81, which ranks it a middle of the road time, overall, when compared to past Gazelles.   Let’s take a bigger look at it!

1st- 9- Track Queen (20/1)- The eventual race winner from Heavens Own got off to a pretty good start, and looked like she might run with the leaders out of the gate though would back off of Reverse Process’ pace as they moved into the backstretch. Once there, she seemed to settle into a midpack position, keeping touch with the leaders about three to four lengths from the leaders.  Track Queen would have a good lane for the turn, and was not hindered by the fact that it was four wide.  She moved closer to the leaders at that point, and into the stretch, but it was not certain that she would be able to catch Regal Portrait.  In the final furlong, she trailed by a length, and Bridgmohan let her know there was more work to be done.  There was also concern about the approach of Swarley Kapai, who was closer to the rail.  In the late stages, a group of them were in good stride, and it would be Track Queen prevailing at the end above the rivals, and getting up for the win!  I was particularly impressed with how she handled the stretch run, and she should be considered a strong threat in the Oaks as well!  Congratulations again to trainer, Heavens Own.  Track Queen is a three year old filly by Beauty King and out of Dance With Sonic.  She was bred in Pennsylvania as a third quarter two year old by Gdp Inc, and after passing through several hands already, hopefully now she has found a trainer looking to keep her.

2nd- 1- Swarley Kapai (5/1)- Our pre-race pick was pretty good out of the gate, though not interested in running with the frontrunners for her trainer, Grimley.  In the first turn, she seemed to be restrained a bit by M Franco and would emerge in the sixth position as the run down the backstretch began but still held a position on the rail.  Steady for most of this trip, and would move off the rail in order to get by Cypress Artiste in what proved to be a great decision.  She found a nice gap splitting horses in the turn, and then in the stretch in order to get by Reverse Process.  With the obstacles out of the way, Swarley Kapai was in all out drive to the wire, matching strides with Track Queen, who was making a similar move.  The two of them battled hard, but in the end Swarley Kapai misses by a neck.

3rd- 5- Regal Portrait (6/1)- The Mb Stables entry was the quickest of them all out of the gate, though would eventually concede the lead to her stablemate around the opening turn.  Regal Portrait would be a about a length and a half from the leader throughout the majority of the backstretch trip, and began to reel her in a they moved into the final turn.  The pass was completed by the top of the stretch, and early on it seemed as though she might be able to hold off the challengers as with a furlong to go, she led by a length.  She gamely tried to hold on to the lead, and will get her picture taken with the top two, though gets a third place result.

4th- 4- Halloween Candy (16/1)- Initially midpack for Harrell Racing out of the gate and around the opening turn.  As the field moved into the backstretch, G L Stevens seemed to hold her back a little and she lost a couple spots.  Held a position about five lengths from the leaders during the backstretch around the final turn.  At the top of the stretch, Halloween Candy made a wide move along this long AQU turn, and ended up about six wide. Once stabilizing in this lane, she made a decent push forward, but ultimately had to cover too much race track.

5th- 8- Fight Song (13/1)- The Sccj Stables entry would go promptly to the rear of the field.   Not to worry, this is the customary running style for the filly.  She would be able to get a position along the rail and started to move by a couple as they moved into the final turn.    F Geroux opted not to maintain that position on the rail, and instead positioned Fight Song to make an outside move on Reverse Process.  This was likely a good call as she could follow Swarley Kapai in a clear lane.  Fight Song ran well in the stretch, but comes up short.

6th- 2- Absquatulate (9/1)- Decent out of the gate before assuming a position in the middle of the pack early on for Australia Wide.   Midway into the backstretch, Absquatulate would look to make a move forward, picking up a couple lengths as she pulled even with Cypress Artiste heading into the final turn.  In the turn, she moved along nicely and was in a great position at the top of the stretch.  Once there, she got closer to the leaders and would try to battle Track Queen the best that she could.  In the dying moments of the race she would back out of it just enough to lose a couple important positions.

7th- 7- Technomin (30/1)- Not surprisingly, the normal closer from The Sidley Stud saw herself near the back of the pack, running about six lengths behind the leaders in the early portion of the race.  Like a filly comfortable with this style, she began to move closer to the leaders at the end of the backstretch and into the final turn, although this progress eventually stalled out when she got behind Absquatulate.  In the stretch, there was never an additional move forward, though she remained steady with the field.

8th- 10- Zipster (30/1)-   The Blushing Meadows entry got off to a rather average start but would soon linger near the back of the field around the opening turn and into the backstretch.  While in the backstretch, she seemed content to simply linger with the others that were back there, and would only begin to show an interest in moving forward about midway into the final turn.  She would only advance a little at this juncture, and her best stride would not come until very late, in the final furlong of the race.  Watch out for her in longer races!

9th- 6- Reverse Process (6/1)- Got off to a good start for her trainer, Mb Stables, but it would be the opening turn where she would make a concerted push to move by Regal Portrait to take the lead.  Paced the field in the backstretch well, setting the opening half mile in a time of :47.31 while leading by a length or so.  In the turn, her stablemate caught up to her and prepared to make the pass.  Once passed, it was a gradual reverse process until they hit the wire.

10th- 12- Love In The Mist (3/1)- The pre-race favorite from Mb Stables did not get off to a good start by any stretch of the imagination and would not only find herself seven lengths off the lead around the opening turn, but also five wide in the process.  Steady with the field in the backstretch, and moved to the rail with a view of the entire field in front of her around the far turn.  Remained level in the stretch.

11th- 11- Pink Stars (10/1)- Found herself out of contention in the early stages of the race, and the Team 7 Illusions trained filly would be about six back as they moved into the backstretch.  She would maintain this position heading into the turn, and when you wanted to see J Montano start moving her forward, it was simply an advance that would never be coming and making her never  a factor today.

12th- 3- Cypress Artiste (12/1)- The Alydar Stables entry would start a lot better then she finished, being third around the opening turn, about two and a half lengths from the leaders.  Towards the end of the backstretch run and into the final turn, she began to fade out of contention and would eventually be passed by them all.

Track: Fast
Time: :47¹  1:11   1:35⁴  1:48⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 9 – 1 Paid 90.20
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 1 – 5 Paid 1,482.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES