Ask Queenie earns top honors

Ask Queenie was named New England horse of the year for 2005 by the region's turf writers Monday night at the annual awards dinner in Danversport, Mass.

Owned by Laurine Barreira and trained by Barreira's mother, Lori Lockhart, Ask Queenie won 7 of 11 starts in her 4-year-old campaign last year, including four stakes races against Massachusetts-breds. Ask Queenie was honored with the James B. Moseley Award, named in honor of former Suffolk Downs chairman.

Ask Queenie was also named top New England-bred and top turf horse in the region. Her campaign last year included a win over males in the Thomas Moran Stakes on the grass, an undefeated record on Suffolk's turf course, and wins in both dirt sprints and routes.

Eleven horses received divisional and special achievement awards, and these were announced last November at the end of the 2005 season. Top jockey Winston Thompson and trainer John Rigattieri took the awards in their respective categories, and Michel Lapensee, who was killed in a riding accident last October, won the Sam McCracken Memorial Award for lifetime achievement.

The New England Turf Writers Association also inducted its Hall of Fame Class of 2006: champion filly Mom's Command, jockey Carl Gambardella, and the late Lou Smith of Rockingham Park. A plaque bearing the names of all of the inductees is on permanent display at the Sports Museum located in Boston's TD Banknorth Garden.