Ask Queenie tops in New England

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

Owned by Laurine Barreira and trained by her 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 Suffolk Downs's former chairman.

Ask Queenie was also named top New England-bred and top turf horse in the region.

Eleven horses received divisional and special achievement awards, 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, while Michel Lapensee, who was killed in a riding accident last October, posthumously 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.