D'Angelo hoping Aless Queen can finally get some racing luck

Aless Queen, a 4-year-old filly trained by Jose D’Angelo, has spent nearly a year holding her own against a litany of rising stars in Florida. The statebred gauntlet may finally come to an end in a $43,000 allowance on Friday at Gulfstream Park.

“She’s, in a good way, an unlucky filly,” D’Angelo said. “But she always show up. We like her and we finally seem to be finding the right competition.”

Following an 8 1/2-length maiden victory last year, Aless Queen made her first against winners in September and finished fourth behind a trio of horses who won next time out. The winner that day, All Class, has since earned three victories in open company for Saffie Joseph Jr. and Linda Rice.

D’Angelo brought Aless Queen back from a short layoff at the same statebred level in November, where she finished 3 1/2 lengths behind R Disaster, who has since finished second in three graded stakes races for Joseph. She made her next two starts nearly three months apart but couldn’t escape Emirates Affair, a 7-year-old mare who was claimed out of three straight winning races in that span.

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Coming off another layoff in June, Aless Queen came right back to this statebred condition at seven furlongs and finished second again behind Royal Poppy. That rival moved to open company in July and won again in a 6 1/2-length rout, earning a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

At this point, it seems like anyone is capable of coming out of the woodwork to spoil the filly’s day, but the stars could finally align for her as she breaks from the outside post on Friday at Gulfstream.

“We’re always looking to run as long as we can, but the race came in at seven furlongs again,” D’Angelo said. “I think the post position is going to help her. She always breaks from inside posts and finally, we have good position.”

Aless Queen is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and has been running sharper races than most in the field of 10, though there are still a number of traps ahead for the front-running filly.

Girvin Star, a 4-year-old filly trained by Eduardo Nunez, spent most of her career toiling away on turf and synthetic before improving sharply on dirt in June. Now a reliable pacesetter on her preferred surface, she earned the first two victories of her career that month and finished second at this level in July.

If an early speed duel isn’t Aless Queen’s undoing, she could lose out to one dropping in class. Broderie, a 5-year-old mare trained by Fernando Abreu, won two statebred allowances in early 2024 and has since run in open company in New York and Florida.

Last month, she finished 15 1/4 lengths behind Rumours Have It, a blowout winner who earned a 100 Beyer on a sloppy Gulfstream track that day. She is sure to have better luck as she returns to face Florida-bred rivals.

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