Expensive Queen goes wide on Medoro in Albert Stall Memorial
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NEW ORLEANS – Expensive Queen looked like a stakes horse winning a first-level allowance race at Keeneland last April in her North American debut. On Saturday at Fair Grounds, she demonstrated that she is one in the Albert Stall Memorial.
Ridden by Luis Saez from mid-pack with utmost confidence, Expensive Queen swept wide to the lead past the eighth pole as odds-on favorite Medoro struggled to shake free of inside traffic, and by the time she did Expensive Queen was long gone. That said, Expensive Queen was so sharp Saturday, the result might not have been different even had Medoro found better luck.
Saez now is 3 for 3 on Expensive Queen, who is trained by Brendan Walsh for Farfellow Farm. Saez rode her in the Keeneland win and was aboard when Expensive Queen returned from an eight-month layoff to capture a second-level allowance on Jan. 18 at Gulfstream Park.
“I know her pretty well. I rode her with so much confidence,” Saez said.
Bred in Ireland, Expensive Queen during a seven-start career in Great Britain never advanced beyond middling handicap-race ranks, but the change when she came to America and into Walsh’s barn was immediate. So impressive was her fast-finishing Keeneland score that connections sent Expensive Queen to California for the Grade 1 Gamely. Things went all wrong there. Expensive Queen’s feet were nagging her at the time. In the starting gate, she reared up and conked her head.
Expensive Queen acted up in the gate again on Saturday but made no mistakes once it opened in the $100,000 Stall. Saez plunked her down in fifth and Expensive Queen switched off beautifully as 93-1 shot Sophie’s Cruiser set splits of 23.27 and 47.28, with Cupids Crush tracking on the outside and Medoro inside her on the rail. Past the 3/8 marker Saez asked his mount to creep closer and, after turning for home, he asked her to run – and got a very strong response.
“Oh, man, she’s got a great turn of foot,” Saez said.
Jose Ortiz on Medoro, knocked down to 3-5 favoritism as the last batch of bets processed, came into the homestretch following a tiring longshot. Ortiz tried going left, tried going right, and finally squeezed through a gap at about the sixteenth pole, much too late to challenge the winner.
Expensive Queen paid $10.40 as the second choice and was timed in 1:41.65 for 1 1/16 miles over a firm grass course. Sweet Treasure made a belated bid to get third, missing Medoro by just a neck. Expensive Queen, who shipped in from Palm Meadows in Florida, is by Lope de Vega out of Witches Brew, by Duke of Marmalade, and she looks like she can contend at an even higher level.
“I sent her over here to try and get her a stakes win,” Walsh said. “Now, we’ll have to look around for a graded stakes.”
Walsh wasn’t sure whether Expensive Queen would go back to Florida or remain with his string at Fair Grounds. He also wasn’t sure where Expensive Queen might next race. It will be a graded stakes, and the way this mare has looked in America, Expensive Queen will make a mark.
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