Marksman Queen back in graded company in Robert G. Dick Memorial
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Marksman Queen, a British-bred 5-year-old mare trained by Graham Motion, will return to graded stakes competition as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the Grade 3, $250,000 Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park on Saturday.
Third in the Grade 3 Red Carpet last year and a distant also-ran in the Grade 3 La Prevoyante in January, Motion’s mare has not always been up to the task of handling this sort of company. But after stealing her first stakes victory on the front end in the 1 1/2-mile Keertana going at Churchill Downs last time out, her trainer is ready to take another shot while cutting back to 1 3/8 miles on the turf Saturday.
“It’s an easy ship for us, and I actually like the mile and three-eighths,” Motion said. “I don’t know that she has to go a mile and a half. I think it might be a better trip for her.”
Since 5-year-old mare Bursting Forth won the third running of this race for Motion in 1999, the trainer has won the Robert G. Dick Memorial nine times. He is the winningest trainer in the race’s history, well ahead of three-time winner Bill Mott, and Marksman Queen could be his 10th triumph in a field of six older fillies and mares.
“These races are hard to find, these distance races with a graded status,” Motion said. “I think it’s so important that we keep these races going, and there are less and less of them. It’s obviously a race we’ve had a lot of luck in.”
The field can be split up fairly easily. Two are coming out of the Keertana, two last ran in Churchill allowance company, and two are switching to turf after recent dirt starts at Delaware.
Boss Lady Bailey, a 5-year-old mare trained by Mike Maker, finished fourth behind Marksman Queen in the Keertana last time out. It was her first stakes race since February 2023, when she finished 11th in the Grade 3 Honeybee.
Marksman Queen was returning the favor in the Keertana, as the two mares faced off in a Keeneland allowance in April. That day, Boss Lady Bailey was the one leaving Marksman Queen behind in fourth, closing from well back to win by a nose. She will be a deep closer again in a short field on Saturday, but there may be enough early pace for her to make up ground.
Spanish Eyes, a 4-year-old filly trained by Brendan Walsh, made her North American debut in a $127,000 allowance at Churchill in May, finishing fourth behind Parish Lane, a 4-year-old filly trained by Eddie Kenneally. Spanish Eyes will go straight from that race to this Grade 3, while Parish Lane will ship to Delaware off a third-place finish in another allowance last month.
Malibu Beauty, a 7-year-old mare trained by Gary Capuano, and Party, a 4-year-old filly trained by Ben Perkins, both won allowances on the dirt at Delaware last time out. Party won her first race on turf at Woodbine in September 2023 but has not tried the grass since. Malibu Beauty, a likely pacesetter in the field, will make her turf debut if she runs.
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