The Mean Queen and Snap Decision race on Thursday, but not against each other

Last fall, in an anticipated showdown between the two top steeplechase horses in training, The Mean Queen defeated Snap Decision by two lengths in the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Stakes on opening day of the Belmont Park fall meeting.

Thursday, both The Mean Queen and Snap Decision will be competing on the same card at Aqueduct, but they will do so in different races.

The Mean Queen, last year’s champion steeplechase horse, will make her belated season debut in the $75,000 William Entenmann Stakes for novice jumpers, while Snap Decision will look for his third Grade 1 win of the year in the $250,000 Lonesome Glory.

According to Joe Clancy of Steeplechase Times, these are the first steeplechase races to be run at Aqueduct since 1974.

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The two jump races are the co-features on a 10-race opening-day card of what is being called the Belmont at the Big A meet. The transfer of the 28 fall dates to Aqueduct is necessitated by the construction of vehicular and pedestrian tunnels at Belmont, which will ultimately allow fan access to the infield at the Elmont, N.Y., facility.

The Mean Queen, who won 6 of 8 starts in 2021, including three Grade 1s, is eligible for the Entenmann because the conditions of the race open it to horses who have not won over hurdles prior to March 1, 2021. The Mean Queen’s first steeplechase victory came in April 2021.

Trainer Keri Brion said The Mean Queen had a slight injury in May, which prevented her from getting to the races earlier in the year. Brion said she skipped the two Grade 1 steeplechase events at Saratoga with The Mean Queen owing to, in part, the weight she would have had to carry in the A.P. Smithwick and Jonathan Sheppard. Brion said she is using the Entenmann, at 2 1/16 miles over National fences, as a prep for the Grade 1, $250,000 Grand National on Oct. 15 at Far Hills, where The Mean Queen will likely face Snap Decision.

“She’s grown,” Brion said Sunday as she was driving The Mean Queen back from trainer Michael Dickinson’s farm in North East, Md., where she worked out over a Tapeta surface. “She’s bigger and stronger and training just as good as she ever has. She’s still mean – that hasn’t changed.”

In the Entenmann, The Mean Queen will carry top weight of 158 pounds, which includes a seven-pound filly and mare weight allowance. Brion also will run Howyabud and Going Country in the Entenmann, which will go as race 1 on the card that begins at 1 p.m.

Howyabud has won three straight, including the Jonathan Kiser Stakes at Saratoga. Going Country finished second in the Sheppard, albeit 13 1/4 lengths behind Snap Decision.

Also entered in the Entenmann are Booby Trap, State of Affair, Bandua, and Proven Innocent.

Snap Decision comes into the Lonesome Glory off his devastatingly easy victory in the Sheppard while carrying 164 pounds. He will carry 168 pounds in the 2 1/2-mile Lonesome Glory, spotting 18 to 28 pounds to his seven rivals.

“I think it’s fair,” trainer Jack Fisher said of the weight assignment. “I thought the last he was carrying too much weight, but off the last race, four pounds is not that big a deal. In the Sheppard, I thought he would handle that pretty well. The only thing that concerned me having that much weight was how much he would have to use himself. He’s done great since then.”

Brion will send out Iranistan and Ask Paddington against Snap Decision.

Iranistan beat Snap Decision the Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey Stakes in April at Middelburg, Va. Iranistan was in receipt of 14 pounds from Snap Decision then. He gets 20 pounds from him Thursday.

Brion said Iranistan bled when finishing sixth behind Down Royal in the A.P. Smithwick on July 20 at Saratoga. Brion said she hopes that “was a bit of a one-off due to the heat.”

Ask Paddington makes his U.S. debut after having won four in a row in England. Brion said Ask Paddington worked with The Mean Queen on Sunday.

“I have to credit his previous connections,” Brion said. “He’s come over in great order. He worked right alongside [The Mean Queen]. These horses are getting a ton of weight from Snap.”

Ask Paddington carries 146 pounds in the Lonesome Glory.

Also entered are Song for Someone (150 pounds), Belfast Banter (144), Amschel (142), Redicean (140) and Noah and the Ark (140).