Queen Goddess returns from five-month layoff in Goldikova Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – Queen Goddess had a one-length lead in the stretch of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in May before she faded to finish third as the odds-on favorite.

Not long after the loss, owners Gary Barber and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and trainer Michael McCarthy decided the four-time stakes winner deserved a summer vacation.

Queen Goddess will have her first start in more than five months in Sunday’s Grade 2 Goldikova Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf, a race that will help determine her future.

McCarthy sees the $200,000 Goldikova as a prep for the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf on Dec. 3 at Del Mar. The outcome of the Goldikova and Matriarch stakes will dictate whether Queen Goddess stays in training or is retired and bred next year, he said.

“We’ll see what happens in the next couple of races,” McCarthy said. “This looks like a good spot. Hopefully, it sets us up for the Matriarch.

Sunday’s 10-race program begins at noon Pacific and is the final day of the track’s autumn meeting. Del Mar opens a 13-day meeting Friday. Sunday’s closing day at Santa Anita will have mandatory payouts in the $1 pick six, 50-cent pick fives, and $1 super high five.

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Queen Goddess, who tends to race as a stalker, drew the outside post in a field of six and should have pace to follow from the minor stakes winner Hamwood Flier.

Trained by Phil D’Amato, Hamwood Flier finished eighth of nine as the 8-5 favorite in the restricted Swingtime Stakes at a mile on turf Oct. 9 in her first start of the year. Mike Smith was aboard Hamwood Flier, but has been replaced by Flavien Prat.

Hamwood Flier broke through the gate before the start of the Swingtime, which D’Amato said “took a lot out of her.”

Prat must ration some of Hamwood Flier’s speed to give the 5-year-old mare any chance for the win.

“If she can slow down a little and take a breather, she has a shot,” he said.

Closing Remarks, a three-time graded stakes winner this year, will be helped by a quick pace. Closing Remarks was pre-entered in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at 1 1/4 miles, but was not entered last Monday.

Closing Remarks was a troubled sixth in the Gamely Stakes and recovered to go unbeaten in two Grade 2 starts at Del Mar – the Yellow Ribbon Handicap at 1 1/16 miles in August and the John C. Mabee Stakes at 1 1/8 miles in early September.

Closing Remarks was fourth of eight in the Grade 2 Rodeo Drive Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf Oct. 7.

“After the last race, she was a little quiet, but she’s come alive in the last week,” trainer Carla Gaines said.

Closing Remarks won the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at a mile on turf in April.

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