Queen of the Hill returns to dirt in Thursday sprint feature

ARCADIA, Calif. – Queen of the Hill, she was not.

Favored in a downhill sprint two weeks ago, Queen of the Hill dropped her head when the gates opened, broke behind the field, and trailed. The turf experiment was foiled.

On Thursday at Santa Anita, Queen of the Hill returns to the dirt surface on which she scored two facile claiming wins in April. With a clean takeoff, Queen of the Hill can win the race 7 feature, a first-level optional claimer for California-bred filly and mare sprinters.

A field of six entered the six-furlong race, in which Queen of the Hill’s main rival is Sea John’s Spirit. The others are Little But Lucky, Versye, Prayer Be Mine, and Pay the Debt.

Queen of the Hill is trained by Doug O’Neill, whose stable has returned to form after a relatively quiet start to 2014. O’Neill was 23 for 212 during the long winter meet. Fifteen days into the spring meet, O’Neill led the standings with a 15-for-58 record.

O’Neill claimed Queen of the Hill for $8,000 on April 13, when she won a race by 4 3/4 lengths with a then-career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure. Two weeks later, she ran for a $14,000 tag and won again. Her seven-length romp earned another career-high Beyer, a 90.

The sharp mare wheeled back again in two weeks and was favored to win a turf sprint May 10 but lost her chance at the break.

A four-time winner of $75,850 from 18 starts, Queen of the Hill will have a new rider Thursday. Elvis Trujillo has relocated from Florida to California and will ride regularly for O’Neill.

A repeat of Queen of the Hill’s most recent dirt win probably would be fast enough to win Thursday, but the race is hardly a walkover.

In the seven weeks during Queen of the Hill’s ambitious recent campaign, Sea John’s Spirit has been freshened. She makes her first start since April 6 on Thursday, and the Ron Ellis trainee should fire her best shot under leading rider Joe Talamo.

Sea John’s Spirit finished second in consecutive California-bred sprints prior to her freshening.

Prayer Be Mine adds blinkers and will keep the pace honest in her second start back from a five-month layoff.

Little But Lucky won her only start three weeks ago with a 64 Beyer. Versye, the second O’Neill entrant, finished last in the $250,000 Melair Stakes in her most recent start.