Queen Nekia may be vulnerable in Added Elegance Stakes

On paper, Queen Nekia looks like the horse to beat in the $60,000 Added Elegance Stakes, which highlights Saturday’s 12-race program at Gulfstream Park. But with only two works since a 10th-place finish in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park 10 weeks earlier, the former claimer could prove vulnerable going a mile against a pretty solid field of older fillies and mares in the overnight event.

Queen Nekia has shown marked improvement since being claimed for $25,000 by trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. out of an easy victory at a mile here in her 2019 finale. In three subsequent starts, Queen Nekia defeated high-level allowance and optional-claiming company Jan. 16; finished third, beaten less than a length by Cookie Dough, in the Grade 3 Royal Delta; and proved to be overmatched against Grade 1 competition in the Apple Blossom.

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“We took an ambitious chance sending her to Oaklawn for the Grade 1,” Joseph said. “She was really in over her head and outclassed by those horses, although she didn’t run that bad. She made up ground. We gave her a little rest after that, and I’ve only been able to work her twice before this start, so I think she’s basically two works short. But we’re trying to use this race as a stepping-stone to something else. I think she’s capable of winning a Grade 3 somewhere down the line, maybe at one of the smaller tracks somewhere this summer.”

If Queen Nekia does indeed need a race off the bench, there are several other attractive alternatives, including Letruska and Nonna Madeline, who renew acquaintances after finishing first and second going 1 1/16 miles under optional-claiming conditions on April 16 at Oaklawn.

Letruska returns to the scene of her finest hour, a wire-to-wire 4 1/4-length triumph against the boys in the Clasico del Caribe Invitational on Dec. 8. The win was her seventh straight to launch her career. She has subsequently made three other U.S. appearances, including a 2 1/4-length decision over Nonna Madeline in an allowance race on April 16 at Oaklawn, and a third behind Blamed going a mile in an Oaklawn allowance 14 days later, her most recent start.

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The turnback to one turn could be a big plus for Nonna Madeline in her rematch against Letruska, which came in her first start around two turns. Nonna Madeline, who ran second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville at 2, won an allowance race Dec. 20 at Gulfstream Park before finishing a troubled third in the Grade 2 Inside Information to kick off her 2020 campaign for trainer Todd Pletcher.

If there is anyone in the field capable of pushing Letruska for the early lead it is Remarkable Soul, who comes off far and away the best performance of her career, a gate-to-wire 12 3/4-length optional-claiming win at a mile on March 29 at Gulfstream. Remarkable Soul, 4, transferred to trainer Ralph Nicks for this year, will get a class check as well as a new rider for the Added Elegance in Angel Arroyo. Emisael Jaramillo, who rode Remarkable Soul in her last two starts, takes the call on Letruska.

Completing the field are Bella Ciao, second in the Powder Break five weeks ago; Heiressall, fourth in the 2019 Added Elegance and coming off a win in an optional-claiming sprint at Gulfstream; and the Steve Dwoskin-trained pair of Starship Bonita and Helping Lisa D.