Last year’s race Winner: Leovanni Jockey: James Doyle Trainer: Karl R Burke Owner: Wathnan Racing Age: 2 Weight: 9st 2lbs Starting Price: 22/1 Season Form Figures: 1 Previous Best: 1st - Class 5 EBF Maiden Fillies’ Stakes, Nottingham (June 2024) By Paul Jones Of the two-year-old races, it wasn’t just the Coventry Stakes last season that saw the 1-2-3-4 sent off at big odds, with the first four home in the Queen Mary all sent off no shorter than 22/1 and led home by Wathnan Racing’s Leovanni, with the racing ownership group also filling the places in the Coventry and winning the Norfolk, so they are very much a team to take note of in the juvenile contests all week. Very surprisingly, Aidan O’Brien has never won the Queen Mary. Of the British stables, the north has fared well with six winners this century, including two for Karl Burke in the last three runnings in Dramatised and Leovanni. Mark Johnston (twice), Tim Easterby, Tom Dascombe and John Quinn have also registered successes for the north. Of the southern yards, the Hannon stable have won five Queen Mary’s between father and son. The Queen Mary usually attracts a big field and being drawn high (stands’ side) certainly hasn’t been a negative with 11 of the last 12 winners drawn in double figures including Crimson Advocate winning from the highest stall of all last year in 2023 (28). The outlier was another American-trained winner Campanelle, who won from stall 1. That’s five successes for the Americans going back to 2009 with Wesley Ward having saddled the other four (Lady Aurelia and Acapulco by wide margins) and he has also had three runners-up to boot. Entering the race unbeaten or otherwise is neither here nor there but what is usually crucial is our selection won last time out as has been the case for 21 of the last 24 winners. Up until 2006 it was a case of follow the unbeaten fillies as six on the spin had proven successful but 11 of the subsequent 19 winners had tasted defeat earlier in the season.   The Marygate Stakes at York’s Dante Meeting has been the best pointer with Gilded (2006), Ceiling Kitty (2012) and Signora Cabello (at 25/1 in 2019) completing the double. In addition, Langs Lash was r/u at York in 2008 before winning the Queen Mary plus two more Marygate winners finished second and third in between and Tiggy Wiggy was runner-up in both races. This season’s running produced a shock when Adrian Keatley’s 33/1 outsider Secret Hideaway beat the Hannon-trained favourite Harry’s Girl into second. This 5f sprint is a test for real speedsters, so it is with little surprise that sires known for passing on their sprinting genes that have fared much the best. The last 18 winners were sired by stallions with a Sire Index of between 6f and 8f. At a glance summary Positives Trained in America (notably by Wesley Ward) Trained by Karl Burke or Richard Hannon Drawn in a double-figure stall Ran well in the Marygate Stakes The favourite Negatives Beaten last time out Not sired by a stallion with a Sire Index of between 6f-8f Trained by Aidan O’Brien