Shenandoah Queen targets Zenyatta Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Shenandoah Queen will have her second start in a Grade 1 and her seventh in a graded stakes in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 30.

Trainer John Sadler said on Saturday that the Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles is a target after Shenandoah Queen won the restricted Tranquility Lake Stakes for the second consecutive year at Del Mar on Friday.

“It would be nice to get her a placing,” Sadler said of a start in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes.

Of course, a win would be preferred, but Shenandoah Queen has yet to record a breakthrough victory in a graded stakes. Her best result in a graded stakes was a second to the now-retired Fault in the Grade 3 Adoration Stakes at Santa Anita in May. More recently, Shenandoah Queen was last of five in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes here on July 29 behind Unique Bella, the 2017 champion female sprinter who has since been retired.

In the Tranquility Lake Stakes at a mile, Shenandoah Queen ($11) was always near the front and pulled away to record an easy win by 8 1/2 lengths over Vale Dori, the 4-5 favorite. The win ended an eight-race losing streak since the 2017 Tranquility Lake.

“She loves the race,” Sadler said.

Owned by Pete and Kosta Hronis, Shenandoah Queen has won 6 of 20 starts and earned $212,160.