The Queens M G back to winning ways (Coglianese)
Joseph Trainee Skirts Favored La Cara With Rail-Skimming Ride by Ortiz, Earns Kentucky Oaks Points
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – C2 Racing Stable and Mathis Stable LLC’s The Queens M G pulled off a mild upset in Saturday’s $215,000 Fasig-Tipton Davona Dale (G2) at Gulfstream Park, establishing herself as a Kentucky Oaks (G1) candidate under a rail-skimming ride by Irad Ortiz Jr.
The 38th running of the mile stakes for 3-year-old fillies offered qualifying points for the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale. The Queens M G had earned six Kentucky Oaks qualifying points in a third-place finish in the Feb. 1 Forward Gal.
The Queens M G, the 9-5 second betting choice behind even-money favorite La Cara, scored by 2 ¾ lengths while stretching out from seven-furlongs in the Forward Gal to a mile around one turn.
“I didn’t want [her] to take dirt but Irad is a master at securing a spot,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “That was a top-class ride. Not many riders could produce that kind of ride. Tactically, at every spot he made every right decision.”
The Queens M G broke from the rail post position cleanly and was rated along the rail behind Madeline’s Promise, a 40-1 long shot ridden by Corey Lanerie, and La Cara, the even-money favorite with Dylan Davis aboard. Madeline’s Promise set fractions of 24.24 and 47.38 seconds for the first half mile before being joined by La Cara on her outside and The Queens M G to her inside approaching the turn into the homestretch. La Cara and The Queens M G entered the stretch on even terms, but the Joseph-trained daughter of Thousand Words kicked in powerfully in the stretch to score a decisive victory in 1:37.85.
The Queens M G is likely to return in the $265,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) March 29 on the Curlin Florida Derby (G1) undercard.
“Obviously [C2 Racing’s] Mark [Cornett] will have the final say but it’s home, why change anything?” Joseph said. “We’re going to have another nice filly in there, Paradise City, but let them run on their own merit and see what’s best.”
The Davona Dale win was the third stakes victory for The Queens M G, who captured the Schuylerville and Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga last summer.
“Her last race was very, very good. I thought she would move forward huge. I didn’t know she’d move forward enough to win it, but I thought how she ran last time gave me confidence she’d moved forward from 2 to 3,” Joseph said. “She’s not a big filly. The obvious question is: was she early and precocious? But after the last race, I was very happy with her run.”
La Cara was looking to score back-to-back stakes victories to start the 2025 season, having followed up a fifth-place finish in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Del Mar with an open-lengths front-running score in the Jan. 30 Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs. The Mark Casse trainee broke her maiden at Saratoga in her third career start and won the Pocahontas (G3) at Churchill Downs heading into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.
“When she came across that chute, she scared me a little bit because she kind of took a little stumble. But he (Dylan Davis) said he was in good shape,” La Cara’s Hall of Fame trainer said. “He said she was much quieter today. She ran hard. I expected her to regress, and we saw it.”
La Cara held off Ballerina d’Oro by a nose to hold onto second.
Chad Brown-trained Ballerina d’Oro was making her first start of 2025 after concluding her 2-year-old season with a runner-up finish in the Dec. 7 Demoiselle (G2) at Aqueduct. She won once in her first four starts of her career, breaking her maiden at Kentucky Downs in her second start.
