Despite a troubled trip, the Argentine Queen Sienna finished 3 1/4 lengths back in the Santa Ana Stakes
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The daughter of Fortify representing Stud Las Monjitas did not feel comfortable with the slow pace and had to be taken up in the stretch, losing the chance to finish closer; Violeta M failed to fire, and Ooty was a late scratch
ARCADIA, California—Sunday at Santa Anita Park left a bittersweet taste for Argentine racing. While Queen Sienna(Fortify) performed quite well despite a troubled trip in her local graded stakes debut in the Santa Ana Stakes (G3, 2000m, turf, US$ 100,000), Violeta M (John F Kennedy) finished at the back of the pack in a dirt allowance race—the same contest from which Ooty (Dabster) was ultimately scratched.
Coming off a strong campaign in Peru and a narrow but interesting allowance victory on the local turf, Queen Siennafinished 3 1/4 lengths behind the English-bred Take a Breath (Bated Breath), who was guided to victory by the Venezuelan Emisael Jaramillo.
With Victor Espinoza in the irons, the Stud Las Monjitas mare raced rank for most of the trip, frustrated by the moderate pace set by the leader A Thousand Miles (Thousand Words), who posted fractions of 24s 30/100, 49s 3/100, and 1m 14s 42/100.
The Mexican rider made his move on the far turn, but the rest of the field responded simultaneously. In that burst of speed, several rivals proved quicker than Queen Sienna, who only began to threaten in the stretch before running into a pair of "traffic jams" that prevented her from closing further and finishing closer to the leaders.
Unfazed by those issues, the winner overtook Public Assembly (More Than Ready) in the final furlong and held off the late charge of Resolve (Midnight Lute) by a nose. A length further back, the favorite Mrs. Astor (Lookin At Lucky) completed the trifecta, with the clock stopping at 2m 2s 6/100 on a firm course.
With only a handful of starts in the United States, Queen Sienna continues to fuel expectations of solid performances in graded stakes on the turf, a division where races are often decided by the smallest of margins.
Violeta M, Another Disappointment
During her excellent campaign in Argentina, Violeta M finished fourth in her only attempt on the dirt. This Sunday, the Las Monjitas mare faced another test on that surface, this time in the United States, with a result that was perhaps predictable. In Sunday's sixth race, an allowance optional claiming event over 1300 meters with a US$ 71,000 purse, she never managed to leave last place, finishing 13 1/2 lengths behind Thermal (Nyquist).
