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Queen Bee To You Beats Der Lu In La Canada
Author: Don Mckee
Published: Monday January
13, 2020
Queen Bee to You's trainer, Andrew Lerner, received his first graded stakes win when she scored the Bayakoa Stakes (G3) at Los Alamitos Race Course in December. On Saturday, she showed up once again and took the $200,500 La Canada Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park, defeating Der Lu.
Queen Bee to You is owned by Christopher St. Hilaire and Adam Vali.
La Canada
As she entered the backstretch of the 1 1/16-mile La Canada, Queen Bee to You pushed forward. She was positioned in fourth at 1 1/2 lengths behind after an opening quarter in :24. With jockey Ruben Fuentes on top, she went after the leader Der Lu, who fell off the inside. At that point, the pair engaged her.
Queen Bee to You came alongside with a half-mile in :48.06, and the pair moved ahead through the remaining fractions of 1:12.35 and 1:37.75. They finished in 1:44.36 on a fast track.
Queen Bee to You was the second favorite, and she returned $6.60 for a $2 win ticket.
"I thought my horse was getting rank, but the pace was a little slow, and that's why she was pulling," Fuentes said. "Once she made the lead, she relaxed real nice. My plan was to angle outside and put the pressure on the other filly, but we ended up inside, and she fought back."
Der Lu and Others
After picking up a first-level allowance win, Der Lu began to rise in class. In the La Canada, she scored her first stakes placing after finishing two lengths in front of Bayakoa runner-up Zusha in third.
Kaydetre, Horologist, and Message finished out the order in the six-horse race for older fillies and mares. The field was supposed to be larger, but Starr of Quality and morning-line favorite Spiced Perfection were scratched.
After the scratch of the grade 1 winner Spiced Perfection, Queen Bee to You and Horologist were the only fillies in the race with graded wins.
Third Consecutive Win
Queen Bee to You scored her third consecutive win, and it was her fourth in seven starts since Lerner became the trainer after Mike Pender in June 2019. Prior to the Bayakoa, she won the Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar.
"She's just one of those gritty mares that wants to win. She's just all heart, and you gotta love horses like that," said Lerner, who began training in April 2017.
Queen Bee to You is a 6-year-old Old Topper mare bred in California by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds. She is the sixth foal out of the Touch Gold mare Silk Queen and the first to earn black type.
She took her first four starts for her breeder after being claimed by St. Hilaire for $50,000 as a maiden in December 2016.
It was in July 2018 when Vali joined in ownership.
St. Hilaire decided to race Queen Bee to You and his other horses this year, and it was under the stable name An Equal Amount of Blueberries.
Queen Bee to You earned $120,000 on Saturday, and she increased her earnings to $658,770. Her record now sits at 8-11-5 from 33 starts.
St. Hilaire was happy with Fuentes' performance as well.
"He's a talent. To pass like he did after being passed, it is not an easy task," he said.