Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Saratoga, New York - Jose Espinoza, wearing an enormous smile, looked down from his seat atop Queen Of Hearts and raised his thumb to a cheering crowd gathered in the winner's circle. Espinoza had just won the $73,500 Signature Stallions Waya Stakes at 12 furlongs for fillies and mares on the turf in dramatic fashion.  Queen Of Hearts, trained by Jimmy Jerkens for Susan Moore and M and M Thoroughbred Partners, broke second behind longshot Zaskar (Javier Castellano) and then tracked that rival in second through a swift opening quarter mile in 23.39 seconds. Espinoza, content to be off the pace, spotted Zaskar 8 lengths after a mile, but brought Queen Of Hearts into contention nearing the quarter pole.

Zaskar still enjoyed a 3 1/2-length cushion as she streaked by the eighth pole, but Espinoza begged his filly for more and she responded gamely, going stride for stride with the stubborn leader down the stretch. Borrowing Base and 3-5 favorite Communique drew in on the leading pair as the wire loomed. Queen Of Hearts and Zaskar were mirror images of one another at the finish and the replay could hardly confirm the winner. A photo finish showed Queen Of Hearts by a nose over Zaskar with Borrowing Base (Eibar Coa) third.

I rode her the last two times, and I know she likes the distance," Espinoza said. "I'm very confident with her. I had a little bit of speed in front of me, but I caught them in the end because she can run all day."

Queen Of Hearts, a 4-year-old daughter of Thunder Gulch, did not make the races until April 2008. She raced twice as a sophomore, running a distant third on the main track and then seventh on the turf in September. Jerkens backed off and gave Queen Of Hearts time to develop. She returned in June at Belmont and ran a fine second on the main track and then built on that run when she went back to the turf and broke her maiden on July 22.

John Moore, who campaigns horses with his wife Susan, knew it was just a matter of time before Queen Of Hearts began to follow in the footsteps of her stakes-winning half-sister Babae.

"We took a shot with an improving filly that wanted to run longer than she had been. The breeding was there. it's in the family and we knew by watching her last race that she wanted to run all day," Moore said. "We were just hoping to hit the board and get her stakes-placed but obviously this worked out a lot better than we had hoped. And we figured we had a shot to do it. Not all of these horses were in form - not all of them wanted to run this far, and we knew we did. It made all the sense in the world to give it a try. "

 

 

 

 

Queen Of Hearts (left) battles with Zaskar just before the wire in Monday's co-feature.