Running back on her preferred surface, Twirling Queen rocketed to her fourth black-type score in the $201,000 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes Nov. 1 at Del Mar.
A multiple stakes winner on both turf and synthetic for GU Racing Stable, Twirling Queen ran an uncharacteristic ninth 10 days prior in the Oct. 19 Raven Run Stakes (G2) at Keeneland when stretched to seven furlongs on the main track. Shaking off the defeat, trainer Jose D'Angelo shipped the Twirling Candy filly out to Del Mar and she responded with a determined neck score in the opening feature on Breeders' Cup Friday.
Glued to the fence throughout while tracking the pace under jockey Luis Saez, Twirling Queen gunned up the rail turning for home, and held off the late-closing Just Nails in a final time of :56.42 for five furlongs over a firm turf course. Favored at 3-2 in the field of seven fillies and mares, Twirling Queen returned $5 for a $2 win ticket.
"I was pointing her to this race to put her back on the turf. Last time she ran on the dirt trying to get a graded stakes," D'Angelo said of Twirling Quen. "She's a nice filly. She's not big but she has a big heart. I'm very sure that next year she's going to be in the best races of the country for fillies on the turf."
Stay and Scam got up for third to give trainer Doug O'Neill a 2-3 finish in the Senator Ken Maddy.
A $15,000 purchase from G U Stables at the 2022 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale, 3-year-old Twirling Queen is a daughter of the stakes-winning Kantharos mare Adventurous Lady.
Video: Senator Ken Maddy S. (BT)
Chasing Liberty passes two-turn test in Thoroughbred Alliance Stakes
After failing to draw into the field for the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T), the connections of Chasing Liberty received some consolation when their colt proved victorious on the same day in the $204,500 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes.
A homebred for Twin Creeks Racing Stables, Chasing Liberty raced fairly wide into the first turn of his two-turn debut. Angled into a stalking third down the backstretch, Chasing Liberty bided his time before collaring the pacesetters at the top of the lane. Surging ahead of his rivals, he outlasted a belated rally from Test Score to prevail by a neck.
Chasing Liberty ($15.60), ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and trained by Rob Atras, stopped the timer in 1:37.44 for the mile on firm turf.
A maiden winner last time out, Test Score was runner-up over favored Cavallo Bay in third.
A 2-year-old son of Constitution , Chasing Liberty registered his first stakes victory via disqualification in the Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs in September.
