Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Henley Brook trainer Mike Reed produced four-year-old mare Lion Queen in excellent shape for her first-up run after an absence of five months when she gave a sample of her class with a dashing last-to-first victory in the $21,000 Racing Good Friday Pace over 2130m at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
Reinsman Shannon Suvaljko admitted that he was concerned about Lion Queen’s fitness and her task from starting out wide at barrier seven.
“It was the barrier draw which worried me, and I was concerned that she was underdone a bit,” he said. “On the track she can round anything up, and I thought her class would enable her to win.
“She always goes to the line really good, and I didn’t pull the plugs. She had plenty left. She has always shown that she is up to Water Lou.”
Lion Queen was the $1.80 favourite and Suvaljko was quite content to let her drop back and settle down in last position in the field of nine while Madam Maggie was racing keenly in the lead from Acushla Machree ($7) in the breeze.
Lion Queen was still last at the bell when Suvaljko was more than happy to follow the three-wide run of $14 chance World Secret. Acushla Machree got to the front with about 400m to travel before the $4.60 second fancy Sweet Vivienne took a narrow lead on the home turn but was unable to hold out the fast-finishing Lion Queen.
The final quarters were run in 28.2sec. and 28.7sec. and Lion Queen rated 1.56.3 and took her record to twelve starts for six wins and four thirds for stakes of $71,389.
She is by Control The Moment and is the eighth foal out of Walton Hanover mare Lilianna Beauty, who raced 134 times for ten wins, 41 placings and $135,274. Lilianna also produced Tenniele Erin, who won the group 1 Sales Classic for two-year-old fillies in April 2017 and was retired with earnings of $88,180 from five wins and seven placings from 14 starts.