queen of destruction

CALAMITY QUEEN WORKS FOR THE DEBUTANTE STAKES*

It had not been the ideal beginning to Calamity Queen's three year old season, but the Turf Triple Tiara contender wasn't out of the running. She had some tough competition in her way for the Turf Tiara, but by the time she was through with them, she wouldn't just be the filly with the Tiara, she would be the Queen of Destruction. For destroying the fields in each TTT race and destroying the dreams of each other horse's owner. The filly had been aptly named, of course. She just had yet to prove it.

Stella asked the thoroughbred to canter and she quickly obliged. Years of work had gone into preparing for these races, and they would only pay off if Queenie did her best. Her best had gotten her to grade three, so far, and she still had to climb to the top, to grade one. It would take another six wins to reach the top of the racing grades, and if she could take out the Turf Tiara she would be halfway there. Stella was confident she could ride the filly to win, but they needed a bit of luck too. It wasn't as though the TTT would be a walk in the park. It was going to be tough.

There were four other fillies entered so far - Cross My Heart, Innocent Passion, Sophie's Voice and Passion Heart. Cross My Heart was from Witch Creek Stables, whom Queenie was bred by. The other filly was also grade three, with a record of 20-9-10-1. As a sprinter, however, Cross My Heart was likely only using this race as a prep for the upcoming Turf Sprinter Tiara. She had more speed than stamina, so the mile long Debutante Stakes would probably be stretching her capabilities, especially as she was a front runner.

The next entrant was Innocent Passion. The Stride Of Perfection filly was also a sprinter, like Cross My Heart, but she was arguably more capable at a mile than the other filly. With a record of 28-12-7-9 the grade two thoroughbred would likely prove to be the favourite for the win. She ran as a preceder, which meant she would have more to give than Cross My Heart at the end. In gate three would be Sophie's Voice. Sired by the popular stallion Cryin' Out Loud, the filly was proving herself to be great just like her half siblings. Like the two fillies entered before her, Sophie's Voice was also a sprinter. She was less experienced with thirteen starts, but with seven wins, two seconds and three third places her consistency was right up there with the others. As a front runner/preceder, and with a mile being pretty much as far as she could go, it looked as though Sophie's Voice had similar chances to Cross My Heart.

The fourth entrant was Passion Heart. The Bowen Acres filly was the least experienced, with a record of 8-1-1-1. She also ran as a front runner but would have more stamina than the other two, since she ran up to ten furlongs. Stella expected that Cross My Heart would set a high pace, Passion Heart would match it, then the rest of the field would run hot on their heels. Given their gate position, Stella would probably have to run Queenie on Passion Heart's flank. When the front runners dropped back, or the preceders began their run, Queenie would then be out of harm's way as she would not be slowed down or forced to run wide. It meant she would be free to make her move in her own time.

Queenie had a record of 22-7-2-8, and ran 8-11 furlongs. Her most recent start had resulted in a win in the Secretariat Stakes, a prep for the Turf Triple Crown, so she would be going in the Debutante with confidence.