BackTrack: Stablemates Queena, Versailles Treaty Win

The last week of August did not start out to be the most pleasant of times for trainer Shug McGaughey. It began when favored Preach finished third in the $200,000 Spinaway Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, continued with the strain of shipping dozens of valuable horses 200 miles back downstate, and hit its nadir when McGaughey underwent oral surgery to remove several impacted wisdom teeth. 

Matters were not helped any when the two stars of his stable, Versailles Treaty and Queena, turned in alarmingly slow works in preparation for the upcoming weekend stakes at Belmont Park. 

By Sunday afternoon, however,  McGaughey was all smiles. 

On Saturday, Versailles Treaty (Danzig—Ten Cents a Dance, by Buckpasser) had taken her third consecutive grade 1 stakes, holding off Grand Girlfriend to win the $176,400 Gazelle (G1) under Angel Cordero Jr. 



The following day, Queena (Mr. Prospector—Too Chic, by Blushing Groom) enjoyed a perfect trip under Cordero to beat Fit to Scout by a head and take the $200,000 Maskette (G1). 

The 5-year-old Queena thus kept her streak of never having lost at Belmont on a good track intact, and ended another—that of Meadow Star, which finished a disappointing fourth in suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in her Eclipse Award-winning career. 

The 4-5 favorite in the one-mile Maskette, Meadow Star was making her first start since losing to Lite Light in the 1 1/4-mile Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). 

Displaying the same caution he had demonstrated in campaigning Manila, trainer LeRoy Jolley waited until the last moment before announcing the Maskette would be Meadow Star's first race in nearly two months. 

Making her debut against older fillies and mares, Meadow Star broke slowly, her ears pinned back, and spotted her five rivals eight lengths as She's a Shaker bounded off in fractions of :23 2/5 and :46 2/5. 



With Screen Prospect, the second choice under Craig Perret, taking over on the turn going three-quarters in 1:10 1/5, Queena ranged up into contention and in a furious finish, held off the fast-closing Fit to Scout by a desperate head, with Screen Prospect holding on a neck farther back in third. 



"I didn't want to pass the filly on the lead too early," said Cordero, aboard Queena for the first time. "I thought at the five-sixteenths pole I was done, but she put up another run. 



"Mike Smith (her regular rider) told me, 'Don't give up on her; she'll try, she'll try.' I was hoping he was right, and he was."

Meadow Star, making a belated rally, finished fourth and was followed by Train Robbery and She's a Shaker. 



"It was a tough race," said Jolley. "She got off bad. She hadn't run in two months, and he (Jerry Bailey) said it was a tough race."

Queena, which had won the Ballerina (G1) at Saratoga to give McGaughey the second of three grade 1 wins there, returned $9.40 as the third choice and completed the mile in 1:34 4/5. 

"They are two nice fillies, and we're really proud of both of them," said McGaughey of Queena and the 3-year-old Versailles Treaty. "Queena has a little trouble with hanging. When she makes the lead, she thinks it's over. 



"When Meadow Star got left, I was just concerned with the 123 pounds she was carrying. I figured from the rail, Meadow Star would try to go. When they got left and the other filly made the lead, I was worried about Screen Prospect, because she's a nice filly. Queena gives her all."



Queena is owned by Emory Alexander Hamilton, a granddaughter of the late Robert J. Kleberg Jr. of King Ranch. 

The loss by Meadow Star, coupled with Lite Light's third-place finish in the Chula Vista (G2), gave Versailles Treaty's third straight victory new meaning as she moved to challenge for the lead in her division. 



The 4-5 favorite in the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle, Versailles Treaty was reserved early under Cordero as longshot Heaven Knows Why opened six lengths on the field. She then swept up on the turn to outduel Wide Country and held off Grand Girlfriend in the final strides, hitting the wire in 1:47 2/5, just two-fifths of a second off the stakes record held by Maud Muller and equaling Desert Vixen's time in the 1973 edition. 



Grand Girlfriend, an 8-1 shot ridden by Mike Smith, finished a half-length back, while Immerse, under Julie Krone, also closed well to edge Wide Country for a share. 



"I've got to admit, I thought she could handle these fillies," said Wide Country's trainer, Robert Camac. "It was a pretty good race. I can't give her a lot of excuses—first race over the track, that's about all I can come up with. Still, I thought she would have held on for a second or third."



Following Wide Country under the wire were Maryinthemorning, Officer Lea, Slept Thru It, and Heaven Knows Why. 

"Versailles Treaty is keeping me alive," said McGaughey of the filly, which had won the Test (G1) and the Alabama (G1) at Saratoga for owner Cynthia Phipps. "I was pleased. I thought it was a good race, coming off 1 1/4 miles back to 1 1/8 miles and having to spot these fillies weight. 



"The race turned out to be kind of funny with that filly getting off to a quick lead like that—I don't think anyone really knew what was going on," said McGaughey. "She went to the horses the right way and she was good enough to hold that one off while spotting her eight pounds. I thought it was a good race."

Versailles Treaty returned $3.80 as she earned $105,840.