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Twirling Queen makes it four in a row in $150K Coronation Cup

by Mary Eddy

GU Racing Stable’s Twirling Queen extended her win streak to four in a row for trainer Jose D’Angelo in Friday’s Listed $150,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Expertly piloted to victory by familiar rider Luis Saez, Twirling Queen notched her third consecutive stakes triumph on the heels of determined victories in the five-furlong Melody of Colors over the Tapeta in March at Gulfstream Park and the Mamzelle going the Coronation Cup distance on turf last out on May 11 at Churchill Downs. Her win streak marks a perfect 4-for-4 record since moving to the D’Angelo barn in February.

Twirling Queen broke well from post 4 to race in the middle of the tightly-bunched field of seven through the first 100 yards before the rail-skimming Toupie emerged on top. However, the Irad Ortiz, Jr.-piloted favorite Ever So Sweet, who stumbled at the break, was hard sent from post 5 to grab the lead and marked the opening quarter-mile in 21.65 seconds over the firm footing.

“She broke from there pretty fast. I feel like she wanted to take the lead, but I knew the speed was outside,” Saez explained. “Everything came like the plan - we sat behind and let the speed go. We sit behind and she relaxed really well. When we came to the top of the stretch, she was pretty loaded.”

A free-wheeling Ever So Sweet had a one-length advantage over Toupie approaching the turn as Saez coaxed along Twirling Queen in the two-path in third outside of In Our Time. Jorge Ruiz angled Toupie around the pacesetter in the turn to take dead aim at the lead as Twirling Queen did the same a path wider and In Our Time attempted to sneak up an open rail.

Ever So Sweet clung to a precarious lead as the field straightened for home, but was soon overtaken by an all-out Toupie with Twirling Queen bearing down on her outside after the half-mile in 44.68. The late-running Kairyu came flying down the center of the course to find her best stride in the final sixteenth under Jose Ortiz, but Twirling Queen got the jump and edged clear to post the three-quarter-length score over her oncoming rival in a final time of 1:01.93.

Kairyu held place by three-quarter lengths over the closing Cloudwalker with Toupie clinging onto fourth by a head over Dancing Duchess. In Our Time and Ever So Sweet completed the order of finish.

Main track-only entrants Value Area, Do Gooder and Golden Degree were scratched, along with Pipsy, Baraye and Star of Mystery. The latter two are entered in Sunday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Quick Call presented by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation here, with Baraye entered for the main track-only.

Twirling Queen captured a February optional claiming tilt at Gulfstream in her first outing for D’Angelo, and followed with her Melody of Colors win after outlasting the race’s heavy favorite El Terreno in a pace duel. Twirling Queen went on to show versatility in winning the Mamzelle with a stalk-and-pounce trip engineered by Francisco Arrieta last out.

“After she won first time for me in the allowance and she [was to] run in the stakes at Gulfstream, I said to Luis, ‘Go to the lead no matter what. You have enough horse to go wire-to-wire,’” D’Angelo recalled. “This race had El Terreno, the filly from Christophe Clement, who was very fast. I saw she could not get the lead and she was second and she got the win. So, when we went to Kentucky, I said to Arrieta, ‘Now I learned from her, that the running style is not a problem for her. Just have a good start, sit and make her move at the top of the stretch because she knows where is the finish line.’”

While prominent tactics have worked well for Twirling Queen, D’Angelo said he knew it would be dangerous to challenge Ever So Sweet if she broke superior in the Coronation Cup.

“We are inside and the fastest horse is outside, so I said to Luis, ‘have a good start and you have to see the start because if you break better then Irad probably we get in trouble and we have to go fighting and I wouldn’t like that,’” D’Angelo explained. “So, try to have a good start, sit to the turn and make [your way] by them. That’s what we did and it worked perfect today.”

D’Angelo added Twirling Queen will likely make her next start in the Spa’s 5 1/2-furlong $150,000 Galway on August 10 as part of a path to the Breeders’ Cup this fall at Del Mar.

“Our plan is to try to go to the Galway next month if she’s good and later go to Kentucky Downs and finally the Breeders’ Cup,” D’Angelo said.

Bred in Kentucky by Pursuit of Success, Twirling Queen was a $15,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages Sale and is out of the multiple stakes-winning Kantharos mare Adventurous Lady. She banked $82,500 in victory while returning $9.40 on a $2 win ticket.

Ortiz, aboard the Cherie DeVaux-trained Kairyu, said a tight stretch run with third-place Cloudwalker made for a difficult finish.

“I had a good trip. She broke good. She put me into a good position following Luis,” Ortiz said. “I was very happy in the turn. It was a little complicated to put her in the clear with the horse outside of me, but we fought through, and she gave me a good kick. She ran good and she came home running. I wish the trip was a little bit cleaner from the quarter-pole to the eighth-pole, but it is what it is.”

Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga with a 12-race card, featuring the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana in Race 10, the Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso in Race 2, and the Grade 3, $175,000 Sanford in Race 11. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live will present live coverage and analysis of the Saratoga Race Course summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

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