Queen of The Ball Wins G3 Scarborough Stakes

Tara Madgwick - Friday September 23

A two-time Group winner last season at two, quality I Am Invincible filly Queen of the Ball franked the strong form of the recent Group III ATC Silver Shadow Stakes when scoring a sizzling front running victory in the Group III MVRC Scarborough Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on Friday night.

Queen of the Ball leads all the way - image Grant Courtney

The Michael Freedman trained filly resumed from a spell in the Silver Shadow finishing fourth behind Zougotcha, In Secret and North Star Lass, with all three of those fillies coming out to win Group races at their next start.

Given that formline, Queen of the Ball always looked well placed in this assignment and was ridden a heady race by Blake Shinn, crossing quickly to the fence to take up the lead and controlling the race throughout.

She sped clear to win by more than a length over last start stakes-winner Troach taking her overall record to three wins from seven starts with prizemoney topping $420,000.

Advertisement

“She’s a really talented filly, high speed, tenacious, ran in the Slipper and trained on at three which is great to see,” said Blake Shinn.

“We owned the race from the start, used her speed and once I got control of the front I knew she’d be hard to run down.

“She has a good fighting spirit and was strong at 1200m. Who knows where she might end up, Michael (Freedman) might go to a Coolmore with her or might aim a little bit lower, but I think she is a filly of high quality.”

Queen of the Ball is a homebred for Go Bloodstock - image Grant Courtney

A homebred for Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock that was foaled and raised at Newgate Farm, Queen of the Ball is the first foal from stakes-winning Fastnet Rock mare Miss Debutante, who was also raced by Go Bloodstock and was bought as a yearling from the Kia Ora draft at Inglis Easter in 2015 for $430,000.

Miss Debutante is from imported Group II winning More Than Ready mare More than Real (USA), whose dam and grand-dam are also stakes-winners, so Queen of the Ball has a Black Type direct female lineage to be proud of.

Miss Debutante has a two year-old filly by Zoustar that was sold at Magic Millions for $620,000 to Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott/Kestrel Thoroughbreds, She has been named Platinum Jubilee and won her first barrier trial at the official trials at Randwick on Monday. Read about her here.

Miss Debutante has a yearling filly by Written Tycoon and is due to foal to Flying Artie.

Queen of the Ball is the third Australian stakes-winner of the new season for Yarraman Park’s reigning champion sire I Am Invincible, who has the favourite In Secret in the $1million Group I ATC Golden Rose on Saturday.

Advertisment

Race Result - Scarborough Stakes Gr3 1200m

Moonee Valley Track: Soft(6) Time: 1:12.16
1
Queen Of The Ball
- 3f I Am Invincible (AUS) x Miss Debutante (AUS) (Fastnet Rock (AUS))
Tnr: Michael Freedman Rdr: B Shinn 56
I Am Invincible
2
1.5
Troach
- 3f Epaulette (AUS) x Anise (AUS) (General Nediym (AUS))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: Craig Williams 56
3
3.0
English Riviera
- 3f Deep Field (AUS) x Second Time Lucky (NZ) (Any Suggestion (AUS))
Tnr: T & C McEvoy Rdr: J B Mc Donald 56
4
3.2
Lady Laguna
- 3f Overshare (AUS) x Catalina De Lago (NZ) (Encosta De Lago (AUS))
Tnr: Annabel Neasham Rdr: Jamie Kah 56
5
3.3
Bound For Home
- 3f Rubick (AUS) x Homebird (AUS) (Rothesay (AUS))
Tnr: Archie Alexander Rdr: Declan Bates 56
6
4.0
Ojai
- 3f Exceed And Excel (AUS) x Matilija (AUS) (Medaglia D'Oro (USA))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: M Zahra 56
7
6.8
Prairie Flower
- 3f Star Turn (AUS) x Leotie (AUS) (Darci Brahma (NZ))
Tnr: Henry Dwyer Rdr: Will Price 56
8
8.3
I'mlovin'ya
- 3f Capitalist (AUS) x Loveyamadly (AUS) (Bel Esprit (AUS))
Tnr: M Price & M Kent Jnr Rdr: Damian Lane 56
9
13.0
Galeka
- 3f Impending (AUS) x Military Reign (AUS) (Universal Ruler (AUS))
Tnr: J D Sadler Rdr: B Melham 56
More Reading...
Wootton Bassett 2YOs on the March
Wootton Bassett’s star Northern Hemisphere two year-old Albert Einstein has been ruled out of Royal Ascot with a sprained joint that will require a few weeks off, but the red hot sire added two more talented debut winning juvenile colts at The Curragh overnight.
Inglis Ready 2 Race Entries Open
Entries for the Inglis Ready2Race Sale – Australasia’s most progressive 2YO Sale – are now open.
Written By Filly Dominates Warwick Farm Juvenile Contest
First seen at the two-year-old trials back in September, Marc Conners’ chestnut filly Penpel (Written By) produce a quality effort at just her second racetrack appearance, racing clear at Warwick Farm to score by more than three lengths.
Second Winner For Ghaiyyath As Observer Scores By Five
Second on debut when just three parts of a length off the winner at Pakenham, the James Cummings’ trained Observer (Ghaiyyath) looked sensational as he made a mess of his rivals to score over 1400m in the Tile Importer Handicap on the Sandown Lakeside course.
A Passion That Lasts a Lifetime
A passion for pedigrees and thoroughbreds is often one that lasts a lifetime and so it has been for one of the co-breeders of Bravery, who contacted me this week following our earlier and very well read story on current 2YO star Cool Archie.
Best On Breeding
I Am Invincible and So You Think have broken clear of the pack in the race for champion sire, and both have some serious firepower in the features at Flemington and Rosehill on Saturday.
New Winner for Bivouac
Godolphin have been  enjoying a winning run with their late season juveniles and it continued at Geelong on Thursday where Bivouac gelding Loving opened his account.
Queen of the Ball Conquers in G3 Furphy Sprint
A multiple Group winner coming to Flemington on Saturday, talented I Am Invincible mare Queen of the Ball had superior form lines coming into the $200,000 Group III VRC Furphy Sprint (1100m) and showed her class to win by a length under Damien Oliver.
Third Stakes Success For Justify’s Spicy Martini
A winner of four from six, three at stakes level highlighted by the reschedule Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1350m), the Toby Edmonds & Stephen McLean trained Spicy Martini (Justify) will now head to the Group 1 Stradbroke with just 49.5kgs on her back – not bad for an $8,000 online yearling purchase!
Sires With Winners - Wednesday June 4
Here is the full list of 48 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.