Queen Of Success pulled off a 23-1 upset as she handed Niki Hill and Sea Silk their first taste of defeat in the $25,000 Breeders Crown elimination for the two-year-old pacing filly division, which closed out Friday's freshman round at The Meadowlands.
The top eight finishers from the field of 10 in the elimination move on and will be joined by Dont Fence Me In and Lyons Serenity, who each received byes into the final. The elimination winner will draw for their Breeders Crown starting spot from post positions one through five.
Driver Andy McCarthy put Queen Of Success on the lead early before nine-time winner Sea Silk (Chris Page) swept from third to first after a :27.3 opening quarter and led through middle splits of :56 and 1:23.3. Niki Hill, the 2-5 favourite with six straight wins, advanced first-up from fourth and was closing in down the stretch, but Queen Of Success launched in between from the pocket and prevailed by three-quarters of a length in a new lifetime mark of 1:50.3. Niki Hill edged out Sea Silk for the runner-up honours.
The following fillies will also advance to the final after finishing fourth through eighth: Gottthegreenlight (Brian Sears), Treacherous Dragon (Tim Tetrick), Boudoir Hanover (Todd McCarthy), Captain Cowgirl (Scott Zeron) and Galleria Hanover (Yannick Gingras).
Yes And Yes (David Miller) and Frantasy Hanover (Joe Bongiorno) were eliminated.
Queen Of Success returned $48.60 for a $2 win ticket.
Trained by Tony Alagna, the Captaintreacherous-Cashaway filly won her first four starts in the Kentucky Commonwealth Series and is now five-for-eight in her debut season with $93,330 earned for Alagna Racing LLC, Caviart Farms and Robert Leblanc.
Bred by Brittany Farms of Kentucky and Marvin Katz of Toronto, Ont., she sold for $45,000 at the 2020 Lexington Selected Sale.
"She hit a few bumps in the road, but her last start in Lexington [in the International Stallion Stakes on October 8] when she was second to Niki Hill, she showed she was coming back to what we thought she was early," commented Alagna.
He also trains Boudoir Hanover and noted the sixth-place finisher had been battling sickness, and hopes she can bounce back next week.
Here is a look at the field in post position order for next Friday's $600,000 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace:
$600,000 Breeders Crown Two-Year-Old Filly Pace
Post - Horse - Driver - Trainer
1. Gotthegreenlight - Brian Sears - Nifty Norman
2. Captain Cowgirl - Scott Zeron - Jim King Jr.
3. Galleria Hanover - Yannick Gingras - Ron Burke
4. Treacherous Dragon - Tim Tetrick - Brett Pelling
5. Queen Of Success - Andy McCarthy - Tony Alagna
6. Dont Fence Me In - Dexter Dunn - Tony Alagna
7. Niki Hill - Dexter Dunn - Chris Ryder
8. Lyons Serenity - Tim Tetrick - Jim King Jr.
9. Boudoir Hanover - Todd McCarthy - Tony Alagna
10. Sea Silk - Chris Page - Ron Burke
AE1. Yes And Yes - David Miller - Ron Burke
AE2. Frantasy Hanover - Joe Bongiorno - Ron Burke
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