QUEEN OF THE MUD COMES WEST AND SCORES AS THE FAVORITE IN $80,000 SWINGTIME STAKES FOR FILLIES AND MARES AT A MILE ON TURF MONDAY AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (Oct. 14, 2024)—It was a successful trip west for Queen of the Mud. Sent off the 3-2 favorite in Monday’s $80,000 Swingtime Stakes at Santa Anita, Queen of the Mud slipped through on the rail entering the stretch and surged past rivals under Juan Hernandez to score by 1 ¼ lengths.

Trained by Graham Motion, Queen of the Mud shipped to Santa Anita from Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland seeking her first stakes win in the Swingtime, a one-mile turf event for fillies and mares who have never won a stakes other than statebred. She had never raced beyond six furlongs in seven previous starts.

Queen of the Mud shipped in following three straight runner-up finishes in stakes sprinting on turf and synthetic including the Sensible Lady Turf Dash most recently on Sept. 14 at Laurel Park.

“Graham had been wanting to stretch her out from her last run at Laurel, so this seemed like a great spot for her,” said Alice Clapham, Motion’s assistant. “We shipped in last Saturday and she has just done everything right.”

Queen of the Mud was followed across the wire by Yerwanthere (10-1) with 45-1 longshot Lakota Spirit finishing another 1 ¼ lengths back in third. The winning time was 1:35.45.

While Queen of the Mud broke in front in the Swingtime, she was soon taken back off the pace and saved ground along the rail.

“I broke in front of everyone, and I was thinking in my mind just to let her go because she broke really good, really sharp” Hernandez said. “But it looked like when she felt herself out in front that she didn’t want to go and was waiting for company. I saw a couple of horses outside so I just let them go and I kept tracking them.”

Ankyrah, an 86-1 longshot with Tiago Pereira aboard, proceeded to set fractions of 22.80, 47.79 and 1:12.20 for six furlongs.

“She settled nicely behind horses,” Hernandez said of the winner. “When I turned for home, I was near the rail and we got lucky. This filly is really brave because as soon as the rail opened, she came through.”

A 4-year-old Kodiac filly bred in Ireland, Queen of the Mud paid $5.00, $3.20 and $2.60. Yerwanthere, ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Patrick Gallagher, returned $7.60 and $5.20. Lakota Spirit, with Armando Ayuso up for trainer Phil D’Amato, paid $14.00

Queen of the Mud is owned by Siena Farm, The Elkstone Group, Peter Deutsch and Michael E. Kisber. She improved to 8: 3-3-1 with $212,599 in earnings.