Third time lucky: Dragon Queen finally fires
The third time was the charm for Dragon Queen at Ellerslie’s Karaka Million twilight meeting yesterday, landing a career-best victory in the Group 2 Westbury Classic (1400m).
Since her purchase for $50,000 by the New Zealand Chinese Jockey Club and Paul Moroney Bloodstock at Karaka in 2019, the daughter of Sweynesse has spent much of her 18-start career in stakes grade. That includes a close fifth in the Karaka Million 2YO in 2020, followed by a sixth in last year’s Karaka Million 3YO Classic.
Dragon Queen returned to Karaka Million night for the third year in a row yesterday, and this time she came out on top.
Ridden by Taiki Yanagida, the fouryear-old settled in sixth place before dashing out of the pack as the field fanned wide across the track in the straight. In-form rival Faithful Feat came through on her inside and joined her in a head-bobbing duel to the line, but Dragon Queen edged her out by a nose in an $18.70 upset.
It was a first black-type success for Yanagida, who had recorded 14 second or third placings from his 56 previous rides in stakes races.
“Pam and the owners gave me this great opportunity and I’m so grateful,” he said. “She always hits the line strongly but sometimes gets there a bit too soon. I tried to time it right this time, and I knew I’d got there on the line.”
Dragon Queen has now won two of her 18 starts, with another eight placings including a last-start third in the Group 2 Rich Hill Mile and a third in last year’s Group 3 Sunline Vase.
For trainers Mike Moroney and Pam Gerard, yesterday’s narrow win was not only a deserved triumph for Dragon Queen, but also a welcome turnaround after stablemate Roch ‘N’ Horse came up short by the same margin against Levante in last Saturday’s Group 1 Telegraph.
“These finishes always seem to go against us lately,” Gerard said. “But this is a great result. We’ve been trying at this meeting for three years and we’ve finally done it. She’s one of my favourite mares in the stable.
“She was only a one-win horse, but she’s always run well in good races like this. She has been a bit unlucky and probably should have been Group 1-placed already.
“She’s really matured and has come back in outstanding order this season. She’s just getting better and better, and she really deserved this.
“It’s also great for Taiki, who has formed a fantastic association with this horse. He had the prospect of a good book of rides at Trentham, but he wanted to stay here and I’m so pleased it worked out.”