Eye injury contributed to Questing’s pulling up from the Ladies’ Classic
The 3-year-old filly, Questing, owned by Godolphin Racing was found to have incurred an eye injury in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, in which she showed no intention of running, and was pulled up by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., and the duo never completed the race.
As of the injury, no one knows how she got it, because according to Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford, the Kentucky bred daughter of Hard Spun went into the gates just fine.
"When she got back to the barn that evening, her eye was swollen shut," Simon Crisford said. "Fortunately, it was fine the following morning. We're not sure what happened, but she seemed fine going to the post, so you would have to assume something happened in the starting gate. Perhaps she banged herself or got hit with something as soon as the gates opened.
"It's really a shame, because the race would have set up perfectly for her, with her speed and the way the track was playing, favoring speed. She was coming up to the race in fantastic shape."
With Questing out of the picture, Royal Delta, the main contender to take the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, successfully landed the 1 1/8 mile event for the second time in two consecutive years with the winning time of 1 minute and 48.80 seconds.
Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, Questing was sent as the 8 to 1 pick to win the Ladies’ Classic, on the back of victories in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga over 1 1/8 miles, and in her next start in the 1 ¼ miles Grade 1 Alabama Stakes also at Saratoga.
In her penultimate starts, leading up to the Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita Park, Questing would have gone on to post her fourth victory in a row in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes, if it hadn’t been for My Miss Aurelia, who narrowly defeated Questing over a tiring track at Parx Racing.
The British-bred Questing made her first start on American soil in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and since then she has raced in the North American circuit.
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