CYPRESS, Calif. (Dec. 8, 2019) – California-bred Queen Bee to You, last in the early going, wore down the field to win Sunday’s $100,000 Grade III Bayakoa Stakes for fillies and mares at Los Alamitos.
Fresh off a blowout victory in the Betty Grable at seven furlongs Nov. 17 at Del Mar, Queen Bee to You returned to the track where she defeated males in the one-mile Bertrando Stakes on June 29.
“There was a little hesitation running her back (three weeks after her win in the Betty Grable at Del Mar), but she came out of the race so well and we worked her back and she went so spectacularly that we said we have to go for it,” said trainer Andrew Lerner. “The plan wasn’t to take her back that far, but she kind of missed the break a little bit. I could see she was traveling smoothly and (jockey) Ruben (Fuentes) always does a fantastic job with her. They’ve done a great job with this track.’’
Bred by Tommy Town Thoroughbreds and owned by Christopher St. Hilaire and Adam Vali, the 5-year-old Queen Bee to You, who by Old Topper, out of the Touch Gold mare Silk Queen, has won seven of 32 and earned $538,770. The California-bred has been first or second in five of seven starts at Los Alamitos.
“She is very sharp right now,” said Fuentes. “She settled early and relaxed perfectly and I knew she was loaded when I asked her for run.’’
Queen Bee to You ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.21 and won by 3 ½ lengths at odds of 5-2 in a field of six.