Hello Queen Impresses Again
In just over 10 weeks, Hello Queen has gone from unrated to a duel winner emulating her mother. The daughter of Acclamation had not seen the track during the turf season but has quickly made up for that lost time on the artificial surface. Winning for the second time, Hello Queen took the 6f Huge Daily Boosts Only At BetUK Novice Stakes at Newcastle.
Having got off the mark at the second attempt, Hello Queen had shown improvement for experience and a step up to 6f. She would need to run again in Novice company before gaining a handicap mark and planning for the turf season. This meant that she would be required to carry a penalty due to this win. Obviously this would make the assignment tougher so she would need to take another step forward when lining up against 9 rivals.
Money had come for the talking horse, Alpha Zulu who would be sent off 4-6 on debut. There would only be 4 runners who would be in single figure odds and Hello Queen was relatively ignored in the market. Shane Gray has ridden the filly on all of her starts, maintaining the partnership for the third time.
Prominent from the off, Hello Queen took a little bit of a tug early on. She was closely matched by another keen sort as they went to the fore. After the first furlong, Shane took one the lead and. headed the field towards the centre of the track. The odds on favourite tracked the filly throughout the early stages.
Hello Queen settled into her stride and travelled well through the first half of the race. Having gone a good clip in front, Hello Queen had her rivals stretching early in the race. The fav stalked her every move and made up ground as they approached the final couple of furlongs. Shane was the last to move but shook up his filly passing the 2f marker.
Holding the lead, Hello Queen pulled away from the rest as the favourite came along to challenge for the win. Shane had not asked for everything until they passed the 1f marker. Once he did, the filly responded and quickened up, stealing a march of her rival. The margin grew to 1/2 length and Hello Queen gamely galloped out to the line, keeping on the secure the win.
It was an impressive win as Hello Queen was having to carry a penalty and made virtually all of the running. She traveled lovely throughout the contest and when asked, quickened up to put the race to bed. This was her third run on the AW which means she is eligible for the finals day. The 3yo sprints offers a good prize pot and she may take on that before the start of the turf season.