Princess La Quinta rises to occasion in Arlington Matron

Al Moorhouse and James M. Gulick’s Princess La Quinta rose to the occasion in Saturday’s 81st running of the Grade III $100,000 Arlington Matron to capture her first graded-stakes win. Under the confident handling of C. H. Marquez, Jr., Princess La Quinta broke sharply before reining back to fourth three lengths behind Patricia’s Hope’s Daddy’s Boo as the Larry Rivelli trainee set the pace under jockey Jose Valdivia, Jr. Daddy’s Boo opened up a three-length lead on the field midway through the 1 1/8-miles event on the main track but became the target for Princess La Quinta entering the turn as Marquez angled his mount outside of horses and closed in on the leader, overtaking Daddy’s Boo in the last furlong to nab a one-length victory in a final time of 1:49.69. The win was also the first career graded-stakes victory for trainer and co-owner James Gulick.

“We hoped that she would win a stake for us someday and it never dawned on me that she would win a graded stake, and it never occurred to me that she would win here at Arlington, which is a place I love so much,” said Gulick. “I couldn’t be happier.”

“I have to give a shout-out to my partner Al Moorehouse that owns her, he’s a great guy,” continued Gulick. “He’s been with me all the way, and C. H. couldn’t have rode a better race – he has a real way with horses.”

“First of all, I want to say thank you to Mr. Gulick and Mr. Moorhouse for giving me the opportunity to ride her again,” said Marquez. “The last time I rode her she kind of stumbled a little bit, and I didn’t rush her and she ran super, so today I knew they were gonna send the seven horse and the eight, they looked like the speed and I was just going to track them as much as I could. It worked out perfect, I tucked into the rail on the first turn and saved ground on the backside, got comfortable and when I said ‘ready’, I said let’s just creep up little by little and she grinded home.”

Hat Creek Racing’s Con Te Partiro was sent to post as the betting favorite for trainer Wesley Ward. Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Con Te Partiro took well-back early and maintained a steady pace through the opening half before gaining ground on the turn for home, but had to settle for third 2¾ lengths behind Daddy’s Boo.

“We were just second-best today,” said Valdivia after the race.

“They can only go as fast as they want to go,” said Nakatani about his trip. “I was trying to keep her in the race, but that’s not her style.”

Princess La Quinta, a 4-year-old filly by Quality Road, won for the fourth time in 15 lifetime starts and earned $58,800 to boost her career earnings to $148,748. She returned $8.80, $3.60 and $2.40. Daddy’s Boo paid $3.40 and $2.10, while Con Te Partiro returned $2.20.

Felt in Pocket, Babybluesbdancing, Kyllachy Queen (IRE), and Moonlit Garden completed the running order. Apologynotaccepted was scratched.