Scott Ecstatic About Speed Seeker
Sometimes wishes do come true, and for trainer Joan Scott one did early this week when she was informed Speed Seeker had been invited to run in Saturday’s $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End (G1) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.
“I am so excited. We came here hoping to get in,” Scott said of Speed Seeker, winner of the Ontario Colleen (G3) in her most recent start. “If she had not been invited, we were looking at the (Pin Oak) Valley View (G3 on Oct. 17).”
Owned by the partnership of Robert Johnson, Frank Coniglio, Richard Rendina and Frank Ferrogine, the $11,000 purchase did not making her racing debut until this June.
“She had problems with her shins,” Scott said. “I got her late last fall and we fought the shins. We sent her home, got her pin-fired and I got her back in April.”
When Speed Seeker got to the races, she made an immediate impact by winning a mile turf event at Woodbine by 7¾ lengths. From there, Scott took her to Saratoga for a shot in the Lake George (G2) in which she finished fifth, beaten 2¼ lengths.
A month later, she returned to her winning ways in the Ontario Colleen despite an adventuresome trip.
“She got caught up in traffic right out of the gate and threw her head up,” Scott said. “I was worried and thought it was all over five steps out of the gate. She wound up winning by 4¾ lengths; it was a fantastic race.”
James Graham will have the mount Saturday on Speed Seeker, who worked five furlongs in 1:01 on the main track Friday as her final tuneup for the QE II.
“She is going the right way coming into this,” said Scott, who has a Grade 1 victory at Keeneland thanks to Dr. Zic in the 2010 Vinery Madison.
Source: Keeneland