The Queen returns with blistering win

The Queen is back at the head of the table and like her divine harness racing stablemate is set for big things for Brent Lilley’s powerful trotting stable.

Much loved Queen Elida (Love You) produced her first victory of the year in handsomely winning the Aldebaran Park La Coocaracha Trotters Free For All, just a week after Aldebaran Zeus scored in the Group 1 $100,000 Hammerhead Mile at Menangle.

“Zeus was great and just a big relief to have Elida back on track as well,” Lilley said.

The trainer’s affection for the pair was “a dead heat”, but Queen Elida made sure she was again prominent in the conversation with tonight’s commanding win at Melton.

Reinsman Chris Alford drove a patient race in the La Coocaracha Trotters Free For All, confident Queen Elida would be able to bridge the gap to leader Keayang Livana when called upon, and so it would prove.

“(The Inter Dominion) seemed to toughen her up a bit, we’ve known she’s always got the speed but now I think she can sustain it for so much longer,” Alford said.

“She could have gone to the front at probably the 600 if I wanted to but she has that little tendency to knock off when I hit the front, so I was just happy when Jason (Lee) started chasing (Keayang Livana) up down the back, it was beaten and I didn’t want to go to the front too early. It was a nice and cosy run for her first up.”

“Nice and cosy” was an apt description after Queen Elida showed her customary speed to clear out for a seven-metre win from an impressive Electrojet, while Sleepee ran on well to claim third and bank more important points in the Kerryn Manning Trotting Mares Triple Crown.

For the winner, it was also a strong sign that she could return to the form that had her favourite for December’s SENTrack Inter Dominion, in which she ultimately ran a bold third in the final.

“Things hadn’t gone good for her from the Inter Dominion to the (Great) Southern Star,” Lilley said. “She had a few issues and things, just great to see her back to what we know she can do.

“We were confident she was getting back on track and back to where she needed to be. We knew tonight she was in desperate need for the race, so it probably worked in our favour that they didn’t go that hard, but she rounded them up.

“She showed that speed that we know she’s got. Looking forward to the $75,000 good mares race in two weeks’ time.”

The Queen was in a class of her own, winning the second leg of the Kerryn Manning Trotting Mares Triple Crown at Melton.
For Brent Lilley and Chris Alford, Queen Elida recorded her first win this year in the Aldebaran Park La Coocaracha Trotters FFA. pic.twitter.com/G8LdIuXl4d

— The Trots (@TheTrotsComAu) March 11, 2023

That is the Aldebaran Park Sumthingaboutmaori Trotters Free For All, a Group 1 for trotting mares and the final leg of the triple crown.

Lilley said she’d follow that with a trip to Menangle and then be geared towards this year’s Inter Dominion at Albion Park, while Aldebaran Zeus will be set on a very different path.

“We are probably going to take him to New Zealand.” Lilley said. “The last race over there is the Rowe Cup but the first race at Cambridge is a $50,000 over the mile, so with Bolt For Brilliance on the sideline and Sundees Son recently retired, obviously Muscle Mountain is the bigger marker over there, but we are not going to beat him sitting at home in our box.”

KERRYN MANNING MARES TRIPLE CROWN LEADERBOARD: Sleepee 11, Queen Of Elida 8, Keayang Livana 7, Electrojet 5, Hopeful Beauty 3, Thebestbourbon 2, Majestic Chick, Aldebaran Keepa 1.

WATCH: Brent Lilley catches up with Shannon O’Sullivan after Queen Elida’s win

WATCH: Kerryn Manning talks to Ryan Phelan about La Coocaracha

For complete race results, click here.

by Michael Howard, for Harness Racing Victoria