Meaningful win for Bill Mott with Crown Queen

Meaningful win for Bill Mott with Crown Queen: Crown Queen won the Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup presented by Lane’s End at Keeneland on Saturday, October 11, 2014 with jockey John Velazquez for trainer Bill Mott. The victory was Crown Queen’s fourth consecutive win and gave John Velazquez his fourth G1 win during Keeneland’s Fall Meet.

Trainer Bill Mott reported after the 2014 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, “We ran her a couple of times as a 2-year-old, and (owner) Mr. (Ben) Leon wanted to give her some time over the winter to mature and grow up a little bit. It’s worked out perfectly. He made a good call, and she’s undefeated this season and now she’s a Grade 1 stakes winner. It was a very special win for me since I trained her mother (Delta Princess) and her grandmother (Lyphard’s Delta) and a lot of the family (including her multiple champion half-sister, Royal Delta). It’s a very meaningful win for me.”

Bill Mott added that he isn’t quite sure what the next step will be for Crown Queen saying, “That goes to the drawing board. We’ve gotta talk about that.”

Jockey John Velazquez beamed after the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge win saying, “It was perfect. I imagined that she was going to be close right from the gate, but when she didn’t break very good it was a blessing in disguise because I had to get her nice and relaxed going into that first turn. I dropped in and saved some ground and by the time we got to the backstretch I just put her in the clear and let her get her momentum going. From then on, it was all her. She put in a good fight down the lane as well.”

Second place finisher Ball Dancing looked to be the strong leader in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup but Crown Queen prevailed on the Keeneland turf. The duo finished the 1 1/8 miles “soft turf” race in 1:49.98 and won by ¾ of a length. Sistas Stroll and Personal Diary tied for third place.

Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes 2014 Results & Payouts
8 Crown Queen $7.20 to Win/$4.20 to Place/$2.60 to Show
6 Ball Dancing $4.00 to Place/$2.60 to Show
1 Sistas Stroll $2.60 to Show
5 Personal Diary $2.60 to Show
2 Minorette
7 Sea Queen
3 Speed Seeker