By Tom Frary
Leopardstown's opening mile maiden on Thursday has produced some important fillies of late and Kingman's Queen Of Hawaii could belong among them after taking the latest renewal with authority. Whether she will follow in the steps of the last three winners Opera Singer, Swelter and Caroline Street remains to be seen, but there was a lot to like about the way Philip Antonacci's half-sister to the dual Group-placed Up And Under (Lope De Vega) went about her business.
“She had a lovely run the first day in a strong maiden and we thought she would enjoy going a mile,” trainer Joseph O'Brien said of the 100-30 shot. “I have her in here next week, but it's probably unlikely that she will come back here for the [G3] Silver Flash. We could go for the [G2] Debutante, as there aren't that many options at a mile for two-year-old fillies at the moment.”
Sixth on debut in the Curragh maiden won by Ballydoyle's Composing last month, Queen Of Hawaii was more alert this time shadowing the leader Minerva (Frankel). Swamping that rival passing two out, she stayed on powerfully to score by 2 1/2 lengths with another 4 1/4 lengths back to Josh's Joy (Wootton Bassett), the newcomer named after Taylor Made's Josh Bryan.
The winner is a half-sister to the G3 Derby Trial and G3 Ballysax Stakes-placed Up And Under (Lope De Vega). The Listed-placed dam, whose yearling colt by Lope De Vega was a 325,000gns purchase by Delta Stables at Tattersalls December, is out of the demoted 1,000 Guineas winner Jacqueline Quest (Rock Of Gibraltar). Hibiscus is a full-sister to the ill-fated GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Line Of Duty and the Group 3 scorer and G1 Prix de l'Opera and G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes-placed Jackie Oh, as well as a half to Dubawi's Listed winner and Group-placed Onassis and G2 Great Voltigeur Stakes runner-up Secret State.
4th-Leopardstown, €20,000, Mdn, 7-17, 2yo, 8fT, 1:42.53, gd.
QUEEN OF HAWAII (IRE) (f, 2, Kingman {GB}–Hibiscus {Ire} {SP-Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) Sales history: €250,000 Ylg '24 GOFORY. Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $14,437. O-Philip Antonacci; B-Mrs Susan Roy & Mr Nicolas Wrigley; T-Joseph O'Brien.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
