Royal Ascot Queen Mary Stakes | Lennilu | Gulfstream Park winner taking on top European Juveniles

NEWMARKET, UK - Unbeaten sprinter, Lennilu (USA), arrived in Newmarket on June 12th at 1.30am BST ahead of the five-furlong Queen Mary Stakes (G2) at Britain’s prestigious Royal Ascot meeting on Wednesday, June 18.

The Patrick Biancone-trained 2-year-old filly earned an automatic entry to to the prestigious meeting in the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes at Gulfstream Park, May 10, which she won by a length.

She is temporarily stabled at Charlie Fellowes’ Bedford Lodge Stables in Newmarket, which recently sent out the second in the French 1,000 Guineas, Shes Perfect. The previous inhabitant was the famous Luca Cumani, a good friend of Biancone’s.

Her trainer, Patrick Biancone, said: “She won her maiden easily. We then decided to train her hopefully for the Queen Mary and we won the prep race that was sponsored by Gulfstream. She won that easily too. We were expecting her to run well there, but expecting it is one thing, doing it is another.

“She travelled very well. She walking around well now, she slept really well. We knew she’d travel well because when she ran in Keeneland [on her debut] she had to go seventeen hours there and seventeen more to come back and she took it very well.

“She’s not an anxious horse, she’s very relaxed. The handler told me that even when she stopped in Amsterdam, she laid down, slept.

“The plane is nine hours, that is steady – it’s not tiring. You have a lot of waiting at customs in the States, Amsterdam and Dover but it’s not on the road so it’s not tiring either.”

Lennilu collected a $25,000 travel stipend and a berth into one of six stakes of juveniles at the Royal meeting (June 17-21) when winning at Gulfstream Park.

The $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile Fillies Stakes is one of only two Royal Ascot qualifiers staged for juveniles in North America, along with the $100,000 Royal Palm Juvenile which is also run at the Hallendale Beach track.

Biancone said: “The $25,000 travel voucher is immense, especially for the owners who pay the bills! But I wish more places did it. It doesn’t cover the whole cost because it’s very expensive to ship the horses over here, but it’s such a good incentive.”

The daughter of Leinster (USA), owned by Amy Dunne, Caitlin Dunne, Brenda Miley, Jean Wilkinson, Hoffman Family Racing LLC, Tranquility Lake Farm LLC, Maury Harrington and Christopher Harrington, Lennilu is second in the betting at 7-1 to take on hot favourite Zelaina.

Her connections are all coming to the UK with friends and family.

Biancone said: “Ascot is a special place for every trainer in the world, especially the Royal meeting. I’ve been lucky in my life to have good horses and she’s one of them. We’re very happy.

“We have 26 people coming to watch the filly between the owner’s and their people. We have a dinner on Tuesday night with 30 people coming. I reckon there’ll be celebrations either way.”

Of the decision to have her stabled at the historic Bedford Lodge Stables, he said: “Newmarket is like Chantilly. It’s the meca of English racing. My friend Luca Cumani was here, the stables are beautiful and the people are very nice.”

Thus far, Lennilu is settling into her new surroundings well.

Biancone said: “So far so good. This morning we were supposed to bring her out at seven or eight o’clock but she decided to sleep at that time. We delayed to nine. She’s walking now. Today is a relaxing day and tomorrow she’ll go back to the track. She might have a little blow up on Monday but we’ll play it by ear and see how she’s doing. I’m not sure yet which gallop we’ll use.”


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