Ask Queenie receives royal treatment

Suffolk Downs saluted Ask Queenie, one of the most decorated Massachusetts-bred thoroughbreds of all time, with a special retirement ceremony on Saturday, October 30.

Ask Queenie, who was adorned in pink and purple beads to represent the silks of her owner Laurine Barreira, was paraded in the paddock before making her way to the winner’s circle, where her connections were presented with a framed photo montage of their champion racemare. Appropriately, at the conclusion of the ceremony, a tiara with the words “Officially Retired” was placed on the head of the “Queen of the Mass-Breds.”

Ask Queenie’s adoring fans were able to share in the celebration, as they were treated to a cake, which was also decorated in pink and purple. Souvenir photos commemorating the occasion were given out at the celebration.

The nine-year-old daughter of Key Contender out of Time to Ask won 27 of her 63 starts, amassing a whopping $780,365 in career earnings, more than any other Mass-bred in history. She hit the board in 56 of her 63 starts, posting a career record of 27 wins, 15 seconds and 14 third-place finishes.

Ask Queenie’s success is attributable to three generations of the Lockhart family, which has maintained a presence on the New England racing scene for decades. Ask Queenie was bred by Barreira’s grandfather Lloyd Lockhart and trained by her mother Lori Lockhart.

Ask Queenie’s most successful campaign was her four-year-old season (2005) for which she was voted winner of the prestigious James B. Moseley Award as New England’s Horse of the Year by the New England Turf Writers’ Association. She also earned top turf female and top New England-bred honors that year. She garnered top New England-bred honors again in 2006, 2007 and 2009. She received a Special Achievement Award from the NETWA at age three, hinting toward the bright future that lied ahead.

Ask Queenie competed in 32 Mass-bred stakes races, winning 20 of them and hitting the board in 11 of the remaining 12 (seven seconds, four thirds). Of her 20 state-bred stakes wins, seven of them were against males. She is a five-time winner of the Isadorable Stakes, a four-time winner of the Thomas Moran Stakes and a three-time winner of both the First Episode and Sunset Gun Stakes.

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