A decision has been finalised regarding which trainer will take over the preparation of classy mare Karuta Queen with new owner John Singleton naming dual Victorian Premiership winner Peter Moody as the man now behind the former Magic Millions Classic winner.
Karuta Queen will be prepared by Victoria's Peter Moody for her final season on the track. Photo by: Steve Hart
The now four-year-old daughter of Not A Single Doubt was formerly prepared by Queanbeyan horseman Neville Layt, the battling bushman enjoying a fairytale ride with the filly originally purchased for $30,000 from the 2010 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sales.
Under Layt’s care Karuta Queen enjoyed six wins and four minor placings from 15 starts earning over $1.74 million in prize money.
She won her opening four career starts on the trot that culminated with an accomplished three length performance in the $2 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast in January of 2011.
A shock defeat two months later when she resumed with a second to You’re Canny in the Listed Black Opal Stakes (1200m) at Canberra saw the gleam fade on Karuta Queen’s record.
She failed again next start with a disappointing 10th place finish behind the now-retired superstar Sepoy in last year’s Golden Slipper Stakes in Sydney.
Since the Golden Slipper Karuta Queen has had nine starts for two wins, both black types including her Group 3 1300 Australia Stakes (1200m) success at Moonee Valley last spring, but her most recent runs have left a lot to be desired.
The one-time spruik juvenile had three runs this august but bombed out in all, her most recent effort being a ninth when beaten over 11 lengths in the Listed Maurcie McCarten Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on March 24.
Karuta Queen, who had suffered from a bone spur injury to her knee, went up for sale this May in the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale but was passed in.
Advertising mogul and prominent owner Singleton however decided to buy her, for below the $500,000 former owner Glen Williams initially rejected at the sales, with plans to use her as a broodmare at his establishment Strawberry Hills.
However Singleton has opted to race on with Karuta Queen, who has reportedly made a full recovery from her minor knee injury, for one more season hoping to add some more black type to her record and improve her stud value, with both Moody and Gai Waterhouse considered for the position of the mare’s trainer.
Moody has since been given the job and is likely to coach her for the $150,000 Group 3 Rubiton Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on February 9 before Karuta Queen is given another chance of securing a Group 1 win before retirement in the $400,000 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) back at the track a fortnight later.
