Had any casual bystander been standing alongside Saratoga Race Course's Oklahoma Training Track just before 11 a.m. ET Aug. 14, they may have thought they were watching racing royalty.
It would have appeared that the red carpet had just been rolled out for a very special horse as the tractors completed their rounds, freshening the course with harrows, just for a single horse to come out and take one lap around the track and disappear. Had they asked around, their suspicion would have seemed to be confirmed when they learned the horse's name was Queen Azteca.
In reality, that special treatment was not because of royal status, but instead a result of the quarantine in place for a filly who has traveled across the globe to have an opportunity at becoming racing royalty with a win in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) Aug. 16.
Having last raced in the Swedish Derby and trained by Niels Petersen in Norway, Queen Azteca hails from an area of the world without export protocols with the United States. Due to that, she remains isolated at the U.S. Department of Agriculture barn during the day and visits the track after the remainder of the horse population has completed their training.
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Despite those restrictions, the Sharp Azteca filly bred in Kentucky by Three Chimneys Farm has adjusted well since arriving Aug. 8 as she prepares for her first American start in the colors of Team Valor International. On Aug. 13, she got a chance to stretch her legs a little bit more and received an official recording for a three-furlong breeze in :39.01.
"She's had a long season, she's well fit," Petersen said. "We just wanted to stretch her legs and just have a good feeling and come to the race fresh. Just a nice little extension of her canter and let her go forward a little bit. She looked good."
The Alabama will also be the first starter in the United States for the Danish trainer, who has been impressed by what he has seen so far at Saratoga, comparing the backstretch to a small village. Petersen said it can be a struggle to find workers in Europe and, although that is no easy task in America either, the amount of people working on the backstretch and the level of care they were giving to the horses had drawn his appreciation since arriving himself Aug. 12.
"Horses have a good life here," Petersen said of Saratoga. "I do think horses improve with the attention they get. They have to be able to gallop, but give them enough attention and treat them like stars, you'll get the best out of them. I see that here. It's lovely to go around and see all the different barns. It's great to see."
Bringing some more familiarity to American racing for the team is Queen Azteca's morning rider, Carlos Toro. A native of Chile, Toro lived in New York before moving to England for seven years, eventually ending up in Norway about five years ago.
"I'm familiar with everywhere we've been going, I guess that's why the boss sends me," Toro joked. "To go on and do stuff like this, I'm proud of myself to get another new experience. It makes you feel very good with yourself, like you've done a good job."
Having ridden Queen Azteca as a 2-year-old when she first arrived in the barn, Toro said he's seen a big mental change in the filly as she's learned to be more relaxed rather than always trying to be the boss. She's adjusted to all the new experiences of American racing so far with ease, taking to the pony and shrugging off her paddock visit like it was no big deal.
"She looks like she's been here forever," Toro said. "She's so sweet. She's very calm, a very nice ride, does everything on her own."
From The Swedish Derby to the Alabama
It's not often that a horse travels from Scandinavia to the U.S. to race in a big spot like the Alabama. It is even rarer that the trainer remains the same. Once the race is over, Queen Azteca will exit Petersen's care and be transported in a sealed van to Margaux Farm near Midway, Ky., to receive the tests for contagious equine metritis needed to end her quarantine. She will then remain in the U.S. with trainer Rodolphe Brisset.
However, Petersen is soaking in the experience and thankful for Team Valor giving him the opportunity to train the filly for the Alabama.
"It's nice to be here. I must admit, it's a whole different world," Petersen said. "It's a great experience. I'm really happy that they gave me the chance to take her out here and train here. I'm enjoying this.
"It makes a little bit of a difference and brings a lot of attention with it (from Scandinavia). I do think people have been engaged in it. Her success in Dubai, the win in the (UAE) Oaks, it's been a good ride."
Making her first eight starts for Glaesner Racing, Queen Azteca had been on Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin's radar since her victory in the UAE Oaks (G3) in Dubai this winter. Once making the purchase ahead of the July 13 Swedish Derby, Irwin asked Petersen if he would stay on and train the filly for the Alabama. Petersen said he was game.
"I didn't know him, but I know of him," Irwin said on the Aug. 4 episode of the BloodHorse Monday podcast. "He's a very good trainer; goes to Dubai every year and does well."
Petersen didn't grow up expecting to be training horses. His father had a share in a few horses with a trainer where his sister was an apprentice, but he chose to focus more on his education. That all changed when he exited his time in the army and was offered a job for a big owner in Germany.
"I liked riding good enough, but it was never for me," Petersen said. "I tried to be serious and go to high school and on to university. I have to serve my time in the army and then start earning money. It's a little hard to go back and go to school afterward."
Accepting the offer and moving to Baden Baden, Petersen began to observe the trainers on the track and realized it was a profession in which he could be successful.
"Being down there and seeing the trainers, I thought I could be a good trainer," he said. "That was my bold statement back in the day."
At the turn of the century, Petersen began training in Norway with a stable of four horses. Stabled just outside of Oslo, he now trains about 60 horses. Primarily racing on the Scandinavian circuit, he also frequents Dubai, where Queen Azteca wintered.
In January, she won the Cocoa Beach Stakes by eight lengths at Meydan Racecourse before getting up in time to win the UAE Oaks (G3) by three-quarters of a length in February. The victory earned her qualifying points to one of America's feature races for sophomore fillies: the Kentucky Oaks (G1). That was when Irwin's interest was first piqued.
"I thought that would be a good filly to bring over and run in the Kentucky Oaks," Irwin said. "They were too high on the price, so I just forgot it."
The filly then ran fifth in the UAE Derby (G2) against males and returned home for the spring. Irwin had not remained focused on the filly, but in June, the agent of the owners reached out again after she had won a 1 3/8-mile prep race for the Swedish Derby at Jägersro Galopp in Sweden. This time, the owners were more realistic about the price.
"I liked the way she looked. I liked the fact she was bred by Three Chimneys, that she was a Kentucky-bred," Irwin said. "She is a knockout. I encourage people to look that way. She's a beautiful animal."
Team Valor agreed to the purchase ahead of the 1 1/2-mile Swedish Derby, but allowed Glaesner Racing to keep the purse. Queen Azteca finished second, just 1 3/4 lengths back. Although too late for his original Kentucky Oaks plan, Irwin still wanted to bring the filly to America and settled on the Alabama.
The Challenge Ahead
Irwin acknowledged that winning the Alabama would be no easy task, given the presence of two grade 1 winners in Good Cheer and La Cara, as well as last year's Canadian champion 2-year-old filly, Nitrogen.
"We're hoping to hit the board," Irwin said. "We're not going into the race with any fantasies like we're going to win it, but mile and a quarter for her will help."
Queen Azteca is the lone filly in the field to race beyond 1 1/8 miles, having done so four times, including two starts beyond the Alabama's 1 1/4 miles. Her running style of settling back off the pace and getting into a rhythm could help her in the late stages.
"She likes a high pace, and we will be out the back," Petersen said of her running style. "We know she stays the distance; she will be picking up at the end. It just depends how far behind we are."
"It's like riding a bicycle. Eventually, if the race is long enough, she'll get up there," Irwin said. "That's a tough mile and a quarter; that's a deep track at Saratoga. It's more like 11, 11 1/2 furlongs in terms of energy."
