Maybe there's a word that best fits San Lorenzo Queen.

Maybe there's a word that best fits San Lorenzo Queen.  

"Lucky?" 

"Competitive?"

Neither quite captures her.

Maybe the best word is "natural."

It certainly described her winning dash in trials for the June 3, $462,000 Sam Houston Futurity.

"She looked like a natural in that race," said Jesus Marquez, who trains for his nephew, owner Rogelio Marquez.

"We expected a lot from her, and she came through" with the fastest qualifying time. 

Had the 2-year-old filly flopped, everyone might have understood. It was her first race. Weather was bad. Sam Houston Race Park's dirt surface was sloppy. 

"It wasn't like I knew she would do well," Marquez said. "But I certainly sensed that. She has an easy temperament. When you'd  go to the stables, she was always settled. 

"You can expect any horse to get a little hyped up when she goes on the track for a first race. Not her."

Workouts also revealed her focused attitude.

"I like to gallop horses," he said. "When I'd gallop her with maybe two other horses, it was always the same. If other horses got a little ahead, she would quickly catch up or go ahead of them. That showed me her will to win."

One other surprise was the filly's minimal practice from the starting gate. 

"Working with babies (2-year-olds), I don't believe in much gate work," he said. "You take them into the gate too many times, and you sense a 'Here-we-go-again attitude' in them."

Marquez trains more than 20 horses for his nephew. They could have a gem in San Lorenzo Queen.

"She ran a fine race," he said. "We're happy about that. But we won't get ahead of ourselves. She has run only once.

"Any talk about entering the All-American Futurity is a little early."

Ruidoso Downs' All-American will be run on Labor Day for an estimated $3 million purse.

"Let's see how she does in the June 3 race," he said. "If that one goes well, we can talk."

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