Queen’s Martini Breaks Through in Dig a Diamond by a Nose

Queen’s Martini did more than win the $200,000 Dig a Diamond at Oaklawn Park. She turned her first career stakes try and her first trip around two turns into a nose decision over Pronghorn, a finish that marked her as more than an allowance horse with a lucky setup.

Ridden by David Cabrera, Queen’s Martini covered one mile on a fast track in 1:37.21 and paid $19.20, $7.20 and $3.80 as an 8-1 outsider. Pronghorn, making her own stakes debut, returned $4.80 and $2.80, while Standoutsensation, the 6-5 favorite, finished third, 4 1/4 lengths back after losing ground to the top pair. The race was tight enough that the winning move came only at the end, when Queen’s Martini grabbed the lead on the second turn and held it just long enough to resist the last surge.

That mattered because the Dig a Diamond was not simply a black-type race against a weak field. Oaklawn said six of the seven starters were stepping up from the allowance ranks, and Queen’s Martini was doing the same while stretching out around two turns for the first time. She had already gone a mile twice around one turn at Gulfstream Park in 2024, but this was a different test: more ground, more pace pressure and a longer stretch fight against a rival with stakes upside of her own. The answer was decisive in the most unforgiving way possible, by a nose.

The win also sharpened the story of her rise. Owner Naveed Chowhan privately purchased Queen’s Martini after she finished third in an allowance race at Parx on May 20, 2024, and the investment now looks like one that bought a horse with a higher ceiling than her past form suggested. Trainer Ron Moquett collected his 395th career Oaklawn victory in the process, another marker for a barn that recognized the mare’s stamina and timing before the public did.

The Dig a Diamond has been a useful springboard for older fillies and mares, and this year’s edition drew an estimated 25,000 fans with total mutuel handle of $6,913,722. Hoosier Philly won the 2024 running in 1:39.33; Queen’s Martini was faster, tougher and more exposed to pressure, and that combination makes her first stakes win feel less like a one-off and more like a horse finding her proper class.