A very strong field of 10 is entered to run in Saturday’s $750,000, Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes Presented by Dixiana at Keeneland Race Course. The QE II is one of the most significant stakes races on turf in North America for 3-year-old fillies, annually drawing the cream of the crop from North America and often luring some quality European fillies.
That’s the case this year, as half the fillies entered in Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile race have won or placed in their most recent starts, and two others enter off third-place finishes in prestigious turf races in Europe. Caitlinhergrtness leads the field in career earnings at $627,069, highlighted by a win in the $1 million King’s Plate Stakes on an all-weather track in August. Not far behind is Waves of Mischief at $606,247, who won the Grade 3 Pucker Up Stakes in August. Among the rest, Pin Up Betty won the Grade 3 Regret Stakes in June at 1 1/8 miles and was second behind Waves of Mischief in the Pucker Up. Grayosh and She Feels Pretty finished first and second, respectively, when separated by a neck in the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes Presented by Caesars Sportsbook in August and add more depth to the field. Buchu won the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes Presented by Japan Racing Association on the Keeneland turf in the spring and was second behind Pin Up Betty in the Regret. Pounce won the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes in July over Oversubscribed, who won the Wild Applause Stakes prior to that. The two European invaders bring top credentials as well. Soprano won the Sandringham Stakes in June and the Group 3 Prix de Lieurey Stakes in August, while Candala won the Group 3 Prix de la Grotte Stakes in April.
Top win contenders:
Waves of Mischief has more than just a legitimate shot to win this year’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes. She won in her career debut in April on the Keeneland turf, then was stepped up in class in the Hilltop Stakes and finished third. An irrelevant race on an all-weather track followed that, but when put back on grass for the Pucker Up Stakes on Aug. 4, Waves of Mischief showed a ton of ability when reeling in the leader after slow fractions to get up by a head on the wire. The leader in deep stretch was Pin Up Betty, who won the Regret Stakes at 1 1/8 miles distance two months earlier. Waves of Mischief and Pin Up Betty earned 112 Equibase Speed Figures in the Pucker Up, which are by far the highest winning figures earned by any horse in this field. After the Pucker Up, Waves of Mischief rallied nicely in the last eighth of a mile to go from fifth, and then to second, in the $1.6 million Pepsi Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational Stakes. In every sense, Waves of Mischief has no knocks at all and could be the one to beat even in this quality field.
Pin Up Betty has finished first or second in five of seven races this year, all but one of them (her first start in January) on turf. As discussed above, her best effort came at the distance of this race when beaten a head on the wire by Waves of Mischief in the Pucker Up Stakes. In that race, Pin Up Betty took the lead after a half-mile had been run and opened up a two-length lead with an eighth of a mile to run. That isn’t her preferred running style, and the jockey change in the QE II to Luis Saez could be key to her running a race similar to the one put forth when winning the Regret Stakes in June. In that race, Saez had Pin Up Betty settled back in last in the field of seven, but when asked to run she quickly passed the field to be in front with an eighth of a mile to run. Most recently, in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, Pin Up Betty moved up quickly from fifth to third but then had no further kick. She’ll be cutting back from a mile and five-sixteenths to the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Regret and Pucker Up, and with Saez getting back on, it is certainly possible Pin Up Betty will run one of the best races of her career by repeating the 112 figure she earned in the Pucker Up.
She Feels Pretty was the odds-on favorite in the Lake Placid Stakes in August at Saratoga and ran good enough to win but came up a neck short on the finish line. She engaged with QE II which may help her dig in if battling again. Additionally, she draws an inside post compared to Grayosh, the opposite of their post positions in the Lake Placid, where Grayosh had a more inside position. Grayosh has improved her figures in her last three races – from 87, to 91, to 104. She Feels Pretty earned a career-best 108 figure when beaten three-quarters of a length and finishing third in the Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes prior to the Lake Placid. As such, it would be no surprise if both fillies were in the thick of the action at the end.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Buchu (106), Candala (113), Caitlinhergrtness (100), Oversubscribed (98), Pounce (101) and Soprano (116).
Top contenders:
Waves of Mischief
Pin Up Betty
She Feels Pretty
Grayosh
Daily Double
12-3
12-3
$21
Superfecta
3-5-2-1
3-5-2-1
$58
Daily Double
12-3
12-3
$21
Superfecta
3-5-2-1
3-5-2-1
$58
