Lush Lips has her Grade 1 breakthrough in QEII Cup

Great Britain-bred Lush Lips powered past pace-setting Opulent Restraint nearing the eighth pole en route to a 1 1/4-length victory Saturday in the 42nd running of the Grade 1, $800,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies Saturday at Keeneland.

Owned by Medallion Racing, Parkland Thoroughbreds, Hoffman Thoroughbreds, Mrs. Paul Shanahan and Mrs. M.V. Magnier, trained by Brendan Walsh and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Lush Lips completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.01 on a turf course rated as good. It was the first victory in the QEII Cup for Walsh and Gaffalione.

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Opulent Restraint led the field of eight through fractions of 23.23, 47.70 and 1:12.08 with Lush Lips tracking in second, 1 1/2 lengths back. In the second turn Lush Lips began to close in with previously undefeated Laurelin the only runner behind the top two making any headway.

Opulent Restraint maintained the advantage approaching mid-stretch until Lush Lips swept past and built enough cushion to hold off Laurelin, who rallied for second.

“She broke great, put me in a good spot, relaxed beautifully, and when I asked her, she really turned it on nice,” Gaffalione said.

Making her Keeneland debut, Lush Lips is a daughter of Ten Sovereigns out of Arcano mare Lamyaa. In notching her first graded-stakes victory, Lush Lips improved her record to 10: 4-4-0 and more than doubled her earnings to $769,510 with Saturday’s $387,888 check.

Lush Lips rewarded her backers with payoffs of $19.22, $6.04 and $4.52. Laurelin, ridden by Kendrick Carmouche, returned $3.48 and $2.70 and finished three-quarters of a length in front of third-place Opulent Restraint, who paid $5.26 to show under Luis Sáez.

It was another 2 3/4 lengths back to favored Fionn, who rallied from last to finish fourth. She was followed in order by Candy Quest, Daisy Flyer, Simmering and Destino d’Oro.

Walsh said the Lush Lips team gained confidence in a runner-up finish going 1 1/8 miles Aug. 16 in the Del Mar Oaks (G1).

“Surprisingly, we did, because that was always in the back of our minds, that maybe it was as far as she wanted to go,” Walsh said. “But I think she went against the grain, and it seems she has no problem going the mile-and-an-eighth. It was fantastic.”

Now Walsh has his sights set on 2026 for Lush Lips.

“It opens a big door for her, especially for next year, because we always thought this filly was going to be a good 4-year-old. It’s fantastic to win a Grade 1 with her.”