Rushing Fall leads Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup invitees
E Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ four-time graded stakes winner Rushing Fall headlines a roster of 10 3-year-old fillies invited to the 35th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, which will be run at 1 1/8 miles on the grass on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Already a winner of two stakes at Keeneland, the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) last fall and this spring’s Appalachian (G2), Rushing Fall came off a three-month layoff to win the Lake Placid (G2) by 2¾ lengths on Aug. 18 at Saratoga in her most recent start.
Trained by Chad Brown, who won the QE II in 2012 with Dayatthespa, Rushing Fall won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) at Del Mar. Also invited is a newcomer to the Brown barn, Pollara (IRE), who is a Group 3 winner in France.
Two other Grade 1 winners are among the QE II invitees: Team Valor International's Capla Temptress and Benowitz Family Trust, Head of Plains Partners, Mark Mathiesen and Mathilde Powell’s Fatale Bere (FR).
Trained by Bill Mott, who won this race in 2014 with Crown Queen, Capla Temptress won the Natalma (G1) last year at Woodbine and most recently was seventh in the Sands Point (G2) at Belmont.
Fatale Bere won the Del Mar Oaks (G1) Presented by The Jockey Club at 1 1/8 miles in her most recent start for trainer Leonard Powell. In April, she won the Providencia (G3) at Santa Anita, also at the QE II distance.
Scheduled to arrive at Keeneland Sunday from Europe for the race are Group 2 winners Mission Impassible and Nyaleti.
Mohammed Hamad Khalifa Al-Attiyah’s Mission Impassible is trained by Jean-Claude Rouget. In June, she won the Prix de Sandringham (G2) at Chantilly and in her most recent start was fifth in the Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville.
Owned by 3 Batterhams and a Reay, Nyaleti returns to the U.S. for the second time in two months. Nyaleti, trained by Mark Johnston, finished sixth in the Beverly D. (G1) at Arlington in August. Her biggest victory of 2018 came in the German One Thousand Guineas (G2) at Dusseldorf.
The remaining invitees are Beyond Blame, Daddy Is a Legend, Princess Warrior and Secret Message.
Entries for the QE II will be taken Wednesday.