Expert Pick of the Week: Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup

Oct 12, 2023 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

An
overflow field of 13 sophomore fillies will travel 1 1/8 miles over the Keeneland
lawn in Saturday’s $600,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S. (G1). A handful
of the contenders in the fascinating cast have been primarily based overseas,
and I expect the European invaders to have a major say in the outcome of the
historic affair.

Morning-line
choice
Mawj rides in on a three-race
win streak for conditioner Saeed bin Suroor, led by a triumph in the English 1000 Guineas (G1) in her most recent showing. By Exceed and Excel, the
Godolphin homebred was a Group 2 heroine as a juvenile and has improved this
campaign with a trio of strong victories, which includes a pair since
stretching out to the one-mile voyage. The half-sister to dual Breeders’ Cup
victor Modern Games has ample early speed and will never be far back with Oisin
Murphy retaining the mount.

Lindy, runner-up in the French 1000 Guineas (G1) earlier in the season, gave a fine impression of herself
when easily disposing of allowance foes at Kentucky Downs in a prep run for
Saturday. Conditioned by Brendan Walsh, the Le Havre three-year-old has a
versatile running style, and in a race with a good measure of early pace in it,
I expect the French-bred to take back from the break and kick into gear
approaching the turn for home in her second U. S. assignment. Tyler Gaffalione
will be in the stirrups.

Grade
2 heroine
Papilio, who raced five
times in Europe as a two-year-old, has never run a bad race since arriving in
the states for conditioner Mark Casse. A winner of the Appalachian S. (G2) on
the course in April, the daughter of Starspangledbanner comes off of a solid
third-place result in the Saratoga Oaks (G3) most recently and seems poised to
produce another rally in the stretch despite drawing outside of the big cast.
Javier Castellano has the call.

Expert Pick

An
exacta with
#4 Mawj on top of #6 Lindy and #12 Papilio in the 2023 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup is the Best Bet
of the Week.