2021 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Field & Odds
Chad Brown Enters Two Horses In Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
Klaravich Stables' two-time graded stakes winner Technical Analysis (IRE) and Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Robert LaPenta's Shantisara (IRE) headline a field of 10 3-year-old fillies entered for the 38th running of the Grade 1, Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes at Keeneland Race Course on Saturday, October 16.
The 1 1/8-mile grass test will go as the eighth race on Saturday's 10-race program with a 4:44 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 1 p.m.
Chad Brown, who has saddled three winners of this race to match the feat of Jimmy Toner and John Veitch, trains both Technical Analysis and Shantisara.
A winner of four of six career starts, Technical Analysis enters Saturday's race off victories in the Lake Placid (G2) and Lake George (G3) at Saratoga. Technical Analysis will leave from post two and be ridden by Jose Ortiz.
2021 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Field & Odds
Race 8 at Keeneland on Saturday, October 16 - Post 4:44 PM
| Entry | Horse | ML Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burning Ambition | 6-1 | Florent Geroux 121 Lbs |
Brad Cox |
| 2 | Technical Analysis (IRE) | 4-1 | Jose Ortiz 121 Lbs |
Chad Brown |
| 3 | Shantisara (IRE) | 7-2 | Flavien Prat 121 Lbs |
Chad Brown |
| 4 | Empress Josephine (IRE) | 3-1 | John Velazquez 121 Lbs |
Aidan O'Brien |
| 5 | Nicest (IRE) | 10-1 | Julien Leparoux 121 Lbs |
Donnacha O'Brien |
| 6 | Queen Goddess | 30-1 | Tyler Gaffalione 121 Lbs |
Michael McCarthy |
| 7 | Lady Speightspeare | 8-1 | Emma-Jayne Wilson 121 Lbs |
Roger Attfield |
| 8 | Flippant | 15-1 | Rafael Bejarano 121 Lbs |
Victoria Oliver |
| 9 | Cloudy Dawn (IRE) | 15-1 | Brian Hernandez, Jr. 121 Lbs |
William Haggas |
| 10 | Closing Remarks | 8-1 | Umberto Rispoli 121 Lbs |
Carla Gaines |
U.S. Legal Online Wagering
Shantisara has won two of three starts since coming to North America, recording victories in the Pucker Up (G3) at Arlington and the Jockey Club Oaks Invitational at Belmont Park. Flavien Prat has the mount on Shantisara, who will exit post three.
Headlining the European contingent Saturday is Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Empress Josephine (IRE) for trainer Aidan O'Brien.
Empress Josephine is following in a trail blazed 10 years ago by Together (IRE) for the same connections. Together ran second in the First Lady (G1) and a week later closed her career with a victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup.
Empress Josephine finished third in Saturday's First Lady under John Velazquez, who retains the mount and will break from post position four.
Velazquez has won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup a record five times beginning in 1995 with Perfect Arc. His other winners are Alwajeeha (2008), Crown Queen (2014), Time and Motion (2016) and Cambier Parc (2019).
Also coming from Europe is James Wigan's Cloudy Dawn (IRE), winner of the Prix de Lieurey (G3) at Deauville, and Katsumi Yoshida's Nicest (IRE), most recently third in the Juddmonte Irish Oaks (G1). Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Cloudy Dawn from post nine. Julien Leparoux will be aboard Nicest from post five.
Flippant Ready For Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
In three months, G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s homebred Flippant has gone from a maiden winner to a two-time stakes winner to a contender in this Saturday's 38th running of the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana. The race is for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.
"She is doing very well," trainer Vicki Oliver said. "This is a race I have always wanted to win, and I hope she is the one."
A daughter of Tapit out of the two-time Grade 2-winning mare Frivolous, Flippant began her career on dirt at Churchill Downs. She started her 3-year-old campaign on the dirt at Tampa Bay Downs.
"Being a Tapit, we thought dirt for her," Oliver said. "It was almost by default that she wound up on the grass here in April, and she ran so good on it (a runner-up finish) that we left her there."
Flippant notched her first victory July 4 at Ellis Park and followed that with a victory Aug. 7 in the Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks at Ellis. In her most recent start, Flippant won the Woodford Reserve Virginia Oaks (L) at Colonial Downs on Aug. 31.
"Going to Virginia (with Flippant) gave me an extra week for the Queen Elizabeth," said Oliver, who trained Flippant's dam and grandam Sixty Rocketts.
Oliver said there was no one moment when the light went on for Flippant's recent success.
"Never Forget (Frivolous' first foal) is like that," Oliver said. "Frivolous didn't really get good until she was 4. The whole family is like that."
Oliver has a half-brother to Flippant getting ready to debut named Levity. She plans to start the son of Candy Ride (ARG) on the dirt "at the end of the meet or early during the Churchill meet."
OffTrackBetting.com - US Legal Keeneland OTB is a great way to bet horse racing at Keeneland Racecourse. Available to customers across the United States, OTB features both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing from major racing venues in the US as well as top international racing from Europe, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong.
