Queens Face Off In QEII Cup

Sunday's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Kyoto has drawn a competitive lineup of fillies and mares, and Marialite (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) looks to become the fourth to take back-to-back renewals of the 2200-metre contest, and the first since the British raider Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) in 2010 and 2011. The now 5-year-old mare was earning her first Group 1 win when she won this last year, and she proved to still be in top form in June when winning the G1 Takarazuka Kinen over dual Classic winner Duramente (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}). She finished fifth after a summer holiday in the G2 Sankei Sho All Comers S. Sept. 25, and will have her usual hood removed on Sunday.

Last year's champion 3-year-old filly Mikki Queen (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), winner of the G1 Yushun Himba and G1 Shuka Sho, finished a respectable eighth against elders in the G1 Japan Cup thereafter and has this year notched a pair of seconds, in the G2 Himba S. Apr. 9 and the G1 Victoria Mile May 15. She enters this contest off a six-month layoff, however, having sprained an ankle prior to her intended prep in the G2 Kyoto Daishoten. Trainer Yasutoshi Ikee said the 4-year-old is in good form despite that hiccup.

“The sprain she suffered delayed her work,” Ikee said. “But I switched my focus to this race alone and things have gone according to plan. She has gotten better gradually. Compared to the Tokyo mile, the conditions of the Kyoto 2200 metres are better for her. She's the type that does well with a sharpener, so we'll just have to see how she'll fare this time without.”

Queens Ring (Jpn) (Manhattan Cafe {Jpn}) finished second to Mikki Queen in last year's Shuka Sho and was a troubled eighth in this. She won the G2 Kyoto Himba S. first-up Feb. 20 before finishing eighth in the G1 Victoria Mile and second in the G2 Yonago S., also over a mile, and she was last seen winning a key prep for this race, the 2200-metre G2 Fuchu Himba S. Oct. 15 at Tokyo.

“I think she came back well refreshed from her summer off,” trainer Keiji Yoshimura said. “She's had all the work she needed since coming back to the training centre and winning the way she did last out was the most important. I expect her to show improvement this time out.”